Don't be embarrassed, Malcolm. A cluttered office is sign of great wisdom, I'm told...

"It's time to take things out, it's time to read them and reflect on them. But tragically there's no time to put them away".

"A disgrace with an excuse." Perfectly hilarious! I'm filing that one away to use later!

I love little tours like this. I wish more writers would do them. I most often write poems either at my office at college or in my bed at home. My bedside table has books stacked everywhere, much to the irritation of my wife.

Theres not many quite like you anymore Malcom. I don't think I have ever heard anyone say "railway journey". An excellent and warming channel. All the best

Any study with peated scotch bottles is a winner in my book :)

I literally stumbled upon your channel about an hour ago, and I LOVE your study!

Literally the most delightful thing I've seen on the internet this month.

Your study is a living space. Allow it to keep living. Please do not ever turn it into a museum. Fantastic!!!❤

Your wonderful videos, your voice, your pipe, your poetry and readings brings me so much peace. Just watching and listening makes me so centred and relaxed. I watch one every evening before going to sleep. Thank you so much 🙏🏻

A disgrace with an excuse....thats how I will describe my deskngoing forward...brilliant haha.

In my youth I trained as a designer. One of the tutors eulogised the cleaning of the desk that marked the end of one commission, and the beginning of the next. I knew I couldn't tolerate such rigours. My desk was a palimpsest. A visual mnemonic of former work, with brief counter-attacks before recapture by ink bottles, paint, brush.

The virtue of such chaos is the satisfaction of knowing where to find everything anyway, or, failing that, the sheer pleasure of hunting for it and the marvelous roads that sweeps you down.

What a wonderful study. I bet on a cold winter night it feels like magic.❄🔥🥃📚

That poem makes me think of a line by Charles Wright, one time Poet Laureate of the U.S., "Write as if you had in hand the last pencil on earth" and of Roethke, who was bi-polar, and when going manic would run into his class room, stand behind the lecturn, and aim a pretend machine gun at his students, and make rat-a-tat sounds Dolor by Theodore Roethke I have known the inexorable sadness of pencils, Neat in their boxes, dolor of pad and paper weight, All the misery of manilla folders and mucilage, Desolation in immaculate public places, Lonely reception room, lavatory, switchboard, The unalterable pathos of basin and pitcher, Ritual of multigraph, paper-clip, comma, Endless duplication of lives and objects. And I have seen dust from the walls of institutions, Finer than flour, alive, more dangerous than silica, Sift, almost invisible, through long afternoons of tedium, Dropping a fine film on nails and delicate eyebrows, Glazing the pale hair, the duplicate grey standard faces. Thanks for reading that!

The deep litter filing system, haha! The ultimate video would be Lindybeige and Malcolm meeting up.

It's a wonderful study. Full of wisdom and learning. New to your channel but glad I've found it.

Greetings Malcolm, your study conjures up wonderful memories of my late Father-in-law's den. He was a painter, sculptor and engraver. He claimed that clean and tidy spaces stunted the imagination so he couldn't think or create in what he called a sterile space! There was never any fear of his den ever seeing a broom or cloth.

That wicked little bird... has been very busy... chasing the wind. Paul I believe depicts it somewhere along in his writings... about the great shear difficulties of trying to even sow the seed from the purse. Beautiful depiction of Christ... and your study especially, despite whatever chaos that you see, it's still a marvelous gorgeous study.

Sir, your channel is such a delight. I feel so joyous and blessed to have found it. I’ve watched a handful of your videos and each one inspires quality thoughts, Even if only for a moment… Until another necessity hastens swiftly upon me.

Good heavens, now I know who my six year old will be when he's grown up. More by far than his brothers, he pulls out ALL the toys, spreads them about in elaborate games, and then leaves them on the floor. Here's to the creative genius messes! I hope he turns out as well.

What a charming interlude! Thank you, Malcom

Love the room. My sentiments exactly. I cannot bear an orderly room, particularly if there are no books or pipes around.

What a beautiful mess! How inspiring :) Thank you.

I love your poem! Thank you for sharing, and for everything you do with this channel.

Wonderful to see that someone shares my office organizational strategies. So much inspiration with our thoughts going where they will among the wonderful books and papers. Very personal places. Thank you for your video!

I love that poem I remember writing one like that as well years ago. I love the creativity that I’m always inspired by on this channel. Thank you!

