literature

300d

<p>James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 13 June. As a physicist, he ranks alongside Newton & Einstein (“He achieved greatness unequalled”—Max Planck; “I stand on the shoulders of Maxwell”—Albert Einstein).</p><p>Maxwell also wrote poetry: “Rigid Body Sings” is based on “Comin’ Through the Rye” by Robert Burns</p><p><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45774/in-memory-of-edward-wilson-who-repented-of-what-was-in-his-mind-to-write-after-section" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45774/in-memory-of-edward-wilson-who-repented-of-what-was-in-his-mind-to-write-after-section"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.poetryfoundation.org/poems</span><span class="invisible">/45774/in-memory-of-edward-wilson-who-repented-of-what-was-in-his-mind-to-write-after-section</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/physics/" rel="tag">#Physics</a> <a href="/tags/science/" rel="tag">#science</a> <a href="/tags/physicist/" rel="tag">#physicist</a></p>

In Memory of Edward Wilson, Who Repented of what was in his Mind to Write after Section
BY JAMES CLERK MAXWELL

Rigid Body (sings).

Gin a body meet a body
Flyin’ through the air,
Gin a body hit a body,
Will it fly? and where?
Ilka impact has its measure,
Ne’er a ane hae I,
Yet a’ the lads they measure me,
Or, at least, they try.

Gin a body meet a body
Altogether free,
How they travel afterwards
We do not always see.
Ilka problem has its method
By analytics high;
For me, I ken na ane o’ them,
But what the waur am I?

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59d

<p>Nan MacKinnon, ‘Nan Eachainn Fhionnlaigh’ (1902–1982): her contribution to the School of Scottish Studies & her legacy<br>13 Feb, free online</p><p>Born in Barra & living later in Vatersay, Nan MacKinnon worked with several School of Scottish Studies fieldworkers to record for its archives a wealth of inherited Gaelic oral tradition – songs, tales, legends – as well as personal experience & observation.</p><p><a href="https://llc.ed.ac.uk/celtic-scottish-studies/css-seminar-series-260213" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="llc.ed.ac.uk/celtic-scottish-studies/css-seminar-series-260213"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">llc.ed.ac.uk/celtic-scottish-s</span><span class="invisible">tudies/css-seminar-series-260213</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/tradition/" rel="tag">#tradition</a> <a href="/tags/folklore/" rel="tag">#folklore</a> <a href="/tags/legends/" rel="tag">#legends</a></p>

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59d

<p>Let us remember<br>the stillborn: how they</p><p>cede their places here<br>with such good grace</p><p>that no one ever<br>speaks of them</p><p>again…</p><p>—John Burnside, “A Footnote to Colossians”<br>published in RUIN, BLOSSOM (Penguin, 2024)</p><p><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/456120/ruin-blossom-by-burnside-john/9781529909258" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.penguin.co.uk/books/456120/ruin-blossom-by-burnside-john/9781529909258"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.penguin.co.uk/books/456120</span><span class="invisible">/ruin-blossom-by-burnside-john/9781529909258</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/johnburnside/" rel="tag">#JohnBurnside</a></p>

John Burnside
A Footnote to Colossians

For ye are dead, and your life is hid
Colossians 3:3

Let us remember
the stillborn: how they

cede their places here
with such good grace

that no one ever
speaks of them

again.
In school,

we placed them, carefully,
in Limbo,

deep in the folds of smoke
and snowfall, where

their names would never
find them:

pagan, now,
and immaterial,

like phantoms,
or that

boy I sometimes saw
in polaroids,

the one they said
was me.

