R.S. Thomas, in full Ronald Stuart Thomas, was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest whose birth anniversary falls today: he was born on 29 March 1913 and died in 2000.Noted for his Welsh nationalism and his intense spirituality , he was also a political activist, a pacifist, and an ardent supporter of the Campaign for… Read More R.S. Thomas and Poetry
Oggi, 11 novembre si celebra la festa di San Martino, il soldato dell’impero romano che, durante una ronda notturna nell’inverno del 335 divise il suo mantello con un povero seminudo, una ricorrenza spesso legata anche alla prima spillatura del vino novello. San Martino La nebbia a gl’irti collipiovigginando sale,e sotto il maestraleurla e biancheggia il… Read More San Martino
Il candido cigno del Larioè un uccello straordinarionuota maestoso nell’acqua blue poi a volte si immerge all’ingiĂą perchĂ© al cigno errabondopiace scoprire l’altro mondoe quand’è stanco di quello di fuoriguarda sotto in cerca di tesori. Allora immerge la sua mole superbalasciando emergere solo le tergae il papero che passa curiososi chiede cosa sia quell’oggetto misterioso… Read More Il cigno 🦢
Alexander Pope, one of the greatest English poets of the eighteenth century, was born on 21 May 1688. Considered a master of the heroic couplet (pairs of rhymed lines in iambic pentameter), he is best known for satirical and discursive poetry.In 1717 he wrote “Eloisa to Abelard”, his artistic interpretation of the 12th-century story of… Read More Alexander Pope: “Eloisa to Abelard”
Lionel Pigot Johnson, English poet, essayist, and critic, was born on 15 March 1867 in Kent.He studied at Winchester College and then at New College, Oxford, graduating in 1890 ; after that he went to London to pursue a literary career and to work as a writer and critic for a number of periodicals. When… Read More Johnson and Wilde (1)
Vita Sackville-West, English poet, novelist and writer on gardening, was born on 9 March 1892She was also famous for her intense relationship and ever-lasting friendship with Virginia Woolf. TrioSo well she knew them both! yet as she cameInto the room, and heard their speechOf tragic meshes knotted with her name,And saw them, foes, but meeting… Read More Trio
The poem is taken from the only volume of poetry, “Five Poems” (2002). written by American prose-writer Toni Morrison (1931-2019). THE EDGE He was a boy – just a boy –and I was a very young girl.In blazing light and shadows trimmed in goldwe took the risk of lovethe grist of lovethe dreamy, steamy mist… Read More The Edge
Toni Morrison (1931-2019) was an American novelist, essayist, editor, and professor. She was the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. She was also the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, for her 1987 novel “Beloved”, and of many more awards.She wrote a volume of poetry, “Five Poems” (2002),… Read More Toni Morrison Day
Alfred Joyce Kilmer was an American poet, as well as journalist, literary critic, lecturer, and editor, who was born on 6 December 1886.Although married and with children Joyce Kilmer volunteered for service in 1917 following America’s entry into World War I. Before his departure, he contracted with publishers to write a book about the war,… Read More Joyce Kilmer: Trees
Oscar Wilde died in Paris on this day, 30 November 1900, when he was only 46.Here is a short touching poem he wrote on the death of a young girl, his sister. Requiescat Tread lightly, she is near Under the snow,Speak gently, she can hear The daisies grow. All her bright golden hair Tarnished with… Read More Oscar Wilde and Death
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