I absolutely love the look tha room… just looks like old fashioned.. love it … what a gentleman

Absolutely superb poem. The way the poised pen holds you in a spiritual contemplation ... masterful ❤

I laugh at your subtle humour, and take great pleasure in seeing someone who works best as I seem to work best - perhaps clutter on the outside allows for clarity on the inside. At least that's the story with which I am sticking! Cheers!

I've been going through some tough times, and Malcom, you have single handedly allowed me to smile and reflect. I found your channel last week and since then ive been ending my days listening to you. Thank you for allowing some serenity back into my life. I would love to smoke a pipe and play some chess with you.

A tidy study is the sign of a bland mind. All power to you Malcolm and may you’re chaos create more readable feasts. Many thanks from a rather drookit Scotland. Garry

ha ha, I love this fellow! to see someone so clearly thankful and joyed by the accompaniments and meat of human life brings a smile to my face.

Dear Malcolm, I Absolutely loved this !!! Thank you. I just discovered your channel on St. Patrick's day, recently, with that great video--a pint and some poems. You are MARVELOUS !!!! I feel like I am there in the cozy den of creativity with you. Take care and all the best.... from a super-messy musician-poet in rural New York state.

Afternoon Malcolm, l'm sure Byron and Wordsworth would have had untidy studies had they not had general factotums to clear up after them!

It should be "Making chaos for a working space" - in reference Theogony and Genisis. Thereby the clearing of the desk becomes an action of cosmogony of the poetic genius.

Saw couple Peterson’s and a beauty of a bent Meerschaum.... perfect 👌!

“A man in his madness, is a man that is true”. My office is the same. You sir are someone to look up to.

I was drawn to not just this man's anecdotes but also his study with the saturation of bookcases. Reminds me of my father's study with rows of books of various ages and scents, handed down from his own father. My father's old man was a dual-national commando in WW2 who moved out to Australia mid-war & ended his service defending Darwin & helping them pre-sight artillery for Japanese coastal landings. I still have an heirloom copy of "Gimlet : King Of The Commandos" in fabric which is forever fraying, even inside a sealed case. It was an off-shoot novel from the Biggles series which chronicled the stories of a light aircraft team that half-glided around Normandy & deeper Europe during WW2, completing various missions. Funnier still, I attended a boarding school in Sydney years later who's British disciplinary officer, by then in his 70's, had been a young sf boatman in one of these teams at the time. I interviewed him about it for the school paper :)

You inspire me.

Brilliant Malcolm ! Join the club ! x x

I dont care what your study looks like Malcolm as long as you produce such wonderful poetty

Always enjoy watching your videos, Mr. Guite.

Love this guy. My desk is generally a disgrace as well.

Deluxe navy rolls! Good choice.

Oh my goodness...my idea of heaven is an afternoon alone in this wonderful space, what a journey that would be.

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?”

Love the Laphroaig! My favorite Scotch!

In my estimation, the pinnacle of the academic aesthetic is the ability to reach out a hand, randomly, in any direction, & grab hold of an object imbued with a story of some personal or historical significance, regardless of where one is situated in the room at the time. Here, I would say: pinnacle well & truly achieved.

You are epic to watch I love everything you put out

What a fascinating person

An infinitely entertaining man through word and wit.

Second time watching this. You made me smile about many things, but this time I noticed the irony of the disk on your desk. “Smoking kills. Quit now.” Peace brother!

Beautiful wood cut of the Father. Reminded me of Russian or Greek cuts or drawings Ive seen in old books.

A balm to the soul in these troubled times. Found you by happy accident!

A disgrace with an excuse. I just picked myself up a new line for my messy desk. Good to see you Malcolm!

Malcolm, your study looks a lot like mine. I was thinking of investing in a Troy Kinne "magic coffee table" to solve the problem, but I don't think I can afford the price. As I see some of my clients in my study I often feel embarrassed, but at the same time I love the chaos, the chaos of the introverted intuitive's creative space. Thanks for posting such videos, you help folks like me feel excused.

I aspire to have a study like this someday.

it looks very similar to my office, filled with items of so many interests

Are not these videos by Malcolm just comforting...kind of akin to a warm evening with grandfather next to the fireplace?😊

I have that exact same Guadalupe statue with Juan Diego that you have by the window. I found mine in Honduras.

Most splendid indeed....

