By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Are there really that many classic poems about mice, rats, and other rodents? Are there enough to compile a definitive ‘top ten’ list of the best mouse poems? We think so – and we hope the following collection of classic rodent poems supports such a claim. From classic children’s poems to satirical poems to poems about grief, these poems all use mice and other rodents to create great and memorable poetry.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
January is, famously, a month of new beginnings, named after the Roman god Janus, that literally two-faced (or two-headed) deity who faced both backwards and forwards, recalling the past even while he looked ahead to the future. January is also – at least if you’re in the upper end of the northern hemisphere – pretty cold and wintry.
Here are five of the very best poems for the month of January.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Carol Ann Duffy (b. 1955) was the UK Poet Laureate from 2009 until 2019, but she has been a major voice in contemporary British poetry for over thirty years, since her first collection, Standing Female Nude
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Andrew Marvell (1621-78) is widely regarded as one of the greatest English poets of the seventeenth century. His work is often associated with the Metaphysical Poets. But which are Marvell’s best poems? Below we’ve selected ten of Andrew Marvell’s most famous and popular poems and said a little bit about them. The title of each poem leads through to the text of the poem.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
William Blake (1757-1827) is one of the key figures of English Romanticism, and a handful of his poems are universally known thanks to their memorable phrases and opening lines. Blake frequently spoke out against injustice in his own lifetime: slavery, racism, poverty, and the corruption of those in power. In this post we’ve chosen what we consider to be ten of the best William Blake poems, along with links to each of them.