literature

329d

<p>Newly published stories show a different side of Ian Fleming and Graham Greene</p><p>By Milton Guevara, Majd Al-Waheidi</p><p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/05/15/nx-s1-5397182/strand-magazine-ian-fleming-graham-greene-short-stories" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.npr.org/2025/05/15/nx-s1-5397182/strand-magazine-ian-fleming-graham-greene-short-stories"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.npr.org/2025/05/15/nx-s1-5</span><span class="invisible">397182/strand-magazine-ian-fleming-graham-greene-short-stories</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/literarycriticism/" rel="tag">#literarycriticism</a></p>

Portrait of Ian Fleming.

This portrait of Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, captures the author in a relaxed yet sophisticated pose.

Fleming is dressed in a suit and a polka-dot bow tie, reinforcing his refined and classic style.

He holds a cigarette holder to his mouth with a slight, knowing smile, suggesting confidence and wit—qualities often attributed to his famous fictional spy.

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

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356d

<p>Time Travel</p><p>What do we hold fast, what do we let go? The question, like a living being, hovers onstage in The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov.</p><p>By Cynthia Zarin</p><p><a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/04/18/time-travel/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/04/18/time-travel/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theparisreview.org/blog/20</span><span class="invisible">25/04/18/time-travel/</span></a></p><p>The Cherry Orchard at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7986" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7986</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/theatre/" rel="tag">#theatre</a></p>

Scene from The Cherry Orchard, Moscow Art Theater, 2001. The MAT setting demonstrates a conscious attempt to avoid the stiffness and artificiality of the perfectly symmetrical box set. Variation of planes and glimpses into other rooms in the house continue the environment beyond the stage room and help to combat unintentional rigidity.

Alexander Bakshy - The Path of the Modern Russian Stage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cherry_Orchard#/media/File:The_Cherry_Orchard_MAT.jpg

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355d

<p>Maria Edgeworth’s Educational Philosophy in 5 Core Concepts</p><p>Maria Edgeworth's timeless educational philosophy focuses on practical skills, parental involvement, critical thinking, ethics, and individualized learning.</p><p>By Viktoriya Sus</p><p><a href="https://www.thecollector.com/maria-edgeworth-educational-philosophy-core-concepts/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thecollector.com/maria-edgeworth-educational-philosophy-core-concepts/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thecollector.com/maria-edg</span><span class="invisible">eworth-educational-philosophy-core-concepts/</span></a></p><p>Maria Edgeworth at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/630" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/630"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/630</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/education/" rel="tag">#education</a></p>

The Young Schoolmistress, Jean Siméon Chardin, c. 1736.

The painting shows a young woman, likely a governess or older sister, teaching a little girl how to read. They are seated at a simple wooden table, absorbed in a shared lesson. The girl’s eyes follow the text or image before her, while the young woman leans forward attentively, guiding her.

Both figures are rendered with serene concentration.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean_Sim%C3%A9on_Chardin_-_The_Young_Schoolmistress_-_WGA04750.jpg

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337d

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> "The Countess Cathleen" by W. B. Yeats is performed for the first time in 1899 at the The Irish Literary Theater in Dublin.</p><p>In the play Countess Cathleen sells her soul to the devil so that her tenants can be saved from a famine.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Countess_Cathleen" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Countess_Cathleen"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coun</span><span class="invisible">tess_Cathleen</span></a></p><p>"The Countess Cathleen" at PG</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5167" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5167</a></p><p>William Butler Yeats by William Rothenstein</p><p><a href="/tags/drama/" rel="tag">#drama</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

William Butler Yeats, 1898. William Rothenstein (British, 1872–1945). Lithograph; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Williams Collection 1941.522

Edited 336d ago

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29d

<p>RSE Investigates: The history of Scots and English in 10 objects</p><p>What can objects tell us about the history of our languages?<br>Prof Jeremy Smith uncovers the unique stories & histories of English & Scots through ten extraordinary objects: a bone, a piece of jewellery, a stone cross, a jug, two manuscripts, two letters, a broadside sheet, & an early printed book.</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8MEEn47TRc" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8MEEn47TRc"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8MEEn</span><span class="invisible">47TRc</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/languagehistory/" rel="tag">#languagehistory</a></p>

