Ian Hamilton Finlay
Ian Hamilton Finlay
Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBEwas a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth28 October 1925
architecture calling dispute folly happened laughing national pleasure sort trust
The same sort of thing happened in my dispute with the National Trust book: Follies: A National Trust Guide, which implied that the only pleasure you can get from Folly architecture is by calling the architect mad, and by laughing at the architecture.
approve concrete people poetry suppose time
At that time I was completely engrossed in concrete poetry, and I suppose I didn't approve of people writing poetry that was not concrete.
bad concrete fed poetry
Well, probably I was fed up with concrete poetry. There was a lot of bad concrete poetry and besides, it was confused with visual poetry which was completely different.
french itself natural quite time understand understood
I have often said that just as the French revolution, for instance, understood itself through antiquity, I think our time can be understood through the French revolution. It is quite a natural process to use other times to understand your own time.
absence complete created culture ingredient piety
Yes, I think we have created a culture in which there is a complete absence of piety of any kind. And piety was always an ingredient of culture.
came interest reading suppose
I suppose also I came to classicism through reading philosophy, but I suppose the interest was already in me or I wouldn't have read philosophy.
tree stones events
What you compose with is neither here nor there, you compose with words, or you compose with stone plants and trees, or you compose with events; the Sheriff's officer, or whatever.
garden law world
My position is that since the non-secular status of my garden is not recognised by the law; by the world of the public, then the garden can only be private. So, I closed the garden to the public.
garden thinking littles
Little Sparta is a garden in the traditional sense. It is perhaps not like other modern gardens, but I think that other times would have had no difficulty with it.
past trying different
I am always a beginner. I only try to include different parts of life; the pastoral, the tragic, et cetera.
people challenges annoying
People have always found me challenging - I don't know why, when I am only being myself. I don't understand why they find me so annoying but they do. It is pity, but that is how it is.
marijuana men modern
I am not a modern man, I am just a wee old fashioned one.
marijuana artist opinion
But you have to understand that I consider myself a very modest artist, or whatever, and not of importance really at all - it is quite embarrassing to me to be asked my opinion about things. I am only a wee Scottish poet on the outside of everything.
writing friendly sometimes
As a friendly one. I would still like to write concrete poems, but I can only do it sometimes.