English language Category

02/07/2020

William Blake, author of ‘Jerusalem’

In his time, William Blake (1757-1827) was viewed by some as a nutcase. It was not until…

29/05/2020

Garden-themed literature

Many of the common themes used in English fiction can be played out in a garden setting.…

03/05/2020

Old English

Old English (OE) was spoken from the 6th to the 11th centuries in England and southern Scotland.…

13/04/2020

It’s its

With the advent of social media it has become all too apparent that many people are unaware…

13/03/2020

T.S. Eliot

T.S. (Thomas Stearns) Eliot (1888-1965) is hailed as the 20th century’s most influential poet, recognised in the…

18/02/2020

Whatsits and thingies

With an estimated million or more words in the English language now, you would think that no-one…

24/01/2020

Before Old English

There were probably two related Indo-European tongues with Semitic layers in Britain before Old English. One was…

06/01/2020

“Sorry!”

Elton John sang ‘Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word’ (1976), but this is simply not applicable…

20/12/2019

“To be, or not to be”

  Shakespeare‘s play, ‘The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark’ (c.1602) is one in which almost everyone…

05/12/2019

Doris Lessing

Doris Lessing (1919-2013) had an eventful life and drew on her multi-faceted experiences to write about women…

16/11/2019

Language of the court

The language of the court is that which is spoken by the aristocracy. It is deemed to…

26/10/2019

J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien, CBE (1892-1973), was the author of the epic fantasy trilogy ‘The Lord of the Rings’…