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53d

<p>The sun’s been tint for weeks. Deid maybe.<br>Likely drooned. Water’s aaplace, teemin doon<br>gutters and branders, rinnin aff the slates,<br>floodin pavements. Fowk near droon…</p><p>—Ken Morrice, “Foo Mony Cubits?”<br>published in Selected Poems (Keith Murray, 1991)</p><p><a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/foo-mony-cubits/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/foo-mony-cubits/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.</span><span class="invisible">uk/poem/foo-mony-cubits/</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/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/aberdeenshire/" rel="tag">#Aberdeenshire</a> <a href="/tags/rain/" rel="tag">#rain</a></p>

Foo Mony Cubits?
Ken Morrice

The sun’s been tint for weeks. Deid maybe.
Likely drooned. Water’s aaplace, teemin doon
gutters and branders, rinnin aff the slates,
floodin pavements. Fowk near droon

waitin for the bus. Fit an onding!
Weet skites up yer troosers, drips doon yer sark.
Fa wis it prayed for rain? Lord, eneuch’s eneuch.
Caa back the sun, or help’s build an ark!

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53d

<p>The Scottish Highlands: Epic Mode<br>23 March, online – tickets from £3.35</p><p>Prof Dòmhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart investigates the ancient heroic tales of the Fèinn/Fianna & Fionn mac Cumhail/Finn Mac Cool. These exciting, complex, & often moving stories are part of the common heritage of Scotland & Ireland.</p><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-scottish-highlands-epic-mode-domhnall-uilleam-stiubhart-zoom-tickets-1981483748231" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-scottish-highlands-epic-mode-domhnall-uilleam-stiubhart-zoom-tickets-1981483748231"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-sco</span><span class="invisible">ttish-highlands-epic-mode-domhnall-uilleam-stiubhart-zoom-tickets-1981483748231</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/irish/" rel="tag">#Irish</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/legends/" rel="tag">#legends</a> <a href="/tags/mythology/" rel="tag">#mythology</a> <a href="/tags/epic/" rel="tag">#epic</a> <a href="/tags/highlands/" rel="tag">#Highlands</a></p>

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55d

<p>The Ur-“Conspiracy”: History of a Pseudoconcept</p><p>By Barrett Brown</p><p><a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2026/02/12/the-ur-conspiracy-history-of-a-pseudoconcept/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theparisreview.org/blog/2026/02/12/the-ur-conspiracy-history-of-a-pseudoconcept/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theparisreview.org/blog/20</span><span class="invisible">26/02/12/the-ur-conspiracy-history-of-a-pseudoconcept/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/literarycriticism/" rel="tag">#literarycriticism</a></p>

Theophilus Schweighardt, The Temple of the Rose Cross, 1618,

The representation was created around 1604 and was published in the Speculum sophicum Rhodostauroticum by Theophilus Schweighart. At the center of the picture is a wheeled, fortress-like building. Look at the picture from the OCCIDENS, i.e. from the west. The lower image caption provides us with an indication of this (it is difficult to recognize here in the picture). The entrance to this building, which is directly revealed to the viewer, is marked by a lettering. Above the archway you can read "VENITE DIGNI" ("COME HERE, WORTHY"). To the right of the archway you can see a cross and to the left a rose. Directly below the entrance you can read the word "MOVEAMVR" spread over two lines. Above the archway there are two windows along which the lettering "IESVS NOBIS OMNIA" ("JESUS [IS] EVERYTHING FOR US") runs along. It therefore becomes clear that, in addition to all the many other symbolic representations, it could be a rose cruiserical representation. The cross and rose can be clearly identified, but not presented united, as in today's form.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Templeofrosycross_highres.png

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54d

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1975, humorist P. G. Wodehouse died.</p><p>Wodehouse "was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeves; the immaculate and loquacious Psmith; Lord Emsworth and the Blandings Castle set; the Oldest Member, with stories about golf...."</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._Wodehouse" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._Wodehouse"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._Wo</span><span class="invisible">dehouse</span></a></p><p>Books by Wodehouse at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/783" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/783"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/783</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Photograph of P. G. Wodehouse. He standing by a railing wearing a coat and a hat.