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58d

<p>A Kick Up the Arts</p><p>Gray Day on 25 February celebrates the 45th anniversary of Lanark. Curated by Sorcha Dallas, custodian of the Alasdair Gray Archive, the event will be hosted by writer & comedian Josie Long & will feature a new short story by Rachelle Atalla inspired by Gray’s work.</p><p>A Kick Up the Arts host Nicola Meighan visits the archive & speaks to Sorcha, Josie & Rachelle about the upcoming celebration</p><p><a href="https://www.akickupthearts.org/blog-3-1/josie-long-rachelle-atalla-amp-sorcha-dallas-on-alasdair-gray" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.akickupthearts.org/blog-3-1/josie-long-rachelle-atalla-amp-sorcha-dallas-on-alasdair-gray"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.akickupthearts.org/blog-3-</span><span class="invisible">1/josie-long-rachelle-atalla-amp-sorcha-dallas-on-alasdair-gray</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/alasdairgray/" rel="tag">#AlasdairGray</a> <a href="/tags/grayday/" rel="tag">#GrayDay</a> <a href="/tags/podcast/" rel="tag">#podcast</a></p>

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1y

<p>Poem of the week: A Sonnet to the Noble Lady, the Lady Mary Wroth by Ben Jonson</p><p>"A strategically flattering tribute to a pioneering female writer is lifted by authentic warmth and admiration"</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/07/poem-of-the-week-a-sonnet-to-the-noble-lady-the-lady-mary-wroth-by-ben-jonson" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/07/poem-of-the-week-a-sonnet-to-the-noble-lady-the-lady-mary-wroth-by-ben-jonson"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theguardian.com/books/2025</span><span class="invisible">/apr/07/poem-of-the-week-a-sonnet-to-the-noble-lady-the-lady-mary-wroth-by-ben-jonson</span></a></p><p>Ben Jonson at PG</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1269" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1269"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/1269</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/authors/" rel="tag">#authors</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Erato, Muse of Lyrical Poetry by Charles Meynier (French, 1768–1832). "Erato is the muse of lyric poetry in Greek mythology. She is often depicted holding a small kithara or lyre, a stringed musical instrument, here seen resting against a tree in the lower left. She is writing with an arrow given to her by a winged Eros or Cupid, the god of love. This painting belongs to a cycle of five works commissioned by businessman François Boyer-Fonfréde for his home in Toulouse."

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1y

<p><a href="/tags/art/" rel="tag">#art</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#history</a>: imagine being such a gifted author that one of your most radical & inventive novels was mainly a product of automatic writing? best known, perhaps, for providing the screenplay that would become alain resnais' 'hiroshima mon amour' - which is not a bad place to start if you've not yet become acquainted with marguerite duras (born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#otd</a> in 1914) - she largely escaped acclaim outside of france. this is regrettable. (threadish)<br><a href="/tags/margueriteduras/" rel="tag">#margueriteDuras</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/illustration/" rel="tag">#illustration</a> <a href="/tags/france/" rel="tag">#france</a></p>

digital pencil & ink sketch of french author, marguerite duras, in her younger days.
she looks towards the ground to her left, a slight smile on her lips. hair is beautifully swept back & piled atop her head.
colours are pale turquoise, pale rose, black, off-white & crimson.

digital black & (off) white pencil & ink sketch of french author, marguerite duras, in her younger days.
she looks towards the ground to her left, a slight smile on her lips. hair is beautifully swept back & piled atop her head.

digital pencil & ink sketch of french author, marguerite duras, in her younger days.
she looks towards the ground to her left, a slight smile on her lips. hair is beautifully swept back & piled atop her head.
there's a block of mid-turquoise behind her & it's decorated with yellow & coral triangles.

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30d

<p>The 19th-century Gaelic poet & songwriter Màiri Nic a’ Phearsain (Mary MacPherson) – known as Màiri Mhòr nan Òran (Great Mary of the Songs) – was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 10 March 1821. Much of her work was political & was especially focused on the struggle for land rights</p><p>1/5</p><p><a href="https://www.thenational.scot/news/19145415.mairi-mhor-nan-oran-celebrating-one-greatest-gaelic-poets/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thenational.scot/news/19145415.mairi-mhor-nan-oran-celebrating-one-greatest-gaelic-poets/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thenational.scot/news/1914</span><span class="invisible">5415.mairi-mhor-nan-oran-celebrating-one-greatest-gaelic-poets/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#history</a> <a href="/tags/landrights/" rel="tag">#landrights</a></p>

