Irish poet Michael Longley, who died on 22nd January 2025, was described by Seamus Heaney as 'a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders.' He devoted a lifetime to the art of poetry and won numerous poetry prizes.

He is recognised as a very fine love poet and in this episode of Michael Longley's Life of Poetry, first broadcast in 2024, he reads poems that address the gift of a decades-long love and marriage and the inevitability of ageing. After a lifetime dedicated to poetry, he says, 'I can't imagine that I would be alive now if I hadn't had poetry propelling me forward.'

He reads his poems The Pattern, The Linen Industry and Age from his collection Ash Keys: New Selected Poems (Cape Poetry), published to mark his 85th birthday on 27th July 2024, and Foam from his collection The Slain Birds.

Presenter: Olivia O'Leary

Michael Longley's Life of Poetry is a Rockfinch production for BBC Radio 3.