Posts Tagged ‘English literature’
A Poet’s Garden: Celebrating John Keats’ Natural World Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 31, 1795 On this day, John Keats was born into a world he would later capture through some of the most vivid botanical imagery in English poetry. Though his life was tragically…
Read MoreRose by Any Other Name: The Many Facets of Rosamund Marriott Watson
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 6, 1860 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of a most remarkable soul, Rosamund Marriott Watson, an English poet, nature writer, and critic of extraordinary talent. Known affectionately as…
Read More“No” to November, “Yes” to Poetry: The Wit and Wisdom of Thomas Hood
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 23, 1799 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of a man whose words have danced through the ages, painting pictures of both joy and melancholy – Thomas Hood, the…
Read MoreCharlotte Turner Smith: Weaving Garlands of Verse in Nature’s Garden
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 4, 1749 On this day, Charlotte Turner Smith, English novelist and Romantic poet, entered the world. A woman of remarkable talent, she would go on to revive the English sonnet and help…
Read MorePeacock Pie and wildflower seeds: Walter de la Mare’s poetic gardens
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 25, 1873 Dearest reader, On this day, we remember the birth of Walter de la Mare, a poet whose whimsical verse has long enchanted the hearts of children and adults alike. An…
Read MoreA Little Wilderness of Roses and Lilies: Andrew Marvell’s Garden Verse
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 31, 1621 Dearest reader, On this day, the world welcomed Andrew Marvell, whose life and verse would come to blossom much like the very gardens he so admired. Marvell—poet, politician, and confidant…
Read MoreNovels and Nature: Elizabeth Gaskell’s Flowering World
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 29, 1810 Today we celebrate that most earnest observer of gardens and humanity, Elizabeth Gaskell, whose pen moved as deftly between social commentary and nature’s beauty as she moved between her writing…
Read MoreThe road through winter: Arthur St. John Adcock on journeys renewed
by Arthur St. John Adcock The way that leads to winter Will lead to summer too, For all roads end in other roads Where we may start anew. Today’s Garden words were featured on the podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. The Way That Leads…
Read MoreFrom Xanadu to Your Backyard: Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Horticultural Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 25, 1834 On this day, dear readers, we bid farewell to the illustrious English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a luminary of the Romantic Movement and a cherished member of the Lake Poets.…
Read MoreRobert Louis Stevenson and Herbert Jekyll: Friendship That Inspired Literary Legend
Garden of Verses Today is the birthday of Scottish-born writer and poet Robert Louis Stevenson, who was born on this day in 1850. Stevenson sickly little boy with no brothers or sisters. When he was just a toddler, a woman named Alison Cunningham was brought into the Stevenson home to help care for Robert. When…
Read MoreSara Coleridge and Traditional Wisdom on July: Cooling Showers and Bees
by Sara Coleridge A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay. A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon. A swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly. Today’s Garden words were featured on the podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful…
Read MoreSamuel Taylor Coleridge: The Poet Who Planted Romantic Seeds
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 25, 1834 On this day, the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge departed from this mortal garden at the age of sixty-one, leaving behind a landscape of verse that would bloom in perpetuity…
Read MoreCicely Mary Barker’s “The Lilac Fairy”: A Maytime Song of Beauty and Scent
by Cicily Mary Barker White May is flowering, Red May beside Laburnum is showering Gold far and wide; But I sing of Lilac, The dearly-loved Lilac, Lilac, in Maytime A joy and a pride! I love her so much That I never can tell If she’s sweeter to look at, Or sweeter to smell. Today’s…
Read MoreWilliam Watson’s “April”: The Girlish Daughter of Springtime
by William Watson An April poem that puts all others in shadow is the lyrical “April” by William Watson (Books By This Author). England’s onetime poet Laureate began the poem with an unforgettably beautiful expression that reminds us that April is the girlish daughter of springtime: “April, April, laugh your girlish laughter, then, the moment…
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