Tagged: poetry

July Poems for memorization, recitation, and copywork.

July Poems

We in the northern hemisphere may be melting in the July heat, but there are compensations. July poems from poets such as Emily Dickinson, Robert Louis Stevenson, Amy Lowell, and Lewis Carroll remind us...

New Year poems, and of course, Auld Lang Syne.

New Year Poems

How better to mark the close of an old year and the coming of a new than with poetry or song? Here are a few favorite classic New Year’s Eve poems to help you...

John Clare by William Hilton

John Clare Biography

John Clare CLARE, JOHN (1793–1864), an English poet, was born 13 July 1793, at Helpstone, a village halfway between Peterborough and Stamford. Early Life John Clare had a twin sister who died before him....

August poems from Excellence in Literature

August Poems

Poets can be inspired by many things, but honestly — bugs? I guess if you’re writing about the month of August, it’s almost inevitable that some variety of insect will appear. You’ll find bugs...

February — A Poem by John Clare

February A poem from The Shepherd’s Calendar by John Clare (mini-bio at end) The snow is gone from cottage tops The thatch moss glows in brighter green And eves in quick succession drops Where...

Robert Louis Stevenson poetry offers vivid and compelling images of childhood, travel, and more.

Robert Louis Stevenson Poetry

Robert Louis Stevenson, in addition to his famous prose works, also wrote poetry ranging from children’s nursery rhymes to poems of travel and adventure. Here are a few samples for your enjoyment. From A...

As Kingfishers Catch Fire by Gerard Manley Hopkins

As Kingfishers Catch Fire

As Kingfishers Catch Fire by Gerard Manley Hopkins As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung...

Anne Bradstreet was an early member of the Massachusetts town of Ipswich.

Anne Bradstreet Biography

Anne Bradstreet was the first American Puritan writer; the first writer published in America; the first female poet published in both England and America.

March poems speak of the beauty and bluster of the month.

March Poems

Poems about the month of March Each month has its share of poetic musings, and March is no exception. As children, we learn that “March comes in like a lion and goes out like...

William Blake by Thomas Philips

William Blake Biography (1911)

The William Blake biography from the 1911 Encyclopedia Brittanica offers an opinionated glimpse of the life and style of author and artist, William Blake.

Cultivating a Pleasant Speaking Voice

Cultivating a Pleasant Speaking Voice

When teaching the art of recitation or rhetoric, we sometimes forget to teach one element essential for confident presentation: a pleasant, well-modulated speaking voice. A timid, squeaky, mumbling, or breathy voice is not only be tiring to use, but can be a social and business liability. Here are a few ideas for cultivating a pleasant, well-modulated speaking voice.

Engraving of George Herbert, poet.

George Herbert Biography

George Herbert (1593–1633) wrote some of the most beautiful devotional poetry in the English language. Learn more about this poet’s life and work.

Edgar Lee Masters, as photographed in 1915.

Edgar Lee Masters Biography

What did contemporary scholars think of Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950) during his lifetime? Here’s an interesting biography and analysis published in 1918, written by popular Yale professor William Lyon Phelps. Edgar Lee Masters was...

Robert Frost, American poet

Robert Frost Resources

Robert Frost Resources Robert Lee Frost (1874 – 1963) was a highly-regarded American poet known for realistic depictions of New England rural life as well as his use of American colloquial speech. His work used homespun...

Fitzgerald Audio Recordings

Fitzgerald Audio Recordings

F. Scott Fitzgerald Audio Recordings Listen to these 1940s recordings of F. Scott Fitzgerald reading and reciting famous literature — he has a magnificent, magical voice that seems to give insight into his works...

Christina Rossetti was an English poet best known for "In the Bleak Midwinter" and "Goblin Market."

Christina Rossetti Biography

Christina Rossetti Biography Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830 – 1894) was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children’s poems. She is famous for writing the words to the Christmas carol In the Bleak Midwinter. The Life...

Portrait of William Butler Yeats by John Singer Sargent.

William Butler Yeats Poetry

William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939) was an Irish Symbolist poet, as well as a two-term Irish Senator. He was a master of traditional poetry forms, and is widely considered one of the most...

Una and the Lion from Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene- {{PD-US}} – published in the US before 1923 and public domain in the US.

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.

George Orwell as he faced the world in 1936.

George Orwell Resources

Would you like to learn more about George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four? George Orwell (1903-1950) was the pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair, an English novelist whose work is known for...

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American Transcendentalist poet and writer.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Biography

Biography of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) by Dr. Ann Woodlief Ralph Waldo Emerson is truly the center of the American transcendental movement, setting out most of its ideas and values in a little book, Nature,...

Richard Austin recites Gerard Manley Hopkins' poetry all over the world.

Richard Austin Recites Hopkins’ Poetry

Richard Austin Recites Hopkins’ Poetry Richard Austin grew up in the same corner of England as Gerard Manley Hopkins. Thus blessed with the correct native accent, he now recites Hopkins’ poetry all over the...