Matthew Francis
Ocean

Matthew Francis was commissioned to write a poem about the ocean. 'Ocean' takes the reader on a walk into the sea and along the seabed to the mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is divided into seven sections, each describing a different region of the ocean: Margin, Shallows, Shelf, Slope, Abyss, Ridge and Surface.
Click on the titles below to access the web poems.

  • Margin
  • Shallows
  • Shelf
  • Slope
  • Abyss
  • Ridge
  • Surface

Matthew Francis

Matthew Francis' first collection Blizzard, published by Faber and Faber, was shortlisted for Best First Collection in the Forward Poetry Prize and won the Southern Arts Literature Prize. He has a Poetry Placement in the New Forest. His second collection, Dragons (Faber), including poems written during the New Forest residency, was shortlisted for the Welsh Book of the Year Award and the Forward Prize (Best Collection). In 2004 he was chosen as one of the Next Generation Poets.

 

Acknowledgements

 

I would like to thank Professor Paul Tyler and the staff of the Southampton Oceanography Centre for generously giving their time to help me with the research for this poem.

 

I have drawn most of the factual content, as well as the narrative structure and some evocative phrases, from the essay 'A Walk on the Deep Side: Animals in the Deep Sea' by P.A. Tyler, A.L. Rice, C.M. Young and A. Gebruk in Oceanography: An Illustrated Guide, edited by C.P. Summerhayes and S.A. Thorpe (Manson Publishing, 1996), and have also taken details from other essays in the same book.

 

The poem is, however, an artistic rather than a scientific treatment of the ocean, and all errors in it are my own responsibility. It was written during an enjoyable and productive stay at Hawthornden Castle, Scotland, for which I would like to thank the Director, Administrator and Trustees of the Hawthornden Foundation.

 

All illustrations are from Summerhayes/Thorpe: Oceanography - An Illustrated Guide, published by Manson Publishing Ltd,1996. Hardback ISBN 1-874545-38-3 £48.00, Paperback ISBN 1-874545-37-5 £27.00. Illustrations are taken from pages 101, 157, 160, 197, 198, 199, 200, 204, 205, 206.

 

Matthew Francis
Hawthornden Castle
15 - 26 November 1998

To learn more about the ocean, look at the Web pages of Southampton Oceanography Centre.