When poem meets image

Both artist and poet research their subjects through books, maps and archaeological magazines before making field trips. In fact, they only journeyed together once, to the Shetlands in early spring. Ackroyd stresses that he is not just interested in the scenery, but in its historic inhabitants. His principal subject is topographical, but, as he says, ‘the sense of place on the western shore is inextricably tied up with weather. The ocean dominates.’ Some of Ackroyd’s best images are not at all literal but approach the abstract in their veils of aquatint. They are also devoid of people; the human element is clearly his collaborator’s province. ‘I tried to introduce a population,’ comments Dunn.

Much of the appeal of the book is due to the expertise of the designer, Isambard Thomas. Ackroyd gave him 140 reproductions of his etchings and trusted him to make the best choice. (The etchings were made over the last three decades: the earliest in the book is dated 1987, and 44 were made since 2000.) As a direct consequence of this, Dunn’s poems are not illustrations to specific images so much as a response to the flavour of Ackroyd’s work. This suited Dunn. Otherwise, ‘a writer can end up doing captions, which is not very satisfactory’.

Poems can be commissioned but not easily written to order. After the idea for this book had been proposed, discussed, and some preliminary work achieved, Dunn fell under the cosh of writer’s block. This desperate state held up the book for a couple of years, and meant that the project has been some five years in the making. Dunn calls poetry

Hand-knitted truths and sense
That search for a melodic intellect
In the turbulent mind-mess.

He maintains that a good poem should work in the mind, the heart and the ear simultaneously. When poem meets image, the eye too must join the party. Ackroyd’s beautiful monochrome etchings (but with what a wealth of colour in their tones) marry successfully with Dunn’s thought-provoking and evocative poems to make a new and distinct entity.

A Line in the Water is available from the RA shop, Burlington House, and from www.royalacademy.org.uk