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345d

<p>The Author of ‘Anne of Green Gables’ Lived a Far Less Charmed Life Than Her Beloved Heroine</p><p>L.M. Montgomery created a classic of children’s literature, but what about her lesser-known works?</p><p>By V.M. Braganza (from the archive)</p><p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/lm-montgomery-anne-green-gables-life-180981839/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/lm-montgomery-anne-green-gables-life-180981839/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cu</span><span class="invisible">lture/lm-montgomery-anne-green-gables-life-180981839/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550</span></a></p><p>L. M. Montgomery at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/36" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/36"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/36</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Lucy Maud Montgomery, 14. During this period, as she put it in her diary, she had begun to harbor “dreams of future fame.” Courtesy University of Guelph

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58d

<p>I nod and nod to my own shadow and thrust<br>A mountain down and down.<br>Between my feet a loch shines in the brown,<br>Its silver paper crinkled and edged with rust…</p><p>—Norman MacCaig, “Climbing Suilven”<br>from BETWEEN MOUNTAIN AND SEA: Poems From Assynt (Birlinn, 2018)</p><p><a href="https://birlinn.co.uk/product/between-mountain-and-sea/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="birlinn.co.uk/product/between-mountain-and-sea/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">birlinn.co.uk/product/between-</span><span class="invisible">mountain-and-sea/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/climbing/" rel="tag">#climbing</a> <a href="/tags/hillwalking/" rel="tag">#hillwalking</a> <a href="/tags/suilven/" rel="tag">#Suilven</a> <a href="/tags/sutherland/" rel="tag">#Sutherland</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/normanmaccaig/" rel="tag">#NormanMacCaig</a></p>

Norman MacCaig
Climbing Suilven

I nod and nod to my own shadow and thrust
A mountain down and down.
Between my feet a loch shines in the brown,
Its silver paper crinkled and edged with rust.
My lungs say No;
But down and down this treadmill hill must go.

Parishes dwindle. But my parish is
This stone, that tuft, this stone
And the cramped quarters of my flesh and bone.
I claw that tall horizon down to this;
And suddenly
My shadow jumps huge miles away from me.

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363d

<p>I couldn’t touch a stop and turn a screw,<br>And set the blooming world a-work for me,<br>Like such as cut their teeth—I hope, like you—<br>On the handle of a skeleton gold key…</p><p>—“Thirty Bob a Week”, by the 19th-century poet, playwright & novelist John Davidson (1857–1909) – born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 11 April. A 🎂 🧵</p><p>1/3</p><p>Page images from THE YELLOW BOOK vol. 2, 1894 – available on <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@gutenberg_org" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>gutenberg_org</span></a></span> </p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41876/41876-h/41876-h.htm#Page_99" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/files/41876/41876-h/41876-h.htm#Page_99"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/files/41876/</span><span class="invisible">41876-h/41876-h.htm#Page_99</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thCentury</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/modernist/" rel="tag">#Modernist</a> <a href="/tags/modernism/" rel="tag">#Modernism</a> <a href="/tags/workingclass/" rel="tag">#workingclass</a></p>

John Davidson
Thirty Bob a Week

I couldn’t touch a stop and turn a screw,
And set the blooming world a-work for me,
Like such as cut their teeth—I hope, like you—
On the handle of a skeleton gold key.
I cut mine on a leek, which I eat it every week:
I’m a clerk at thirty bob as you can see.

But I don’t allow it’s luck and all a toss;
There’s no such thing as being starred and crossed;
It’s just the power of some to be a boss,
And the bally power of others to be bossed:
I face the music, sir; you bet I ain’t a cur!
Strike me lucky if I don’t believe I’m lost!

For like a mole I journey in the dark,
A-travelling along the underground
From my Pillar’d Halls and broad suburban Park
To come the daily dull official round;
And home again at night with my pipe all alight
A-scheming how to count ten bob a pound.

And it’s often very cold and very wet;
And my missis stitches towels for a hunks;
And the Pillar’d Halls is half of it to let—
Three rooms about the size of travelling trunks.
And we cough, my wife and I, to dislocate a sigh,
When the noisy little kids are in their bunks.

But you never hear her do a growl or whine,
For she’s made of flint and roses, very odd;
And I’ve got to cut my meaning rather fine
Or I’d blubber, for I’m made of greens and sod:
So p’rhaps we are in hell for all that I can tell,
And lost and damn’d and served up hot to God.

