Category: Poetry
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The art of Billy Collins
Billy Collins, who turned 72 yesterday (March 22), was once called the most popular poet in America by the New York Times. I love some of his poems that speak to me like a friend, telling stories in intimate, picturesque detail; I listen, completely spellbound, unable to interrupt, and the…
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Poe’s Raven
So the only American football team named after a literary work has won the Superbowl. The Baltimore Ravens are named after The Raven, a poem by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), who lived for some time in Baltimore. He was born in Boston, though. The most famous man of letters from…
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Office Friendships, Hurried Love and Prayer by Gavin Ewart
The Writer’s Almanac reminded me today is the birthday of Gavin Ewart (February 4, 1916 -October 25,1995). Here are some of his poems I found online and liked them so much they had to be here. Office Friendships Eve is madly in love with HughAnd Hugh is keen on Jim.Charles…
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William Blake and C.S. Lewis
Going through The Writer’s Almanac, I found yesterday happened to be the birthday of William Blake (Nov 28, 1757, London – August 12, 1827, London). So here is a poem by him I read on The Literature Network:
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Four Quartets on T.S. Eliot’s birthday
Today is the birthday of T.S. Eliot (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965). I dipped into The Four Quartets and was immediately captivated by the opening lines of the first poem, Burnt Norton: Time present and time pastAre both perhaps present in time futureAnd time future contained in time…
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Ulysses and Crossing the Bar on Tennyson’s birthday
Today is the birthday of Lord Alfred Tennyson (August 6, 1809 – October 6,1892). He’s one of the most popular poets in the English language, and was one of the last poets to sell as many books as a novelist. At his peak, he was one of the most famous…
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A love poem with shades of Donne
I read this love poem a few days ago on The Writer’s Almanac run by Garrison Keillor and it reminded me of John Donne. It is witty and playful like Donne’s love poems.
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To a Skylark on Shelley’s birthday
Today is the birthday of Percy Bysshe Shelley (August 4, 1792 – July 8, 1822) — and Barack Obama as well. He turns 51 today. I have always loved Keats and the older I grow the more I like Wordsworth. Much of Shelley, however, goes clean over my head. I…
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Two lovely poems and a Singapore state of mind
People talk of a New York state of mind (below are the lyrics of the song by Billy Joel). Surely, there’s a Singapore state of mind, too.
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Reading The Road Not Taken on Robert Frost’s birthday
Today is the birthday of two poets, Robert Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) and A.E. Houseman (March 26, 1859 – April 30, 1936), and the playwright, Tennessee Williams (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983). Here are three poems by Frost.
Readiscovery 