Nikolaus Lenau was the nom de plume of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau, a poet who is now considered one the most important voices of Late-Romantic literature in German. A portrait of Lenau by Matevž Langus Born in Csatád in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Lenauheim in the Banat region of western Romania) in 1802, …
“November” by Alice Cary
Alice Cary was a 19th century American poet. Born in 1820, she grew up in rural Ohio, on a family farm run by her father William. Although living far from any schools and lacking formal education, Alice was an avid reader with a thirst for knowledge. She and her sister Phoebe started writing poetry in …
“Haunted Houses” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In many countries around the world, 2nd November is marked as the Day of the Dead. It is a day on which people remember their loved ones who have passed away; they might visit their graves or attend special religious services. On that theme, for this week’s poetry post I have chosen a poem by …
Continue reading "“Haunted Houses” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow"
“To Autumn” by John Keats
This week’s poetry post continues our seasonal journey through autumn-themed poems. If you’re an English language learner, don’t miss the vocabulary exercise found at the bottom of the post, along with the links to some additional tools that will help you with this poem. “To Autumn” was written by John Keats, one the most important …
“To Nature” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the most important poets of the 18th and the early 19th century. He was a close friend of another very influential English poet, William Wordsworth, and his sister Dorothy - so close that he chose to move to the Lake District to live near them. The two Lake Poets …
The Weekend Listener #3
The Weekend Listener is an eclectic weekly list of noteworthy podcasts and radio recordings, old and new, curated for your listening pleasure. Posts in this series are published on Fridays – please search the website for the previous instalments. LANGUAGE The World in Words: How the Basque language has survived The Basque Land, Library of …
“The Owl” by Alfred Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson was a celebrated 19th century English poet whose life and work largely coincided with the reign of Queen Victoria. He was in many ways the embodiment of the Victorian literary tastes and widely recognised as Britain’s leading poet of the time, not the least through being honoured with the title of the Poet …