I ain’t blaspheming, Mr. Silvertongue;
I’m saying things a bit beyond your art:
Of all the rummy starts you ever sprung
Thirty bob a week’s the rummiest start!
With your science and your books and your the’ries about spooks,
Did you ever hear of looking in your heart?

I didn’t mean your pocket, Mr., no!
I mean that having children and a wife,
With thirty bob on which to come and go,
Isn’t dancing to the tabor and the fife;
When it doesn’t make you drink, by Heaven! it makes you think,
And notice curious items about life.

I step into my heart and there I meet
A god-almighty devil singing small,

Who would like to shout and whistle in the street,
And squelch the passers flat against the wall;
If the whole world was a cake he had the power to take,
He would take it, ask for more, and eat them all.

And I meet a sort of simpleton beside—
The kind that life is always giving beans;
With thirty bob a week to keep a bride
He fell in love and married in his teens;
At thirty bob he stuck, but he knows it isn’t luck;
He knows the seas are deeper than tureens.

And the god-almighty devil and the fool
That meet me in the High Street on the strike,
When I walk about my heart a-gathering wool,
Are my good and evil angels if you like;
And both of them together in every kind of weather
Ride me like a double-seated “bike”.

That’s rough a bit and needs its meaning curled;
But I have a high old hot un in my mind,
A most engrugious notion of the world
That leaves your lightning ’rithmetic behind:
I give it at a glance when I say “There ain’t no chance,
Nor nothing of the lucky-lottery kind.”

And it’s this way that I make it out to be:
No fathers, mothers, countries, climates—none!—
Not Adam was responsible for me;
Nor society, nor systems, nary one!
A little sleeping seed, I woke—I did, indeed—
A million years before the blooming sun.

I woke because I thought the time had come;
Beyond my will there was no other cause:
And everywhere I found myself at home
Because I chose to be the thing I was;
And in whatever shape, of mollusc, or of ape,
I always went according to the laws.

I was the love that chose my mother out;
I joined two lives and from the union burst;
My weakness and my strength without a doubt
Are mine alone for ever from the first.
It’s just the very same with a difference in the name
As “Thy will be done.” You say it if you durst!

They say it daily up and down the land
As easy as you take a drink, it’s true;
But the difficultest go to understand,
And the difficultest job a man can do,
Is to come it brave and meek with thirty bob a week,
And feel that that’s the proper thing for you.

It’s a naked child against a hungry wolf;
It’s playing bowls upon a splitting wreck;
It’s walking on a string across a gulf
With millstones fore-and-aft about your neck:
But the thing is daily done by many and many a one . . .
And we fall, face forward, fighting, on the deck.

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57d

<p>Nan Shepherd (1893–1981) was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 11 Feb. Recently her nature writing & her memoir THE LIVING MOUNTAIN have gained attention—but she was also an important modernist novelist. Charlotte Peacock weighs her contribution to Scotland’s literary renaissance</p><p>A 🎂 🧵</p><p>1/9</p><p><a href="https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2020/12/quiet-pioneer-the-novels-of-nan-shepherd-1893-1981/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2020/12/quiet-pioneer-the-novels-of-nan-shepherd-1893-1981/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2020/1</span><span class="invisible">2/quiet-pioneer-the-novels-of-nan-shepherd-1893-1981/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/nanshepherd/" rel="tag">#NanShepherd</a> <a href="/tags/modernist/" rel="tag">#modernist</a> <a href="/tags/modernism/" rel="tag">#modernism</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thCentury</a> <a href="/tags/naturewriting/" rel="tag">#NatureWriting</a> <a href="/tags/memoir/" rel="tag">#memoir</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#WomenWriters</a></p>

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56d

<p>Gave yet another lecture. God, I’m boring.<br>Said all the same old things I’ve said before<br>With touches of “however-ing” and “therefore-ing”.<br>Dear God, it’s true, I’m just an ancient bore…</p><p>—Douglas Dunn, “Thursday”<br>published in THE NOISE OF A FLY (Faber, 2019)</p><p><a href="https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571333820-the-noise-of-a-fly/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571333820-the-noise-of-a-fly/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.faber.co.uk/product/978057</span><span class="invisible">1333820-the-noise-of-a-fly/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/academia/" rel="tag">#academia</a></p>

Thursday
Douglas Dunn

Gave yet another lecture. God, I’m boring.
Said all the same old things I’ve said before
With touches of “however-ing” and “therefore-ing”.
Dear God, it’s true, I’m just an ancient bore.

