weekly posts on literature, languages, and learning
Thomas Hardy was an English poet who lived and worked between two literary eras, connecting the legacy of British Romanticism with the early 20th century poetry. Best known as a novelist, thanks to classics such as Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd, he is also rightly considered one of the finest …
Continue reading "“Winter in Durnover Field” by Thomas Hardy"
Last time we had a poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson here on the blog, it was his lovely short piece “The Owl”. In this post I’d like to present “Ring Out, Wild Bells”: it’s a classic New Year’s Eve poem, filled with good wishes and hopeful pleas. First published in 1850, it addresses everything from …
Continue reading "A poem for the New Year: “Ring Out, Wild Bells” by Lord Alfred Tennyson"
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 Allusionist | Toki Pona Toki Pona flag Learning a new language is always a …
With Thanksgiving Day (the U.S. one) coming up, in this week’s poetry post I’ll share with you a cheerful holiday-themed poem. Titled “A Thanksgiving Dinner”, it was written by Maude M. Grant (1876-1941), a children’s poet and fiction writer from Michigan. If you’re learning or teaching English, you can use this poem to introduce or …
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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 …
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"
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 …
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 …
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