Kingsley Amis rated A.E. Housman as one of the greatest English poets. Stephen reveals why... The two great themes of A. E. Housman's poetry are love (unrequited, or requited and lost) and death (or, put differently, the fleeting nature of life). These subjects are addressed in verse that some may find ... Read More...
About Author Profile: Stephen Pentz
There was much more to Thomas Hardy than pessimism, as Edward Thomas observed... Edward Thomas knew English poetry backwards and forwards. Not surprisingly, therefore, his comments on particular poets are very perceptive. When it comes to the poetry of Thomas Hardy, Thomas (as is the case with anyone who reads the ... Read More...
This week Stephen celebrates an unfairly overlooked poet... Many of my favorite poems have been written by poets who I consider to be "neglected." There are various reasons for this neglect. Perhaps it has to do with literary "reputations" and (Heaven forbid) literary "criticism." (I am not an unremitting foe of ... Read More...
Following his post on October leaves, this week Stephen approaches autumn from a more oblique angle... Autumn is not autumn without a visit to Wallace Stevens. I do not know exactly what the following poem "means." Perhaps it has something to do with autumn being both an end and a beginning, ... Read More...
This week Stephen brings you some poetry for autumn... Because October is my favourite month and because this is my favourite season, today I pursue an autumnal theme. Here is a poem by Elizabeth Jennings from one of her early collections. (Collections which are well worth returning to.) Song at the Beginning ... Read More...
Continuing our fortnightly poetry feature, Stephen Pentz takes the train... It is a commonplace that travelling by train is more conducive to observation and to contemplation than travelling by, say, car or airplane. Not surprisingly, therefore, a great store of poetry exists that has its origins in someone gazing out of ... Read More...
Every other Sunday we'll be bringing you great poetry in a relaunched Dabbler Verse feature (alternating with Mahlerman's Lazy Sunday music posts). For this first post we welcome the wonderful blogger Stephen Pentz to The Dabbler... Sometimes the fact that a certain person is simply there in the world -- as a ... Read More...
