Tag Archives: poetry

Wordsworth, Shakespeare and nature in time of crisis

7 April 2020 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Wordsworth. Since most of the world entered into lockdown, short walks have become our only distraction, and we have been taking more notice of the natural world. David … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Shakespeare's World | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Walking with Simon Armitage and Shakespeare

Congratulations to Simon Armitage, who was appointed Poet Laureate on 11 May 2019. It’s a strange job, nominally the official court poet, though these days it isn’t important to write new poems for royal occasions. It’s definitely an honour to … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Walking with Simon Armitage and Shakespeare

Speaking Shakespeare’s tragic verse

Last week Professor Tiffany Stern spoke at Stratford-upon-Avon’s Shakespeare Club on the subject of tragic performances on Shakespeare’s stage. She was struck by the way that writers tended to describe tragedies differently from other dramatic genres. Her thoughts on tragic … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage, Shakespeare's World | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Speaking Shakespeare’s tragic verse

If music and sweet poetry agree: Stratford-upon-Avon’s Festival

On Saturday morning Stratford-upon-Avon’s Music Festival began with a Festival Fanfare entitled Lend Me Your Ears, played by the brass ensemble from King Edward VI School. Performed on the steps of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre it was a reminder of … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage, Stratford-upon-Avon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

World Listening Day: Shakespeare in concert

Today is World Listening Day, and although it’s mostly focused on hearing music and the sounds of nature, there is also a link with Shakespeare. Earlier this week a journalist, Rupert Christiansen, wrote a piece in the Telegraph expressing his wish … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare on Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shakespeare’s rhyming couplets

We all know that in order to get to grips with Shakespeare’s writing, you have to understand blank verse, most crucially the unrhymed iambic pentameter. Students often struggle with the theory, though in practice it’s not so tough: one of … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Plays and Poems, Stratford-upon-Avon | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Shakespeare’s rhyming couplets

Writing Britain at the British Library

When visiting other people’s houses, I always enjoy looking at their bookshelves to see what they like to read, and to keep. All my Shakespeare books are in the room where I work, while books on other favourite subjects are … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Shakespeare’s well-apparell’d April

Shakespeare loved spring, and April, with its freshness and optimism is the month of which he writes most fondly. I couldn’t let it go by without a post containing a few of his lines, together with a selection of photographs … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Plays and Poems, Stratford-upon-Avon | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Shakespeare and National Poetry Day

Thursday 6 October is National Poetry Day in the UK. With so much economic gloom in the news, and to mark the day, here are a couple of pieces of Shakespeare’s most beautiful poetry.  The first one comes from near … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Legacy, Plays and Poems | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Michael Rosen and Shakespeare for children

I recently spent a day at the Cambridge Shakespeare Conference, its theme Shakespeare: sources and adaptations.  It opened with a thought-provoking lecture by Michael Rosen, Children’s Laureate 2007-2009 and Shakespeare enthusiast. To an audience who needed no convincing of the … Continue reading

Share
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare on Stage | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments