Category Archives: Bitesize Read
Mountainous
Joseph Wright was profoundly moved by the sight of Vesuvius during his visit to Italy in 1774. He did not see the eruption of 1777, but contemporary accounts must surely have played a part in this glowing canvas. Not all … Continue reading
Filed under Bitesize Read, Poem of the Week
Anything but Facts
What is a shifty-looking character? Oh, I know that someone shifty is not to be trusted, but how do you tell that by looking at a person? Is there such a thing as an honest face? Such assessment seems to … Continue reading
Filed under Bitesize Read, Poem of the Week, Uncategorized
New
With a hung parliament before us, there is little new that can be added to the many words already spoken and written about the choices we have made and the possibilities which lie ahead. I turn, instead, to William Shakespeare’s … Continue reading
Filed under Bitesize Read, Poem of the Week, Uncategorized
Only Connect
Have you seen the television team quiz, Only Connect? Teams are presented with seemingly random images, statements, dates and challenged to reveal the connections which link them. It’s fiendishly difficult. The novel from which the phrase ‘only connect’ is taken … Continue reading
Filed under Bitesize Read, Poem of the Week
Waking
Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music:—do I wake or sleep? These are the closing lines of Keats’s Ode to a Nightingale. On another occasion, I would like to explore this exquisite, thoughtful poem. It … Continue reading
Filed under Bitesize Read, Poem of the Week, Uncategorized
Musical Life
Third movement, Fifth Symphony, Beethoven I have only to hear the opening strains of Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street and I am instantly transported across the years to my university room, to sit at my desk, the essay lying unfinished before … Continue reading
Filed under Bitesize Read, Poem of the Week, Uncategorized
Spring will be a little late this year
As I write, the sunlight is sparking on frosty ground and more snow is forecast in the next few days. It seems a Narnian winter, although we have had Christmas. And yet, all around, there are signs that spring is … Continue reading
Filed under Bitesize Read, Poem of the Week
A Moment in Time
If I could make days last forever If words could make wishes come true I’d save every day like a treasure and then, Again, I would spend them with you The melancholy melody of Jim Croce’s seventies’ hit, Time in … Continue reading
Filed under Bitesize Read, Poem of the Week, Uncategorized
Dream Life
There are mornings when I resist the shrill command of the alarm clock. I look at the dark curtains, pull the covers more firmly round me and imagine an alternative day instead of the one that lies in wait for … Continue reading
Filed under Bitesize Read, Poem of the Week
Would like to meet…
The snow, the frustrations of being with the family, the frustrations of coming back to work – these let us put aside. A little banter, the possibility of romance, summer sunshine – how does that sound? Why not begin the … Continue reading
Filed under Bitesize Read
