Interesting Literature

A Short Analysis of Edmund Spenser’s Amoretti III: ‘The Sovereign Beauty Which I Do Admire’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The sovereign beauty which I do admire, / Witness the world how worthy to be praised’: so begins the third sonnet in Edmund Spenser’s 1595 sonnet sequence Amoretti, written to celebrate his own marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth Boyle. As love poems to one’s newlywed bride go, it must have made the young Elizabeth blush with pride; the sonnet flatters her beauty using the courtly language of the sonnet sequence.

10 of the Best Poems about Fear

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Hope has often been a subject of poetry, as our pick of classic hopeful poems demonstrates. But sometimes the future seems filled less with hope than with fear. What have poets said about fear, about uncertainty for the future, and about being afraid? Below, we introduce ten of our favourite poems about fear and fearfulness.

A Summary and Analysis of John Donne’s ‘No Man Is an Island’ Meditation

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ is a phrase from one of John Donne’s most famous pieces of writing. Indeed, it’s the same piece of writing that also includes what is probably his other most famous phrase, ‘No Man Is an Island’.

More Misinformation and Misconceptions

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle reviews a forty-year-old book debunking various widely held beliefs

Last year, I reviewed a fascinating book, The Dictionary of Misinformation, written by a professor of English named Tom Burnam and published in 1975. Although it’s now out of print, you can pick up a second-hand copy of it online for a few quid (my copy cost me less than £2.50 including postage). And I’d strongly recommend doing so.

A Short Analysis of John Clare’s ‘First Love’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘First Love’ is one of the best-known and best-loved poems by John Clare (1793-1864), who is often forgotten when people are recalling the great English Romantic poets. But as this poem demonstrates, Clare’s poetry is a curious blend of the simple or direct and the complex, and a few words of analysis of ‘First Love’ may help to elucidate the poem.