By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Ever since the advent of the railways in the 1820s, poets have been drawn to trains and railways, whether because they saw them as a threat to the English landscape, or they sought to capture the romance of rail travel, or they saw the potential of the train journey to carry significance beyond the literal. Here are ten of the finest poems about trains from nearly two centuries of English literature.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Birds are everywhere in poetry, so compiling this list of ten of the greatest bird poems has involved leaving many great poems out. However, we hope that the selection below will suggest the wondrous variety to be found among English-language poets and their descriptions of birds. What’s your favourite bird poem?
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The association between Valentine’s Day and love is long-standing, and many poets have written about love and romance. But how many have written about the day itself? Are there any classic Valentine’s Day poems? The following top ten list is our pick of some of the best poetic Valentines from over six centuries of English poetry.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
George Herbert (1593-1633) published none of his poetry during his lifetime, instead sending his poetic works to a friend shortly before his death, with the instruction that if his friend thought the poems worth publishing, he should do so. Thankfully, they were published, in The Temple in 1633, a few months after Herbert’s death.
The following poems are what we consider the ten greatest George Herbert poems (although other readers will doubtless have their own top ten list). The title of each poem leads through to the text of the poem.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
February is a month of transitions, as the cold weather and short days begin to give way to the nascent signs of spring, that season that is yet powerless to be born. (Here we must apologise to our readers in the southern hemisphere, and hope you’ll forgive our northern hemispherical bias.) Below are five of the best poems for the month of February.