If only I could tap my old exuberance,
High spirits that I plied in days before,
Then maybe I would find a kind deliverance
From the curse of being such a bloody bore.

For I’m the model of a modern academic.
I’m absolutely super at ennui.
I’m just stunning when it comes to a polemic,
And boredom’s snoredom’s what I guarantee.

I’m putting extra pennies in my pension.
Retirement beckons and the garden calls,
That beautiful, botanical dimension
Where boiler-suited pensioners scratch their balls.

But I’ve a problem. It’s called “work ethic”, so
I’ll slog on with the daily, dreary toil.
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, what a lousy way to go,
To work all day then burn the midnight oil.

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340d

<p>Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is a dark parable about coercive control</p><p>By Katy Mullin and Hannah Roche</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/emily-brontes-wuthering-heights-is-a-dark-parable-about-coercive-control-253866?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20May%201%202025%20-%203359834264&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20May%201%202025%20-%203359834264+CID_13448bac8f25132d36fbf0c25b322159&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Emily%20Bronts%20Wuthering%20Heights%20is%20a%20dark%20parable%20about%20coercive%20control" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/emily-brontes-wuthering-heights-is-a-dark-parable-about-coercive-control-253866?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20May%201%202025%20-%203359834264&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20May%201%202025%20-%203359834264+CID_13448bac8f25132d36fbf0c25b322159&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Emily%20Bronts%20Wuthering%20Heights%20is%20a%20dark%20parable%20about%20coercive%20control"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/emily-bron</span><span class="invisible">tes-wuthering-heights-is-a-dark-parable-about-coercive-control-253866?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20May%201%202025%20-%203359834264&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20May%201%202025%20-%203359834264+CID_13448bac8f25132d36fbf0c25b322159&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Emily%20Bronts%20Wuthering%20Heights%20is%20a%20dark%20parable%20about%20coercive%20control</span></a></p><p>Wuthering Heights at PG:<br><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/768" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/768</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/movie/" rel="tag">#movie</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Photo of Sir Laurence Olivier knighted 1947-page 144 and Merle Oberon from the 1939 film Wuthering Heights.

Olivier, in rustic clothing and seated on a rocky outcrop, gazes into the distance with a pensive, determined expression. Oberon, draped in a shawl, looks upward beside him with a soft, luminous gaze, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder, symbolizing both connection and tragic yearning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights#/media/File:Laurence_Olivier_Merle_Oberon_Wuthering_Heights.jpg

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341d

<p>This Plaintive Song Is From a Land Without Lullabies</p><p>A rare tribe lacks music for dancing or soothing their young ones</p><p>By Kristen French </p><p><a href="https://nautil.us/this-plaintive-song-is-from-a-land-without-lullabies-1207655/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="nautil.us/this-plaintive-song-is-from-a-land-without-lullabies-1207655/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">nautil.us/this-plaintive-song-</span><span class="invisible">is-from-a-land-without-lullabies-1207655/</span></a></p><p>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/16" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/16"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/16</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/music/" rel="tag">#music</a></p>

Lullaby by François Nicholas Riss .

The composition centers on a young mother seated beside a cradle suspended from the ceiling by ropes. She delicately dangles a lullaby above her infant, who lies nestled beneath a patterned cloth canopy, one tiny hand reaching upward. Her expression is gentle and attentive, conveying maternal affection and calm. In her lap, she holds knitting needles, suggesting the multitasking rhythm of caregiving.

