Seamus Heaney - Nobel Laureate, Beowulf Translator

On the 5th of October, 1995, Seamus Heaney won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for works of lyrical beauty and ethical depth, which exalt everyday miracles and the living past."

In this clip, Heaney reads his much-loved poem Scaffolding at the offices of Faber & Faber. It was a dual celebration - the poet's seventieth birthday and the publisher's eightieth.

As Heaney notes, he wrote the poem while a young man, following a "row" with his wife, Marie. Years later, the work is often recited at weddings.