Dominic West champions Byron as 'top

Actor Dominic West has named Lord Byron his favourite poet, praising the Romantic figure as a 'top shagger'. He made the declaration during a 'poetry battle' at the Big Brue festival in Somerset against rock star Bob Geldof, who argued for the Irish poet WB Yeats.

West celebrated Byron's notorious lifestyle. 'Byron was shagging everything,' the actor said. 'Byron was the proto-rock star. He was a top shagger.' The actor, known for roles in The Wire and The Affair, linked Byron's personal excesses to his artistic stature, suggesting they contributed to his being 'cancelled' and sent into exile.

The case for Byron

West argued that Byron's scandals, including rumours he slept with his half-sister and faced accusations of illegal homosexual behaviour, did not diminish his legacy. 'There was all sorts of reasons for his exile and being cancelled, and so I, you know, but actually he's a towering figure,' West stated. He recited Byron's She Walks in Beauty, noting the poet wrote it 'after an all-night party, as he was getting undressed, drunk, about a woman he'd just seen.'

Geldof's defence of Yeats

Bob Geldof, the former Boomtown Rats singer, presented a counter-argument for the lyrical and nationalistic work of WB Yeats. He conceded Yeats was not known for a prolific sex life. 'He only got shagged when he was, I think, 31 by Olivia Shakespear, and he was very practical about the whole thing,' Geldof said. 'But it drove a vast energy into his poetry.'

Geldof placed Yeats at the pinnacle of literary achievement. 'Yeats is to us [Irish people] what Shakespeare is to the English,' he claimed. He highlighted Yeats's role in establishing the first Irish ballet school and the first Irish National Theatre, and in reviving the Irish language.

AI and the future of poetry

During the event, Dominic West also dismissed concerns that artificial intelligence could threaten poetry. 'Someone described to me the last thing that AI is going to take over is standup comedy,' West recalled, 'but it'll definitely be poetry because no machine could ever get to someone's soul like these guys can.' He pointed to contemporary music as proof of the art form's vitality. 'Poetry is still being written,' he said. 'Rappers are people writing amazing poetry every day.'

The festival debate offered contrasting views on poetic value, weighing biographical scandal against cultural contribution. West concluded his comparative assessment bluntly: 'He unfortunately towers above Yeats. I mean, Yeats is an incredible poet and a wonderful man; you wouldn't possibly hesitate to call him a legend. You'd certainly hesitate to call him a man who enjoyed sex.'