To her left, a barefoot young boy leans against the window, absorbed in his own quiet activity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lullaby#/media/File:Fran%C3%A7ois_Riss_Lullaby.jpg

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56d

<p>The longlist for the 2025 Duais Leabhair na Gàidhealtachd | Highland Book Prize has been announced. The Prize celebrates the talent, landscape, & cultural diversity of the Scottish Highlands & is open to works of fiction, non-fiction, & poetry</p><p><a href="https://www.highlandbookprize.org.uk/longlist/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.highlandbookprize.org.uk/longlist/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.highlandbookprize.org.uk/l</span><span class="invisible">onglist/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/highlands/" rel="tag">#Highlands</a> <a href="/tags/highlandbookprize/" rel="tag">#HighlandBookPrize</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a></p>

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360d

<p>David the Dreamer: Ralph Bergengren’s Children’s Book Illustrated by Tom Seidmann-Freud, 1922</p><p>David the Dreamer tells the far-out story of young boy who in planning his dog's birthday parts ends up in a number of surreal landscapes</p><p><a href="https://flashbak.com/david-the-dreamer-474846/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=david-the-dreamer" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="flashbak.com/david-the-dreamer-474846/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=david-the-dreamer"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">flashbak.com/david-the-dreamer</span><span class="invisible">-474846/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=david-the-dreamer</span></a></p><p>Ralph Bergengren at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25875" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/25875"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/25875</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/bookillustration/" rel="tag">#bookillustration</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Tom Seidmann-Freud, Ralph Bergengren’s David the Dreamer: His Book of Dreams, 1922.

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343d

<p>One great short story to read today: Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony”</p><p>By Emily Temple</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/one-great-short-story-to-read-today-franz-kafkas-in-the-penal-colony/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/one-great-short-story-to-read-today-franz-kafkas-in-the-penal-colony/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/one-great-short-sto</span><span class="invisible">ry-to-read-today-franz-kafkas-in-the-penal-colony/</span></a></p><p>In der Strafkolonie at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25791" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25791</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/translation/" rel="tag">#translation</a></p>

Kafka as a Doctor of Law, around 1906.

A young Franz Kafka is shown posed with composed seriousness, wearing formal academic attire. His hair is neatly combed, and his face bears the thoughtful, introspective expression often associated with his later literary persona.

Kafka is dressed in a dark academic robe or formal suit, possibly accompanied by a white collar or shirt, denoting his recent graduation. The formal wear and subdued tone of the image mark the ceremonial significance of the occasion.

Atelier Jacobi: Sigismund Jacobi (1860–1935) - http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/news/2008_july_02 Franz Kafka: Pictures of a Life by Klaus Wagenbach (1984), p. 58; sourced to Klaus Wagenbach Archiv, Berlin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka#/media/File:Kafka1906.jpg

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359d

<p>Lost for 400 Years: Researcher Discover Hidden Copy of Shakespeare Sonnet</p><p>By University of Oxford</p><p><a href="https://scitechdaily.com/lost-for-400-years-researcher-discover-hidden-copy-of-shakespeare-sonnet/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="scitechdaily.com/lost-for-400-years-researcher-discover-hidden-copy-of-shakespeare-sonnet/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">scitechdaily.com/lost-for-400-</span><span class="invisible">years-researcher-discover-hidden-copy-of-shakespeare-sonnet/</span></a></p><p>Full article by Leah S Veronese is available here:<br><a href="https://academic.oup.com/res/advance-article/doi/10.1093/res/hgaf002/7997398?login=false" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="academic.oup.com/res/advance-article/doi/10.1093/res/hgaf002/7997398?login=false"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">academic.oup.com/res/advance-a</span><span class="invisible">rticle/doi/10.1093/res/hgaf002/7997398?login=false</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/oldmanuscript/" rel="tag">#oldmanuscript</a></p>

Shake-Speare's Sonnets, quarto published by Thomas Thorpe, London, 1609, title page

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341d

<p>How a reading group helped young German students defy the Nazis and find their faith</p><p>By Peter Nguyen</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-reading-group-helped-young-german-students-defy-the-nazis-and-find-their-faith-254774" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/how-a-reading-group-helped-young-german-students-defy-the-nazis-and-find-their-faith-254774"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/how-a-read</span><span class="invisible">ing-group-helped-young-german-students-defy-the-nazis-and-find-their-faith-254774</span></a></p><p>More information:<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Ro</span><span class="invisible">se</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Monument to Hans and Sophie Scholl and the "White Rose" (German: Die Weiße Rose) resistance movement against the Nazi regime, in front of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

The monument is embedded directly into the ground in the university's atrium or entrance plaza. It features bronze replicas of the group's leaflets scattered across the pavement—frozen mid-motion as if freshly dropped or blown by the wind.