Spotted your David’s Crown book on your desk. Just thought you’d like to know here in our house at the moment we read a psalm a day and then follow it with reading your accompanying interpretative poem. It’s affectionately become known as the Malc on Dave take…

Tidying up is sacrilege. Better a cluttered desk than a cluttered mind. My study/office is full of paper, books, articles, plants, art supplies and my aunt’s art work that need to be framed. My piece of heaven, apart from my garden.

This is my goal. To have my own study in the future. God Bless

Imagine a conversation between Malcolm Guite and Mr. Rogers. Joy would ensue. Calm would reign.

I hope I come close to this level of library/study in my life time

I love

Malcolm your study is very tidy .... compared to Francis Bacon’s studio. It’s worth a google. A while back it was piece by piece removed from his house in London and re-assembled in the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin. It can be viewed through a full length glass panel on the door to the replica space. So I would ease back on the tidying up ... you’ve got a way to go yet. Thank you again Malcolm for a brilliant tour and very tidy poem. Ps. I’m a big fan of the vertical stacking system.

I will refer you to Alberto Manguel ; Packing my Library . There was internal order and external chaos. Juxtapositions ; complimentary colours but no chronology and certainly no order. This made me laugh in a parallel universe sort of way ; appearing in my feed after I sit down to a cup of tea after Clearing my Desk ; in it is left a little handmade mexican drummer ; a totem pole ; my birth certificate having just dealt with the death of my husband and a random envelope which I will keep that referred to us as Mary and Mike Bowden although we never married . It is strange the things that finally find a much longed for space or time to erupt into meaning.

A mess .. disarray, is indicative of activity , work, study 📚. Tidiness is indicative of .. tidying . So typical of humans to tidy - some spend their whole lives ‘tidying’ . My place is controlled chaos - and am often doing 27 things at once . So many houses you go in have nothing on the walls , are super tidy, and are more or less empty. I’ll take your study over anything else cos you can tell instantly that you are sane and normal etc. Bless you 🍻 ker-chingg.

Do not change a thing in your room. It is a testament to you.

I spied a McClelland tin, cheers mate, mine's almost all gone now.

Arthurian Poems? Would love to read them! Myself and incredible music artist in the Netherlands who sings in old Norse and now exploring old english, we are creating a handful of little short poetry-esque pieces!

Chaos magick

Cool jacket!

Still neater than my book area...

Ein Genie beherrscht das Chaos und findet alles Kein Grund sich zu schämen 😂

Always, everything. Right within reach. When thought of. Nothing a match & maybe ,little gas wouldn't fix..😅

We'll hope that the desk clears itself...

Your work bag that you brought on the train looks very nice! Hope this isn't a strange question, but would you happen to know the company that makes them? Would like to pick one up. Thank you and I enjoy your videos!

I've always heard an empty desk is a sure sign of an empty mind.

Such a joy to have discovered this channel. I must ask, what is that lighter you have? I often have difficulty getting my pipes to light, since I'm only a few months into pipe smoking after a long loyalty to the cigar. Loved your videos on Dylan Thomas, Samuel Johnson and John Betjeman.

Great video and an unintentional asmr. 😁

If a busy desk is a sign of a busy mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign? (I prefer the word busy over cluttered!)

I did an interview for the Henry Knows society, there is a poem in here about clearing the desk.

Dearest Malcom: so happy to see you, I’ve missed you very much ♥️🙏🏾🤗

For a second I thought that Georgia O Keefe painting was the Eye of Sauron

4:18 ''smoking kills quit now'' 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂

Malcolm, Einstein's desk was a disaster at all times. You are just fine 😅

A cluttered space is a cluttered mind. However, with that said, “Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests.” (Proverbs 14:4, NIV)

When my good friend Dave stops by I always apologize for my mess. He waves it off and replies, “Yes, but it’s a creative mess. Many works in progress.”

In the top ten best videos on KZfaq ever

[thank, you for you're interesting video]

Organised chaos😊

A cluttered desk is a battlefield. The poet general with all his army and machines brought to bear against his adversary. The dread blank page. Who's reinforcements are without end.

This guy looks like he belongs to the lord of the rings.

I am enamored with this gentleman. his Benny Hill-esque accent is endlessly entertaining to me. Never have I seen someone so comfortable in their skin. It would be great joy of my life to meet him in person and share a dram and a pipe.

YO GOOD MIN ❤❤

Imagine modern people having this much ambition for purpose?😊