Posts Tagged ‘Victorian poetry’
Danske Dandridge: The Gardener-Poet of Rose Brake
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 19, 1854 On this day, Danske [“DAN-sker”] Dandridge, poet, historian, and garden writer, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her story begins with a diplomatic posting—her father, Henry Bedinger, served as President James…
Read MoreA Victorian Ode to May: Phebe Holder’s Botanical Poetry
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 1, 1890 On this day in horticultural history, the enchanting poem “A Song of May” by the esteemed New England poet and gardener Phebe Holder graced the pages of newspapers, captivating readers…
Read MoreBlooms and Gloom: The Poetic Landscapes of Charlotte Mary Mew
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: November 15, 1869 On this day, dear readers and fellow gardeners, we celebrate the birth of a most intriguing literary flower: Charlotte Mary Mew, the English poet whose verses bloomed with a haunting beauty that continues to captivate us to this very day. Born…
Read MoreThe Poet’s Plot: Thomas Edward Brown and the Divine Garden
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 5, 1830 On this day, dear readers, a most verdant soul sprouted forth on the Isle of Man. Thomas Edward Brown, destined to become a late-Victorian scholar, schoolmaster, poet, and theologian, drew…
Read MoreTennyson’s Garden: Careless-Ordered Beauty and Timeless Verse
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 6, 1809 Dearest garden reader, On this day, the English literary world welcomed Alfred Lord Tennyson, the beloved poet laureate of Queen Victoria’s reign, whose words and gardens continue to enchant visitors…
Read MoreJohn Banister Tabb: Poet, Priest, and Epigrammatist of the Garden
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 22, 1845 Dearest reader, On this day, the world welcomed John Banister Tabb, an American poet, Roman Catholic priest, and gifted teacher whose words continue to bud with gentle wisdom. Born into…
Read MoreA farewell among the flowers: William Barnes’s garden elegy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 22, 1801 Dearest reader, On this day, we honor the birth of William Barnes, an English polymath whose life was a splendid tapestry woven with words, inventions, and a love for languages—over…
Read MoreOctober’s Bright Blue Weather: The Garden Poetry of Helen Hunt Jackson
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 15, 1830 Dearest reader, On this day, Helen Hunt Jackson was born—an American poet, novelist, and activist who, with her pen, championed causes often ignored by her time. Writing under the name…
Read MoreMary Elizabeth Coleridge: A Gardener’s Poet in September’s Embrace
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 23, 1861 Dearest garden loves, as autumn’s gentle touch begins to paint our gardens in shades of amber and gold, we find ourselves drawn to contemplate the poetic nature of this transitional…
Read MoreAlfred Lord Tennyson’s Timeless Garden Inspiration
Forever Garden November 19, 1850 Today is the anniversary of the death of the English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. Alfred was the fourth of twelve children in his family, and he became one of the most well-loved Victorian poets. Today, Alfred’s walled garden on the Isle of Wight is still available for walk-throughs. Both Alfred’s…
Read MoreThe Brook Flows Forever: Tennyson’s Meditation on Nature and Time
by Alfred Lord Tennyson I come from haunts of coot and hern, I make a sudden sally And sparkle out among the fern, To bicker down a valley. By thirty hills I hurry down, Or slip between the ridges, By twenty thorpes, a little town, And half a hundred bridges. Till last by Philip’s farm,…
Read MoreThe Brontë Garden: Emily’s Currants, Wild Roses, and the Language of Friendship
The Brontë Garden It’s the birthday of the author and poet Emily Brontë. Emily’s older sister, by two years, was Charlotte. Her younger sister and closest friend was Anne. They were two peas in a pod. Emily’s mom died when she was three. She lost two older sisters, Maria and Elizabeth when she was six.…
Read MoreThe Silent Gardener: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Child’s View of Labor and Play
by Robert Louis Stevenson The gardener does not love to talk. He makes me keep the gravel walk; And when he puts his tools away. He locks the door and takes the key. He digs the flowers, green, red, and blue. Nor wishes to be spoken to. He digs the flowers and cuts the hay. …
Read MoreThe Butterfly’s Ball: Robert Michael Ballantyne’s Garden of Revels
by Robert Michael Ballantyne Come take up your Hats, and away let us haste To the Butterfly’s Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast. The Trumpeter, Gad-fly, has summoned the Crew, And the Revels are now only waiting for you. And there came the Beetle, so blind and so black, Who carried the Emmet, his Friend, on…
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