What Sends Shivers Down Your Spine? I don’t mean literally, what makes you shiver? I use the expression ‘that sends shivers down my spine’ quite frequently, but I am usually referring to a work of art, a snatch of poetry or prose or music, that speaks almost painfully directly to me. It is as if it is reaching down inside me, touching something vital which responds with the speed of a snake striking its prey. You will all have your own examples, what moves one person may leave another cold, but anyway, here are some of mine. Strangely, although I am not a believer, two of the prime examples are of a religious nature. I have already mentioned in a previous blog how in a television production of Arnold Wesker’s play, Chips with Everything , an aircraftman recites the Lyke-Wake Dirge, as I recall in a Scottish accent, and with none of the stylised Yorkshire-speak: This aye night, this aye night. Every night and all. Fire and fleet and candlelight, And Christ receive thy ...