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55d

<p>"Heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; ..."</p><p>Don’t fall in love this Valentine’s Day – read Wuthering Heights</p><p>Emily Brontë’s novel celebrates the head-spinning, hair-raising, all-consuming experience of falling in love.</p><p>by Andrew McInnes</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-fall-in-love-this-valentines-day-read-wuthering-heights-275600?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Weekender%20-%203675037557&utm_content=The%20Weekender%20-%203675037557+CID_d1468951185c9327ba8ce1dd485dfe68&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Dont%20fall%20in%20love%20this%20Valentines%20Day%20%20read%20Wuthering%20Heights" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/dont-fall-in-love-this-valentines-day-read-wuthering-heights-275600?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Weekender%20-%203675037557&utm_content=The%20Weekender%20-%203675037557+CID_d1468951185c9327ba8ce1dd485dfe68&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Dont%20fall%20in%20love%20this%20Valentines%20Day%20%20read%20Wuthering%20Heights"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/dont-fall-</span><span class="invisible">in-love-this-valentines-day-read-wuthering-heights-275600?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The%20Weekender%20-%203675037557&utm_content=The%20Weekender%20-%203675037557+CID_d1468951185c9327ba8ce1dd485dfe68&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Dont%20fall%20in%20love%20this%20Valentines%20Day%20%20read%20Wuthering%20Heights</span></a></p><p>Wuthering Heights at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/768" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/768</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</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.

This is a publicity still from the 1939 film adaptation of "Wuthering Heights," showing Laurence Olivier (later knighted in 1947) as Heathcliff and Merle Oberon as Catherine Earnshaw seated together on the Yorkshire moors. The romantic scene captures the passionate, doomed lovers from Emily Brontë's classic novel.

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

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54d

<p>My Own Delightful Gordon,</p><p>Your letter has moved me deeply as you may imagine. But alas, I must ever decline to be Mrs Lowther…</p><p>—from Muriel Spark’s THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE (1961): a love letter – as imagined by her pupils – from Miss Brodie to Mr Lowther, the music teacher</p><p>@bookstodon </p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/novel/" rel="tag">#novel</a> <a href="/tags/novella/" rel="tag">#novella</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#womenwriters</a> <a href="/tags/murielspark/" rel="tag">#MurielSpark</a> <a href="/tags/love/" rel="tag">#love</a> <a href="/tags/loveletters/" rel="tag">#loveletters</a> <a href="/tags/humour/" rel="tag">#humour</a> <a href="/tags/valentinesday/" rel="tag">#ValentinesDay</a></p>

My Own Delightful Gordon,

Your letter has moved me deeply as you may imagine. But alas, I must ever decline to be Mrs. Lowther. My reasons are twofold. I am dedicated to my girls as is Madame Pavlova, and there is another in my lite whose mutual love reaches out to me beyond the bounds of Time and Space. He is Teddy Lloyd! Intimacy has never taken place with him. He is married to another. One day in the art room we melted into each other's arms and knew the truth. But I was proud of giving myself to you when you came and took me in the bracken on Arthur's Seat while the storm raged about us. If 1 am in a certain condition I shall place the infant in the care of a worthy shepherd and his wife, and we can discuss it calmly as platonic acquaintances. I may permit misconduct to occur again from time to time as an outlet because I am in my Prime. We can also have many a breezy day in the fishing boat at sea. ...

Allow me, in conclusion, to congratulate you warmly upon your sexual intercourse, as well as your singing.

With fondest joy,
Jean Brodie

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53d

<p>Meet the Writers: Damian Barr</p><p>Damian Barr reflects on childhood shaping his memoir & novel, his move from journalism to fiction, & celebrating overlooked Scottish artists via writing, theatre & an exhibition.</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5ho4COxnko" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5ho4COxnko"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5ho4C</span><span class="invisible">Oxnko</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/novel/" rel="tag">#novel</a> <a href="/tags/art/" rel="tag">#art</a> <a href="/tags/visualart/" rel="tag">#visualart</a></p>

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54d

<p>Not a red rose or a satin heart.</p><p>I give you an onion.<br>It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.<br>It promises light<br>like the careful undressing of love…</p><p>—Carol Ann Duffy, “Valentine”<br>published in A Red Rose or a Satin Heart: An Anthology of Scottish Love Poems, <span class="h-card"><a href="https://bookish.community/@canongatebooks" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>canongatebooks</span></a></span> 2010<br>💝 </p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/valentinesday/" rel="tag">#ValentinesDay</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#womenwriters</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoem/" rel="tag">#lovepoem</a> <a href="/tags/carolannduffy/" rel="tag">#CarolAnnDuffy</a></p>