The fliers are detailed with reproductions of the original texts used by the White Rose group—typed or mimeographed calls for freedom, democracy, and opposition to Hitler’s rule. Some are half-unfolded or overlapping, evoking urgency and clandestine action.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose#/media/File:Scholl-Denkmal,_M%C3%BCnchen.jpg

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56d

<p>Why Do We Keep Telling the Same Stories? Archetypes in Pop Culture</p><p>"Archetypes aren't just storytelling tools—they're reflections of us. We keep retelling them because they help us feel understood."</p><p><a href="https://www.thecollector.com/archetypes-pop-culture/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thecollector.com/archetypes-pop-culture/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thecollector.com/archetype</span><span class="invisible">s-pop-culture/</span></a></p><p>Books by Jung at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/44679" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/44679"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/44679</span></a></p><p>Odysseus und Nausicaa</p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/psychology/" rel="tag">#psychology</a></p>

Painting of Odysseus und Nausicaa by Carl Fielgraf. Odysseus is sitting on a rock with a cloth around him, and he is about to drink from a bowl. He is looking at Nausicaa who is standing and pointing to the right. A servant kneels at the foot of Odysseus and is offering him a bowl of fruit.

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39d

<p>Exploring the Jackie Kay Archive<br>28 May, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh. Free, booking required.</p><p>Explore the personal archive of Jackie Kay, Scotland's former Makar and beloved writer. Curator Dan Sheehy will share his favourite discoveries from cataloguing her lifetime of work.</p><p><a href="https://www.nls.uk/whats-on/jackie-kay-archive/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.nls.uk/whats-on/jackie-kay-archive/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.nls.uk/whats-on/jackie-kay</span><span class="invisible">-archive/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/jackiekay/" rel="tag">#JackieKay</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#womenwriters</a> <a href="/tags/archives/" rel="tag">#archives</a></p>

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357d

<p>Rare Watercolor by ‘Wuthering Heights’ Author Emily Brontë Will Go on Public Display for the First Time</p><p>“The North Wind,” painted while Emily and her sister Charlotte were studying in Belgium, is now heading to the Brontë family home in Yorkshire</p><p>By Eli Wizevich</p><p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rare-watercolor-by-wuthering-heights-author-emily-bronte-will-go-on-public-display-for-the-first-time-180986423/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rare-watercolor-by-wuthering-heights-author-emily-bronte-will-go-on-public-display-for-the-first-time-180986423/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-n</span><span class="invisible">ews/rare-watercolor-by-wuthering-heights-author-emily-bronte-will-go-on-public-display-for-the-first-time-180986423/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/art/" rel="tag">#art</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Portrait of Lady Charlotte Harley (1801-1880) as Ianthe (Lord Byron, "To Ianthe," Childe Harold's Pilgrimage).

Drawn by R. Westall. Engraved by W. Finden. - W. Brockedon (annotator). Finden's Illustrations of Life and Works of Lord Byron. Vol. II. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1833.

Lady Charlotte is depicted in a graceful, seated pose, with her head slightly tilted and gaze turned gently outward or downward. Her expression is soft, serene, and composed, exuding an air of idealized purity and introspection.

She wears classical-style clothing, often a flowing gown reminiscent of Greco-Roman dress, a hallmark of Romantic portraiture. Her hair is arranged in soft curls, enhancing the youthful innocence Byron emphasized in his poem.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Charlotte_Bacon#/media/File:Richard_Westall_&_W._Finden,_%22Ianthe%22.jpg

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357d

<p>“A Mystery Novel Like No Other Before.” On Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time</p><p>Sarah Weinman in Praise of an Innovative and Timeless Work of Detective Fiction</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/a-mystery-novel-like-no-other-before-on-josephine-teys-the-daughter-of-time/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily:%20April%2016%2C%202025&utm_term=lithub_master_list" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/a-mystery-novel-like-no-other-before-on-josephine-teys-the-daughter-of-time/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily:%20April%2016%2C%202025&utm_term=lithub_master_list"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/a-mystery-novel-lik</span><span class="invisible">e-no-other-before-on-josephine-teys-the-daughter-of-time/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily:%20April%2016%2C%202025&utm_term=lithub_master_list</span></a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daughter_of_Time" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daughter_of_Time"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daug</span><span class="invisible">hter_of_Time</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

The Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey.

