By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Few songs of the 1960s, outside of The Beatles’ later output, has perhaps inspired more head-scratching than Procol Harum’s 1967 hit ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’. Even the band’s name is likely to invite puzzled looks from people who first encounter it. Who, or what, is a ‘procol harum’? And what does describing something as ‘a whiter shade of pale’ actually mean?
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
What was the Trojan Horse? The Trojan Horse the hollow wooden horse in which Greek soldiers concealed themselves so they could enter Troy without arousing suspicion. The Trojan Horse was offered to the city of Troy as a gift, but when the Trojans took the wooden horse inside the city gates, the Greeks who had secreted themselves within the wooden structure came out and were thus able to attack Troy from within.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘The Tyger’ is one of the best-known poems of the poet and engraver William Blake (1757-1827), but in many ways it is a mysterious, even inscrutable poem which views the tiger with both awe and horror.
A number of lines in the poem carry the force of an incantation, as if Blake were attempting to summon the tiger forth from those ‘forests of the night’. And although the poem is more questioning and suggestive than it is declarative or definitive on the subject of the tiger, it explores some weighty themes.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘The Summer Day’ is a lyric 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 time of her death, so a few words of analysis about some of her best-known poems seem appropriate.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
What has a defunct British publication got to do with the genesis of one of Coldplay’s signature songs? ‘Yellow’ was very much the band’s breakthrough hit in the summer of 2000, and is perhaps the best-crafted song on their debut album, Parachutes. But why ‘Yellow’? What is the meaning of this now iconic song?
Stay informed with curated content and the latest headlines, all delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now to stay ahead and never miss a beat!