'[Armitage] blended his down-to-earth, often flippant demeanor with a brilliantly understated, original and captivating address, which never strayed into pretentiousness or self-importance' Oxford Culture Review A Vertical Art gathers the expansive and spirited public lectures delivered by the Poet Laureate during his acclaimed four-year tenure as Oxford University Professor of Poetry. Querying the facile and obscure ends of the poetry spectrum, these are more than anything personal essays that enquire into the volatile and disputed definitions of poetry from the point of view of a dedicated reader, a practising writer and a lifelong champion of its power and potential.