A portrait of Alfred, Lord Tennyson,
by Samuel Laurence and Sir Edward Burne-Jones, circa 1840.
Wikimedia Commons
Alfred Tennyson’s passionate book-length elegy was once among the most popular poems in English. Today, it shows us how soulful art can stir us to life and stave off banality.
‘The Dyings have been too deep for me,’ Dickinson wrote in 1884.
Wikimedia Commons
190 years after her birth, Dickinson’s life reminds us of how to confront the depths of loss with courage and hope.
Cylinder seal (left) and modern impression (right) showing two people drinking beer through long straws. Khafajeh, Iraq (Early Dynastic period, c. 2600–2350 B.C.).
Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
Beer was extremely popular in ancient Mesopotamia. Sipped through straws, it differed from today’s beer and was enjoyed by people from all walks of life.
Chaucer at the Court of Edward III by Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893)
Wikiart
When we feel under siege, Chaucer’s doomed love story during the battle for Troy might be just the distraction we need.
Dennis Brutus’s life is synonymous with South Africa’s freedom struggle.
@mjb/Flickr
Brutus’s life was closely interlinked with the rise of apartheid and offered a way to look at resistance to this system.
Keorapetse Kgositsile with US author Alice Walker, 1996.
Anacleto Rapping/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
A study of the late Keorapetse Kgositsile shows how the poet influenced black American culture. It also shows how his mother and his grandmother’s oral traditions in turn influenced him.
Joshua Sortino/Unsplash
Human existence is now permeated by computer language. Digital artists combine human and computer codes to create digital poetry.
Chris Radburn/PA Archive/PA Images
A year after retiring as the UK’s poet laureate, Duffy is finding new ways to express herself.
Chaucer commended those who followed their societal roles and condemned those who didn’t.
Morphart Creation/Shutterstock
Poets and the wealthy were angered by those who saw their opportunity to rise above their station after the plague.
Kenrick Mills/Unsplash
Poems sing to us that life really matters, now.
Poetry doesn’t need to be meticulously studied. Like a novel, you can curl up on the sofa and read it for pleasure.
Oqvector/Shuttertsock
You don’t have to understand or even like every poem you read.
Eavan Boland was a formidable voice in Irish poetry, challenging the male tradition dominated by Yeatsian writers.
RTE
Breaking through the world of male Irish poetics, Boland was a fierce, feminist voice that was decidedly Irish.
Scottish Poetry Library
Scotland’s ‘makar’ and quiet man of poetry continues to be loved, read, taught and celebrated 100 years after his birth.
KHIUS/Shutterstock
Travel somewhere new from lockdown.
Lennon Cheng/Unsplash
From humble beginnings, poet Bruce Dawe became a genial voice, capturing everyday humanity with wry focus. For many Australians, he provided a first taste of verse.
Throughout his career, Hughes was eager to mentor and promote the work of writers abroad.
Library of Congress
To foreigners, he was a fellow traveler who recognized the plight of the oppressed.
Photo by Luke Dray Getty Images.
Written from prison, the new book of poems by the writer, academic and activist shows her fire but also her deep love for Uganda.
¡kuba!/flickr
Award-winning playwright Stephen House turned to poetry to capture glimpses of life. He writes verse until his composition ‘feels right’.
namibia.
In urban Namibia, performance poetry provides a safe space for women to share their experiences and challenge traditional ideas.
Peter Clarke
We created a reading-machine that finds poetry hidden in plain sight in popular books. In doing so, we are exploring Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning and reading in a digitised world.