By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
There is a special term to describe literary depictions of visual works of art: ekphrasis. Poems about pictures or paintings are, then, ekphrastic poems. But what are the greatest ekphrastic poems in English literature? Here are ten of the very best examples of ekphrasis from the last couple of centuries.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
It’s time for the latest in our series of ‘month’ poem compilations. This time: November, the month of much darker evenings, colder nights, and barer trees – the last of which being something Thomas Hood’s poem, included below, captures very effectively. Here, then, are some of the very best poems about the month of November.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Regret is a major theme in much poetry, so below we offer ten of the very best poems about regret, remorse, and related emotions. These poems range from laments about the past, to regret for a particular incident.
In previous posts, we’ve offered the best poems about mothers, the best poems about fathers, the best poems about sons, and the best poems about daughters. Below are some of the very best poems about family of all kinds: both individual relatives and the family unit as a whole. What are the best family poems, and the best poems about families? Do you have any favourites?
Anne Bradstreet, ‘Upon My Daughter Hannah Wiggin Her Recouery From A Dangerous Feaver’.
Bles’t bee thy Name, who did’st restore
To health my Daughter dear
When death did seem ev’n to approach,
The best Shakespeare songs
Previously, we’ve picked 10 of Shakespeare’s finest sonnets and 10 of his greatest plays, as well as some of the greatest speeches from his plays. But within his plays there are many songs which have become famous as poems in their own right. Phrases like ‘full fathom five’, ‘fear no more the heat of the sun’, and ‘under the greenwood tree’, this last helped by Thomas Hardy using is at the title for one of his novels, have all taken on a life of their own. A. E. Housman named Shakespeare’s songs as one of the most important influences on his own poetry. Below, we pick 10 of Shakespeare’s best songs from the plays, and say a little about each of them.