Clay Lane
Straightforward English
tags

Poetry

7 articles

Poems and extracts from verse, and the lives of the men and women who made them.

  • A close-up photo of an apricot-coloured day lily, in the garden of a seventeenth-century manor house.

    01 • Poetry

    A Life Well-Lived

    Shakespeare’s friend and fellow-playwright Ben Jonson tells us how we should measure success.

    Ben Jonson

  • An AI photo of an Indian journalist interviewing an official of the Raj, circa 1890.

    02 • Poetry

    I Keep Six Honest Serving Men

    Rudyard Kipling pays tribute to his hardworking team of investigative reporters.

    Rudyard Kipling

  • A photo of a middle-aged Victorian woman getting up from a chair with delight on her face.

    03 • Poetry

    Jenny Kissed Me

    Leigh Hunt looks back to a memorable event in a long life.

    Leigh Hunt

  • A photo of a young Greek woman looking shyly down from a window in a traditional street.

    04 • Society

    The Trouble with Men

    The exasperated women of Athens challenge the men of the City to decide whether women are a blessing or a curse.

    Aristophanes

  • An image of the head of an Egyptian statue, half-buried in a sand dune.

    05 • Poetry

    Ozymandias

    The glory of political power soon passes away.

    Percy Bysshe Shelley

  • A photo of Po Chu-i writing in a Chinese garden.

    06 • Poetry

    On the Philosophy of Lao-tzu

    One of China’s greatest poets reflects on the wisdom of silence.

    Po Chu-i

  • A photo of an eagle preparing to swoop down from craggy clifftops above a wrinkled, glassy sea.

    07 • Poetry

    The Eagle

    In six lines, Tennyson paints a complete and vivid picture of a bird of prey.

    Lord Tennyson

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