Alfred Tennyson
Five men and one woman who took on impossible job – of poet laureate
Several of the poets appointed by, or inherited by the Queen, had to deal with public mockery. No wonder Philip Larkin turned down the role
Adam Newey
10, Sep, 2022 @10:00 AM
Poem of the week: Break, Break, Break by Alfred Tennyson
A sharply anguished lament for the poet’s beloved friend and inspiration Arthur Hallam
Carol Rumens
18, Jul, 2022 @9:00 AM
Top 10 Christmas poems | Allie Esiri
Poets from Thomas Hardy to TS Eliot and Wendy Cope articulate the wonder – and dread – of the festive season
Allie Esiri
22, Dec, 2021 @11:00 AM
My favourite film aged 12: The Charge of the Light Brigade
Tony Richardson’s epic was a razor-sharp skewering of Britishness that gave me a thrilling first taste of big-screen trauma
Anne Billson
21, Apr, 2020 @2:00 PM
There are dark stirrings in Brexiteers’ sudden fixation with poetry | Edward Sugden
Geoffrey Cox et al are casting themselves as epic heroes fighting for a return to a purer past, says cultural historian Edward Sugden
Edward Sugden
12, Apr, 2019 @11:00 AM
Mark Francois reading Tennyson, and other reasons to keep politicians away from poetry | Zoe Williams
There are no words to describe puffed up politicians reciting poetry, until someone invents a verb that is between cringing and retching
Zoe Williams
10, Apr, 2019 @3:05 PM
From Catullus to Dylan Thomas: the top 10 elegies
They date back to ancient times and remain a strong current in modern poetry. Here are some of the best
Ruth Padel
18, Jul, 2018 @9:00 AM
The sequel to Poems That Make Grown Men Cry: women, look upon these works and weep…
Anthony Holden on the ‘female’ sequel to Poems That Make Grown Men Cry – the surprise bestselling anthology he put together with his son Ben
Anthony Holden
23, Feb, 2016 @7:30 AM
Great country walks: Tetford, Lincolnshire
Stroll through the countryside that inspired former poet laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson
28, Jan, 2015 @6:00 AM
London’s Guildhall reveals hidden gems among collection of 4,000 paintings
Collection forgotten for 50 years after building bombed in Blitz reopens to the public in January after refurbishment
Maev Kennedy
23, Dec, 2014 @8:33 PM
Top 10 war poems
This week marks a century since the outbreak of the first world war. Chosen from 1,000 years of English writing about war, poet and Oxford professor Jon Stallworthy selects some of the best attempts to think through this most extreme of human experiences
Jon Stallworthy
30, Jul, 2014 @12:00 PM
Drama in Crimea - historic dispatches from the father of war reporting
Correspondent who made the charge of the light brigade famous
Roy Greenslade
28, Jul, 2014 @10:43 AM
1 / 4 pages