Poem of the week: from Briggflatts by Basil Bunting

The opening stanzas to this landmark work show how much can be contained in a few dense but ringingly musical lines

‘Ridiculous and lovely’ ... Bull by Robert Clatworthy (1928-2015). Photograph: PR 

This week, come rain or shine, Poem of the week celebrates a rite of spring with the vibrant opening stanzas of Basil Bunting’s epic poem Briggflatts. “An autobiography but not a record of fact,” as the poet warns, it’s a five-part work, 700 lines altogether, using a variety of formal structures and recurrent themes and symbols tightly intermeshed.

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