Valentine
Carol Ann Duffy

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or a kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
if you like.
Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

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54d

<p>When you go,<br>if you go,<br>and I should want to die,<br>there’s nothing I’d be saved by<br>more than the time<br>you fell asleep in my arms…</p><p>—Edwin Morgan, “When You Go”<br>published in CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 2020)</p><p><a href="https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781784109967" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781784109967"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/ind</span><span class="invisible">exer?product=9781784109967</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/valentinesday/" rel="tag">#ValentinesDay</a> <a href="/tags/lgbtq/" rel="tag">#LGBTQ</a> <a href="/tags/lgbtqplushm/" rel="tag">#LGBTQplusHM</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/valentine/" rel="tag">#Valentine</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoem/" rel="tag">#lovepoem</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoetry/" rel="tag">#lovepoetry</a> <a href="/tags/edwinmorgan/" rel="tag">#EdwinMorgan</a></p>

When you go
Edwin Morgan

When you go,
if you go,
and I should want to die,
there's nothing I’d be saved by
more than the time
you fell asleep in my arms
in a trust so gentle
I let the darkening room
drink up the evening, till
rest, or the new rain
lightly roused you awake.
I asked if you heard the rain in your dream
and half dreaming still you only said, I love you.

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54d

<p>O dastram, dastram,<br>Dastram Mòrag!<br>Rìbhinn bhuidh’, bhasdalach,<br>Leac-ruiteach ròsach…</p><p>—Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, bho “Moladh Mòrag”<br>published in DASTRAM/DELIRIUM: Selected Poems of Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, Versions by Taylor Strickland (Broken Sleep Books, 2023)</p><p><a href="https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/taylor-strickland-dastram-delirium" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/taylor-strickland-dastram-delirium"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.brokensleepbooks.com/produ</span><span class="invisible">ct-page/taylor-strickland-dastram-delirium</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/valentinesday/" rel="tag">#ValentinesDay</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/18thcentury/" rel="tag">#18thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/love/" rel="tag">#love</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoem/" rel="tag">#lovepoem</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoetry/" rel="tag">#lovepoetry</a></p>

bho Moladh Mòraig
Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair

O dastram, dastram,
Dastram Mòrag!
Rìbhinn bhuidh’, bhasdalach,
Leac-ruiteach ròsach;
A gruaidhean air lasadh
Mar an lasair-chlach dhathte,
’S a deud mar a’ sneachda,
Cruinn-shnaighte ’n dlùth òrdugh;
Ri Venus cho tlachdmhor
An taitneachdainn fheòlmhor,
Ri Dido cho maiseach,
Cho snasmhor ’s cho còrr rith’;
’S e thionnsgain dhomh caitheamh
’S a lùghdaich mo ràithean,
A’ bhallag ghrinn laghach
Chuir na gathan sa ’m fheòil-sa.

from Praised be Morag
translated by Taylor Strickland

Delirium! Delirium
from her, a girl blonde,
lurid: how she snuffs out
her own flint-spark glow,
and in one white bite
hewn from snow.
As sex and excess,
as body and beauty,
so Dido, so Venus,
so Morag ravishes
my seasons,
my genius
spent.
A girl with sharp agency
can pierce the heart
clean through.

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54d

<p>O, love, love, love!<br>Love is like a dizziness; <br>It winna let a poor body<br>Gang about his biziness!</p><p>—James Hogg (1770–1835), “Love is like a dizziness” 💝 </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/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/valentinesday/" rel="tag">#ValentinesDay</a> <a href="/tags/valentine/" rel="tag">#Valentine</a> <a href="/tags/18thcentury/" rel="tag">#18thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/humour/" rel="tag">#humour</a></p>

Love is like a dizziness
James Hogg

I lately lived in quiet ease,
An’ ne’er wished to marry, O!
But when I saw my Peggy’s face,
I felt a sad quandary, O!
Though wild as ony Athol deer,
She has trepann’d me fairly, O!
Her cherry cheeks an’ een sae clear
Torment me late an’ early, O!

