poetic legacy Archives

Verses of Vernal Promise: Nora Perry’s Springtime Poetry

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 13, 1896 On this day, dear readers, we bid farewell to Nora Perry, an American poet, newspaper correspondent, and writer whose verses captured the essence of spring’s awakening. Though she has left…

Paul-Marie Verlaine: The soul’s sealed garden and the poet behind Clair de Lune

Paul-Marie Verlaine in 1893 by Otto Wegener (colorized and enhanced).

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 30, 1844 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Paul-Marie Verlaine, a poet whose words bloom like the most delicate flowers in a secret garden—fragile, mysterious, and intoxicating. Verlaine…

The Garden as Sanctuary: R. S. Thomas’s Poetic Gesture Against the Wild

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 29, 1913 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Ronald Stuart Thomas—better known as R. S. Thomas—a Welsh poet and Anglican priest whose words wove the rugged beauty of the…

Clive James’ Final Autumn: A Poet’s Farewell Told Through a Japanese Maple

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 7, 1939 Dearest readers, On this day, the literary world welcomed Clive James, an Australian-born British critic, poet, novelist, and memoirist known for his sharp wit and elegant prose. His unique voice…

Margaret Cavendish: The Brain as a Garden and Her Poetic Vision

Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623-1673), a prominent English aristocrat, philosopher, poet, scientist, fiction-writer, and playwright.

The Brain a Garden December 15, 1673 Today is the anniversary of the death of the 17th-century philosopher, poet, scientist, fiction-writer, naturalist, and playwright Margaret Cavendish. Margaret’s perspective on the natural world helped shape our modern viewpoint. And it should be noted that Margaret was the first woman to make a living from her writing.…