The best poems about summer, selected by Dr Oliver Tearle ‘In a summer season, when soft was the sun’: so begins one of the great long poems of medieval England, William Langland’s Piers Plowman. But many shorter poems have reflected the warm sunshine and sense of happiness that we tend […]
Tag: Recommendations
10 Classic W. H. Auden Poems Everyone Should Read
The best Auden poems selected by Dr Oliver Tearle W. H. Auden (1907-1973) wrote a great deal of poetry, with many of the best Auden poems being written in the 1930s. In this post, we’ve taken on the difficult task of finding the ten greatest Auden poems – difficult because, although […]
Five of the Best Books about Studying Poetry
Five great introductions to English poetry selected by Dr Oliver Tearle If you’re studying poetry at school or university, or are simply a fan of the world of verse, it’s useful to have some handy guides standing by to assist with the terminology and to shed light on the various […]
10 Classic Spring Poems Everyone Should Read
The best poems about spring selected by Dr Oliver Tearle Spring is a fine season – perhaps the most popular of the four seasons, when it comes to poets and their seasonal choice of subject. Winter has its devotees, but there’s something to be said for spring with its new […]
10 Classic Works of Medieval Literature Everyone Should Read
Selected by Dr Oliver Tearle Say ‘medieval literature’ and a few names will spring to mind: Geoffrey Chaucer, Dante, the anonymous author of Beowulf. But where does one start exploring the wonderful and colourful world of medieval writing? Here are our ten recommendations, which give a sense of the rich panoply […]