O, love, love, love!
Love is like a dizziness;
It winna let a poor body
Gang about his biziness!

To tell my feats this single week
Wad mak a daft-like diary, O!
I drave my cart out owre a dike,
My horses in a miry, O!
I wear my stockings white an’ blue,
My love’s sae fierce an’ fiery, O!
I drill the land that I should pleugh,
An’ pleugh the drills entirely, O!

Chorus

Ae morning, by the dawn o’ day,
I rase to theek the stable, O!
I cuist my coat, an’ plied away
As fast as I was able, O!
I wrought that morning out an’ out,
As I’d been redding fire, O!
When I had done an’ look’d about,
Gudefaith, it was the byre, O!

Chorus

Her wily glance I’ll ne’er forget,
The dear, the lovely blinkin’ o’t
Has pierced me through an’ through the heart,
An’ plagues me wi’ the prinkling o’t.
I tried to sing, I tried to pray,
I tried to drown’t wi’ drinkin’ o’t,
I tried wi’ sport to drive’t away,
But ne’er can sleep for thinkin’ o’t.

Chorus

Nae man can tell what pains I prove,
Or how severe my pliskie, O!
I swear I’m sairer drunk wi’ love
Than ever I was wi’ whisky, O!
For love has raked me fore an’ aft,
I scarce can lift a leggie, O!
I first grew dizzy, then gaed daft,
An’ soon I’ll dee for Peggy, O!

Chorus

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54d

<p>Here is a letter<br>come across the ocean<br>over the back of a world<br>curved like a whale…</p><p>—Hugh McMillan, “Letter”<br>published in THE OTHER CREATURES IN THE WOOD (Mariscat, 2014)</p><p><a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/letter/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/letter/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.</span><span class="invisible">uk/poem/letter/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/valentinesday/" rel="tag">#ValentinesDay</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoem/" rel="tag">#lovepoem</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoetry/" rel="tag">#lovepoetry</a> <a href="/tags/valentine/" rel="tag">#Valentine</a></p>

Letter
Hugh McMillan

Here is a letter
come across the ocean
over the back of a world
curved like a whale.
I unwrap it, like tissue,
and sentences spill out,
as though the seal on a jar has broken,
coils of cornflower blue
on paper thin as shell.

I saw a sailor’s valentine once
in a museum in Nantucket Sound,
a mosaic of broken scallop
glued in a compass rose.
‘Writ from the heart’ it said.
Words come best like that:
in ink or blood,
when the source is from a major vein.

I read, and understand this much:
if ink sees off time and miles, then so must love.

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54d

<p>Like the Idalian queene,<br>Her haire about her eyne,<br>With necke and brests ripe apples to be seene,<br>At first glance of the morne<br>In Cyprus gardens gathering those faire flowrs<br>Which of her bloud were borne…</p><p>—William Drummond of Hawthornden (1585–1649), “Like the Idalian queene”</p><p><a href="https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/jacobean-parnassus/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/jacobean-parnassus/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">asls.org.uk/publications/books</span><span class="invisible">/volumes/jacobean-parnassus/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/valentinesday/" rel="tag">#ValentinesDay</a> <a href="/tags/valentine/" rel="tag">#Valentine</a> <a href="/tags/17thcentury/" rel="tag">#17thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/earlymodern/" rel="tag">#earlymodern</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoem/" rel="tag">#lovepoem</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoetry/" rel="tag">#lovepoetry</a></p>

“Like the Idalian queene”
by William Drummond of Hawthornden

Like the Idalian queene,
Her haire about her eyne,
With necke and brests ripe apples to be seene,
At first glance of the morne
In Cyprus gardens gathering those faire flowrs
Which of her bloud were borne,
I saw, but fainting saw, my paramours.
The Graces naked danc’d about the place,
The winds and trees, amaz’d,
With silence on her gaz’d,
The flowrs did smile, like those upon her face;
And as their aspine stalkes those fingers band,
That shee might read my case
A hyacinth I wisht mee in her hand.

