By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘The Immortal Bard’ is a short story by the science-fiction author and prolific non-fiction writer, Isaac Asimov (1920-92). The story’s title wittily plays on the phrase used to describe William Shakespeare, who lives on and is thus ‘immortal’ thanks to his work. In the […]
Literature
A Summary and Analysis of Phillis Wheatley’s ‘On Virtue’
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘On Virtue’ is a poem written by Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-84) about that nebulous and wide-ranging quality known as virtue. Wheatley was the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry: Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral appeared in 1773 when she […]
The Curious Meaning and Origin of the Word ‘Leviathan’
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Where does the word ‘leviathan’ come from, and what animal does it refer to? The origins of the word are to be found in the Old Testament, but we need to take a closer look at the Bible to uncover the true meaning of […]
A Summary and Analysis of Ray Bradbury’s ‘I See You Never’
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘I See You Never’ is a short story by Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), published in 1947. One of Bradbury’s shortest stories, ‘I See You Never’ is about a Mexican man who, after two-and-a-half years living in the United States, is told he must leave the […]
A Summary and Analysis of Mary Oliver’s ‘The Black Walnut Tree’
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘The Black Walnut Tree’ is a poem by the American poet Mary Oliver (1935-2019), a poet who has perhaps not received as much attention from critics as she deserves. It’s been estimated that she was the bestselling poet in the United States at the […]