In Search of Beowulf
In this BBC documentary, historian Michael Wood traces the birth of English poetry back to the Dark Ages with a journey through the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. Along with poet Seamus Heaney, actor Julian...
Tagged: british literature
Alexander Pope Biography
ALEXANDER POPE (1688–1744), English poet, was born in Lombard Street, London, on the 21st of May 1688. His father, Alexander Pope, a Roman Catholic, was a linen-draper who afterwards retired from business with a...
Mary Shelley Poetry
Stanzas by Mary Shelley Oh, come to me in dreams, my love! I will not ask a dearer bliss; Come with the starry beams, my love, And press mine eyelids with thy kiss. ’Twas...
Leigh Hunt Biography
JAMES HENRY LEIGH HUNT (1784–1859), English essayist and miscellaneous writer, was born at Southgate, Middlesex, on the 19th of October 1784. His father, the son of a West Indian clergyman, had settled as a...
The Renaissance
by John Addington Symonds The Renaissance RENAISSANCE—The “Renaissance” or “Renascence” is a term used to indicate a well-known but indefinite space of time and a certain phase in the development of Europe. On the...
Ovid to his Wife by Anna Laetitia Barbauld
In this imaginative farewell poem from Roman poet Ovid to his wife, English poet Anna Laetitia Barbauld writes of aging. OVID to his WIFE: Imitated from different Parts of his Tristia. Jam mea cygneas...
The Revenge by Tennyson
The Revenge: A Ballad of the Fleet by Alfred, Lord Tennyson At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay, And a pinnace, like a flutter’d bird, came flying from far away. ‘Spanish ships...
The Reticence of Lady Anne by Saki
The Reticence of Lady Anne By Saki (aka H. H. Munro) Egbert came into the large, dimly lit drawing-room with the air of a man who is not certain whether he is entering a...
Chaucer Biography
GEOFFREY CHAUCER (? 1340–1400), English poet, is most famous for his great work “The Canterbury Tales.” His own age delighted in stories, and he gave it the stories it demanded invested with a humanity,...
William Shakespeare Biography
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564–1616), English poet, player and playwright, was baptized in the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire on the 26th of April 1564. The exact date of his birth is not known. Birth...
Lewis Carroll Biography
Best known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll, the author and mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodson (1832–1898), was born at Daresbury, near Warrington, in England on the 27th of January 1832. He was the eldest son...
Kew Gardens by Virginia Woolf
Kew Gardens (1921) by Virginia Woolf FROM THE OVAL-SHAPED flower-bed there rose perhaps a hundred stalks spreading into heart-shaped or tongue-shaped leaves half way up and unfurling at the tip red or blue or...
Francis Thompson Biography
FRANCIS THOMPSON (1859–1907), poet and prose-writer, was born on 18 Dec. 1859 at 7 Winckley Street, in Preston, England. His father, Charles Thompson (1824–1896), a native of Oakham, Rutland, practiced homoeopathy at Preston and...
Christopher Marlowe Biography
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (1564–1593), English dramatist, the father of English tragedy, and [the establisher] of dramatic blank verse, the eldest son of a shoemaker at Canterbury, was born in that city on the 6th of...
Charles Dickens Biography
Charles Dickens (1812–1870) is one of the best-known authors of Victorian England, and he has created some of the most memorable characters in British Literature. Early Life He was born on the 7th of...
The Storm by John Donne
Following his participation in the Islands Voyage, an unsuccessful 1597 naval campaign also known as the Essex-Raleigh Expedition, poet John Donne wrote “The Storm,” memorializing a storm at sea. The Storme To Mr. Christopher...
Understanding Emma’s World by Pamela Whalan
Understanding Emma’s World by Pamela Whalan Difficulties for modern readers Timeless Human Nature Good Breeding: A Marriage Consideration Wealth through Marriage: Dowries Work for Single Women Marriage as a Business Deal Men Earning Money:...
Jane Austen Biography
This brief Jane Austen biography by David Cody is likely to whet your appetite for learning more about Jane Austen and her works.
Spenser Timeline
What happened during Faerie Queene author Edmund Spenser’s life? This Spenser timeline covers the years from Spenser’s birth in 1552 to his death in 1599.
Edmund Spenser Biography
The Life of Edmund Spenser Author of The Faerie Queene Spenser biography Dr. George Armstrong Wauchope, Professor of English, South Carolina College Birth and early years Edmund Spenser was born in London near the...
C. S. Lewis Biography
British writer and scholar C.S Lewis (1898–1963) is the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, Till We Have Faces, Mere Christianity, and many scholarly works.
John Keats Biography (1911)
John Keats (1795 – 1821) was an English Romantic poet, often mentioned along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
Jonathan Swift Biography
This Swift biography paints a vivid portrait of the life and works of Jonathan Swift, an early British novelist. Introduction to Literature, Module 1.9.
Lord Byron Biography
Overview of Byron’s life Parents and birth Raised by his mother First love Pigots and poetry Out on his own Criticism and triumph House of Lords Travels across Europe Return to England “Childe Harold”...
Charlotte Brontë Biography
The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell “Hand in hand they used to make their way to the glorious moors, which in after days they loved so passionately.” The Children Who Never Played...
Elizabeth Barrett Browning Biography (1911)
Family history and upbringing Meeting other poets Health troubles Praise and correspondence Browning’s courtship A secret wedding Published poetry Politics and posterity “God took her” Overview of married life and poetry Sources Family history...
Robert Browning Biography (1911)
Robert Browning Biography Family background Early career & personality First major poems (Paracelsus and Sordello) Dramatic works Expanding poetic repertoire Marriage Browning’s masterpiece: The Ring and the Book Growing fame Later writings Beliefs (religious...
Cathy Duffy Review of Excellence in Literature
Cathy Duffy Review of Excellence in Literature Cathy Duffy has posted a thoughtful review of Excellence in Literature on her website. In case you are not familiar with Duffy, she is the author of...
Videos Referenced in Excellence in Literature
Here are lists of the videos referenced in the EIL curriculum, organized by level. Introduction to Literature videos Literature and Composition videos American Literature videos British Literature videos World Literature videos
Level E4 Resource Updates
British Literature Updates Due to the ever-changing nature of the Internet, online resources sometimes move unexpectedly to new addresses. Here are the most recent updates for Level 4: British Literature. Remember, you can always type...
