Down and Out
Blog 17A couple of years ago, I read Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner again, all seven parts. While it is a tour de force, it is very much of its time. You are unlikely to meet an old sailor
Aelwyn’s Saga
Blog 15 I visited Sutton Hoo not long ago. The site has been updated and the visitor numbers have increased since the release of “The Dig”, the excellent film about the discovery of the buried Saxon longship. The on-site museum is very
Getting Old
Blog 14I am old. Eighty, an age which you never imagine you will reach, has passed and I’m now eighty-two. When I was sixty-five, I thought that getting older was a bad idea, so I began to count backwards. Now,
Triskaidekaphobia
Blog 13 Triskaidekaphobia is not something I suffer from. The number thirteen to me is just a number. But many people do try to avoid it and think it brings bad luck. In Japan the number four is thought to bring
Disability
Blog 12 Children with disabilities face prejudice all the time. If they are at a mainstream school, their peers may never have encountered anyone like them before. The behaviour of children in groups can mean that, following their natural leader, the
Story Poems
Blog 11The subject of a poem can be as varied as that of a piece of prose. It might be purely emotional, descriptive, atmospheric or fanciful. I think a poem that tells a story is especially valuable for children. The
A Safe and Sunny Walk
Blog 10The death of Dr Michael Mosley is a tragedy, for his wife, his family and for all his fans. There is no doubt that his engaging personality did much to improve the health of many people and he is
What exactly is a poem?
What is a poem? Today, this has become harder to define, especially with the increasing popularity of ‘Prose Poetry’. Prose poems have a long history and include many eminent poets amongst its proponents, though some, such T.S. Eliot, argued strongly
A Children’s Charivari
I have begun to put together an anthology of poems for children. I’m willing to bet that most of you can still recite several that you learned in your childhood. Poetry is very important for the development of language, especially
Thoughts On A Prayer Before Birth
While looking at some of my favourite poems the other day, I came across Prayer Before Birth, written by Louis MacNeice during the darkest days of the Second World War.It’s an eloquent plea for a life free from all the
