It has been quite a long time since we enjoyed a poem together. One that comes to mind from time to time, and which seems so appropriate for the day (being his birthday) is the American poet Robert Frost’s poem, ‘A Tuft of Flowers’. 🎕 Let’s take a step away from grammar today and enjoy […]
🥀 ‘Does it not make you think of Cowper? “Ye fallen avenues, once more I mourn your fate unmerited.”‘ – Fanny Price in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park Austen fans will be interested to know that William Cowper (1731-1800) was her favourite poet, as well as her contemporary. Cowper (pronounced COO-per) was known not only for his
Lesson #199: Observing changes in English words over time, through Cowper’s ‘The Rose’ Read More »
🌳 I am sharing a poem with you today from my 110-year-old volume of John Greenleaf Whittier’s poems (published in 1894 and this edition dating from 1911)! Anyone who knows me knows of my love of books, and especially any old copies I can find. What makes the acquisition (the fact of owning or getting)
Lesson #193: ‘A Song of Harvest’: Some Observations on Whittier’s Poem Read More »
Every single language that is spoken today has undergone (gone through) many changes over the years, over centuries. This is also true of English, which could be described as having several phases or historical stages of development: 🪔 c. 500-1150 AD: Old English This is made of the dialects of Anglo-Saxon tribes, with a very few words
Lesson #177: Appreciating a Medieval English Poem: William Langland’s ‘Piers Plowman’ Read More »