This image is the cover of The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. The design features a medieval-style banner in blue and gold, unfurled across the center, bearing the book’s title in bold, uppercase serif letters: THE DAUGHTER OF TIME. Below the title, the author’s name is written in a flowing script on a golden ribbon.

The background includes heraldic elements, such as a crown, laurel wreath, and checkered floor, evoking the themes of history, monarchy, and mystery central to the novel. The style is detailed and slightly abstract, with strong black outlines and contrasting colors, giving it a dramatic, vintage feel.

This historical detective novel questions the legacy of King Richard III and the nature of historical truth—reflected visually through the use of regal and timeworn imagery.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daughter_of_Time#/media/File:The_Daughter_of_Time_-_Josephine_Tey.JPG

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337d

<p>What Was Saint Augustine’s Narrative of the Two Cities?</p><p>What was Saint Augustine’s narrative of the two cities, the City of God and the City of the World, all about?</p><p>by Marnie Binder</p><p><a href="https://www.thecollector.com/saint-augustine-narrative-two-cities/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thecollector.com/saint-augustine-narrative-two-cities/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thecollector.com/saint-aug</span><span class="invisible">ustine-narrative-two-cities/</span></a></p><p>Saint Augustine at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1156" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/1156"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/1156</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

St. Augustine in His Study by Vittore Carpaccio, 1502

The saint is portrayed seated at a writing desk, surrounded by an elaborately furnished interior brimming with Renaissance luxuries and scholarly tools: globes, books, instruments, and exotic artifacts. The architecture of the room features vaulted ceilings, ornate wooden shelves, and tiled floors, reflecting a harmonious blend of Gothic and early Renaissance design.

St. Augustine is robed in ecclesiastical garments, captured mid-movement as he turns in awe, reacting to a divine vision or spiritual presence — traditionally interpreted as a supernatural communication from St. Jerome, informing Augustine of his death. His expression is thoughtful and moved, enhancing the spiritual atmosphere of the scene.

Carpaccio meticulously includes animals (like a dog at Augustine’s feet), detailed maps, astrolabes, and manuscripts, demonstrating the saint’s intellectual breadth and curiosity, and symbolizing the humanist fusion of faith and reason.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo#/media/File:Vittore_carpaccio,_visione_di_sant'agostino_01.jpg

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55d

<p>Subverting hell</p><p>In their visions of the underworld Dante and Milton were truly subversive, incorporating predecessors into their own repudiation</p><p>by Charlie Ericson</p><p><a href="https://aeon.co/essays/feel-the-burn-how-subversion-works-in-literature?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e6bfbf5e1b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_02_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="aeon.co/essays/feel-the-burn-how-subversion-works-in-literature?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e6bfbf5e1b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_02_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">aeon.co/essays/feel-the-burn-h</span><span class="invisible">ow-subversion-works-in-literature?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e6bfbf5e1b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_02_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-4ef8a26106-72664972</span></a></p><p>Dante and Milton at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/507" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/507"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/507</span></a><br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/17" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/17"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/17</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Dante and Virgil in the Ninth Circle of Hell (1861) by Gustave Doré.

The painting depicts a scene from Dante Alighieri's Inferno, showing Dante (in orange/red robes) and his guide Virgil (in blue) standing on an elevated position, looking down upon the frozen lake of Cocytus, the ninth and deepest circle of Hell where traitors are punished. The damned souls are shown frozen in ice in various states of torment, emerging from the misty, icy landscape.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_-_Dante_et_Virgile_dans_le_neuvi%C3%A8me_cercle_de_l%27Enfer.jpg

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