Do you hear the Spring sound of mowers humming? Stephen considers the poetic qualities of grass... I am easy to please. All seems right with the world when, on a sunny spring day, I can hear the hum of lawnmowers from various points in the distance, and the scent of freshly-cut ... Read More...
About Author Profile: Stephen Pentz
In today's Dabbler Verse post, Stephen introduces P. J. Kavanagh's poetic tribute to Edward Thomas... This coming Wednesday is the 97th anniversary of Edward Thomas's death at the Battle of Arras. In 1917, April 9th fell on Easter Monday. Edward Thomas in Heaven Edward, with thinning hair and hooded eyes Walking in England, haversack ... Read More...
In today's Dabbler Verse feature, two poems about hanging out the washing... Ivor Gurney was extremely sensitive to changes in the world around him, be it the weather or the seasons. Of course, one could argue that any "nature poet" (e.g., Edward Thomas, Andrew Young, John Clare, William Wordsworth) necessarily possesses ... Read More...
Following his post on Andrew Young, Stephen introduces another overlooked poet... James Reeves (1909-1978) devoted his life to poetry -- as a poet, an editor, an anthologist, a teacher, and a critic. But his devotion was a quiet one. Hence, his poetry does not receive the attention that it deserves. I ... Read More...
After a winter of record-breaking wetness and flooded lowlands, Stephen selects some poetry to make us feel better about water... In view of recent events, readers from the United Kingdom may be justifiably ill-disposed towards poetic paeans to water. Thus, I beg their indulgence as we consider its beneficent qualities, as ... Read More...
"Eternity Is Not Length Of Life But Depth Of Life" - how a line on a child's grave haunted the poet Charlotte Mew... Charlotte Mew, like any self-respecting Victorian poet, wrote her share of graveyard poems. Although I think of Mew as a modern poet, her life (she was born in ... Read More...
In today's poetry feature, Stephen selects three variations on Horace's famous advice about how to live... Perhaps the best-known piece of advice on How to Live was given by Horace: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. In The Oxford Dictionary of Latin Words and Phrases (1998) the phrase is translated as ... Read More...
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote his own requiem - and it echoed in the work of later poets... Robert Louis Stevenson suffered from ill-health for much of his short life. Nevertheless, he usually remained in good spirits. But he knew what he was up against. Thus, it is not surprising that, on ... Read More...
Happy New Year from all at The Dabbler! For our first post of 2014, Stephen offers poems for the new year and the old... As the New Year arrives we should spare a thought for the Old Year. Yes, T. S. Eliot has suggested that "Time present and time past/Are both perhaps present ... Read More...
Stephen brings you some poetry for Christmas Eve... Christina Rossetti's best-known poem is usually sung or listened to, not read. I suspect that many of those who sing or listen to the verses are not aware that they were written by Rossetti. Here is the first stanza of the poem: In the ... Read More...
