Poets have often considered the spiritual and religious, and angels are an important part of this. Although some poets have used angels to symbolise love, especially divine love, others have used the trope of angels and the angelic in more surprising ways: witness Milton’s great epic poem which heads our […]
The story of Jason and Medea is among the most famous doomed love affairs in classical mythology, and the Greek myths are known for having their fair share of doomed love affairs. But what is the meaning and significance of the Jason and Medea myth? What did Jason do to […]
Autumn is at once symbolic of plenty, ripening, harvest, and abundance; and, at the same time, a symbol of decay, decline, old age, and even death, with associations of things being past their prime. To understand this we need to look at how writers have depicted autumn in poetry and […]
Robert Graves (1895-1985) is now probably best-remembered for two prose works: his 1929 memoir Goodbye to All That, about his experience fighting in the First World War, and his 1934 novel I, Claudius, set in ancient Rome. But Graves was also a highly influential poet – and theorist of poetry […]
‘Soldier’s Home’ is a 1925 short story by the American writer Ernest Hemingway, and one of his earliest and clearest examples of what would prove a prevalent and important theme for his work: alienation. You can read ‘Soldier’s Home’ here before proceeding to our summary and analysis of Hemingway’s story […]