In recent years the orthodoxy that Shakespeare can only be truly appreciated on stage has become widespread. But, as with many of our habits and assumptions, lockdown gives us a chance to think differently. Now could be the time to dust off the old collected works, and read some Shakespeare, just as people have been doing for more than 400 years. Many people have said they find reading Shakespeare a bit daunting, so here are five tips for how to make it simpler and more pleasurable. 1. Ignore the footnotes…
Read MoreTag: Classic English Literature
Dandelions by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Dandelions Welcome children of the Spring In your garbs of green and gold Lifting up your sun-crowned heads On the verdant plain and world As a bright and joyous troop From the breast of earth ye came Fair and lovely are your cheeks With sun-kisses all aflame In the dusty streets and lanes Where the lowly children play There as gentle friends ye smile Making brighter life’s highway Dewdrops and the morning sun Weave your garments fair and bright And…
Read MoreSpring Cleaning by Melvin Dixon
Spring Cleaning First goes floor dust, then newspapers stacked near the bed. Peanut shells swept out of hiding between mattress and rug. Toenails clipped. Sprouts of a beard shaved off. With hourly glasses of Deer Park Water and the barest of food, the body sheds winter fat and filler The hair goes next, close to the gleaming, gleaming skull You are ready for the sun and the salt-tongued air You are someone new. I will be someone new, like you, and promise not to hear the rattle our bones make…
Read MoreConfession by Countee Cullen
Confession …………………. If for a day joy masters me Think not my wounds are healed Far deeper than the scars you see I keep the roots concealed They shall bear blossoms with the fall I have their word for this Who tend my roots with rains of gall And suns of prejudice
Read MoreThe Death of the Hired Man by Robert Frost
MARY sat musing on the lamp-flame at the table Waiting for Warren. When she heard his step She ran on tip-toe down the darkened passage To meet him in the doorway with the news And put him on his guard. “Silas is back She pushed him outward with her through the door And shut it after her. “Be kind,” she said She took the market things from Warren’s arms And set them on the porch, then drew him down To sit beside her on the wooden steps “When was I…
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