The Ploughman's Lunch Page #9

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JAMES:

It's okay.

LECTURER:

Right. So by the time the British

and French launched their invasion

at the beginning of November the

main economic reasons for doing so

had largely evaporated. What

remained, especially for the

British, were the more marginal

and emotional arguments.

INT. JAMES'S FLAT - EVENING

The Lecturer's voice continues on the tape. James pours a

drink and he listens and walks towards his desk.

LECTURER (V.O.)

(from tape)

Using the language of private

behaviour you could say that this

was an affair of the heart - the

idea was to teach Nasser a lesson,

to appear capable of acting

independently, and to maintain

face in the world, particularly

the Arab world.

James switches the tape recorder off. He picks up the

Vogue 'Mothers and Daughters' article and pins it to the

map of Egypt.

INT. A COMMUNITY HALL - EVENING

A poetry reading, given by Edward Long, has just come to

and end. There are about fifty present, and empty chairs

behind. Jeremy and James are in the audience.

Edward is reading the last stanza of a poem.

EDWARD:

(reading)

"And so the ferry moves across the

bay, Top heavy as a wedge of wedding

cake, Leaving us to return to our

hotels, Gulls in nautical trim cry

their farewells, Then drop with

avaricious eyes to tale, Souvenirs

from the debris of the day."

He pauses.

EDWARD:

Thank you very much.

There is earnest applause which peters out. Now, a tense

silence.

Edward stares impassively at the audience until he catches

the movement of a half-raised arm.

EDWARD:

Yes.

The questioner is a middle-class middle-aged woman, rather

twittery.

WOMAN:

Me?

EDWARD:

Yes.

WOMAN:

Oh, yes, well I thought I'd start

the thing off by asking, you know,

and you'll probably think it's a

stupid question that you get all

the time, but could you tell us a

little of how you actually get

ideas, I mean, your poems are quiet

extraordinary and beautiful and I

wondered how they, well, you know,

came about.

During this, Jeremy has caught James's eye and they have

started to giggle silently. This continues through the

scene. They hunch up and turn away from each other, shaking

quietly, half recover, become aware of each other, or of

the absurdity of the questions, or of Edward's attempts to

deal with them, and they fold up once more. From Edward's

POV we SEE their heads duck down.

EDWARD:

It isn't a stupid question, but it

is a difficult one to answer. I

get ideas in much the same way as

anyone does. Perhaps the difference

is that I take them more seriously.

I write them down - odd scraps of

things. Then I seem to know when

I'm ready to start work on a poem.

It takes shape to start work on a

poem. It takes shape as I write

it, very slowly.

While Edward answers, the woman nods vigorously.

James and Jeremy recover in the brief pause between

questions. They lift tear-stained faces, then crack up at

the next question.

A young man, anorak, flat auto-didact's 'does the team

think' voice. A piece of paper in hand, he stands,

trembling.

MAN:

You are one of the most praised

poets of your generation of younger

poets, and the Sunday Times has

called you a cross between Dante

and Philip Larkin. What is your

reaction to this?

EDWARD:

Well, it's silly really.

(catching sight of

Jeremy and James)

It's journalism, yes?

A serious-looking student has his hand raised.

STUDENT:

Yes. What is the poet's role in

society today?

CLOSE ON James, drawing breath. A sudden sharp yelp from

Jeremy fighting for air. All heads turn. The two are

almost off their seats onto the floor. We move CLOSE ON

them and hear their moans or 'No', 'No' and 'Stop', 'stop'

and 'Sorry!'

INT. NEWSROOM - LATE MORNING

The newsroom. The teleprinters. The sheets arriving on

the copytaster's desk. On the TV monitor there are pictures

of the Fleet. On the P.A. a voice announces 'Edward Du

Cann on Four'.

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