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54d

<p>There were never strawberries<br>like the ones we had<br>that sultry afternoon<br>sitting on the step<br>of the open french window<br>facing each other<br>your knees held in mine…</p><p>—Edwin Morgan, “Strawberries”🍓<br>published in CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 2020)</p><p><a href="https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781784109967" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781784109967"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/ind</span><span class="invisible">exer?product=9781784109967</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/valentinesday/" rel="tag">#ValentinesDay</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/lgbtq/" rel="tag">#LGBTQ</a> <a href="/tags/lgbtqplushm/" rel="tag">#LGBTQplusHM</a> <a href="/tags/valentine/" rel="tag">#Valentine</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoem/" rel="tag">#lovepoem</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoetry/" rel="tag">#lovepoetry</a> <a href="/tags/edwinmorgan/" rel="tag">#EdwinMorgan</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a></p>

Strawberries
Edwin Morgan

There were never strawberries
like the ones we had
that sultry afternoon
sitting on the step
of the open french window
facing each other
your knees held in mine
the blue plates in our laps
the strawberries glistening
in the hot sunlight
we dipped them in sugar
looking at each other
not hurrying the feast
for one to come
the empty plates

laid on the stone together
with the two forks crossed
and I bent towards you
sweet in that air
in my arms
abandoned like a child
from your eager mouth
the taste of strawberries
in my memory
lean back again
let me love you

let the sun beat
on our forgetfulness
one hour of all
the heat intense
and summer lightning
on the Kilpatrick hills

let the storm wash the plates

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331d

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway was published.</p><p>What a Plunge! Teaching Mrs. Dalloway to High Schoolers in 2025</p><p>by Mia Manzulli</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/what-a-plunge-teaching-mrs-dalloway-to-high-schoolers-in-2025/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/what-a-plunge-teaching-mrs-dalloway-to-high-schoolers-in-2025/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/what-a-plunge-teach</span><span class="invisible">ing-mrs-dalloway-to-high-schoolers-in-2025/</span></a></p><p>Mrs. Dalloway at PG</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71865" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71865</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Cover art for the first edition of Mrs. Dalloway by Vanessa Bell.

Edited 331d ago

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54d

<p>The Mercator Projection<br>Currently on BBC Sounds</p><p>In a short work for Valentine’s Day by Heather Parry, a cartographer redraws the map for those she loves</p><p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0027v47" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0027v47"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0027</span><span class="invisible">v47</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/shortfiction/" rel="tag">#shortfiction</a> <a href="/tags/shortstory/" rel="tag">#shortstory</a> <a href="/tags/audio/" rel="tag">#audio</a> <a href="/tags/valentine/" rel="tag">#Valentine</a> <a href="/tags/valentinesday/" rel="tag">#ValentinesDay</a></p>

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54d

<p>Whether the weather be dreich or fair, my luve,<br>if guid times greet us, or we hae tae face the worst,<br>ahint and afore whit will happen tae us…</p><p>—Jackie Kay, “A Lang Promise”<br>published in BANTAM (Picador, 2017)</p><p><a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/jackie-kay/bantam/9781509887927" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.panmacmillan.com/authors/jackie-kay/bantam/9781509887927"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.panmacmillan.com/authors/j</span><span class="invisible">ackie-kay/bantam/9781509887927</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/valentinesday/" rel="tag">#ValentinesDay</a> <a href="/tags/valentine/" rel="tag">#Valentine</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/lgbtq/" rel="tag">#LGBTQ</a> <a href="/tags/lgbtqplushm/" rel="tag">#LGBTQplusHM</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoem/" rel="tag">#lovepoem</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoetry/" rel="tag">#lovepoetry</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#womenwriters</a> <a href="/tags/jackiekay/" rel="tag">#JackieKay</a></p>

A Lang Promise
Jackie Kay

Whether the weather be dreich or fair, my luve,
if guid times greet us, or we hae tae face the worst,
ahint and afore whit will happen tae us:
blind in the present, eyes open to the furore,
unkempt or perjink, suddenly puir or poorly,
peely-wally or in fine fettle, beld or frosty,
calm as a ghoul or in a feery-farry,
in dork December or in springy spring weather,
doon by the Barrows, or on the Champs-Élysées,
at midnight, first licht, whether the mune
be roond or crescent, and yer o' soond mind
or absent, I'll tak your trusty haun
and lead you over the haw – hame, ma darlin.
I’ll carry ma lantern, and daur defend ye agin ony foe;
and whilst there is breath in me, I'll blaw it intae ye.
Fir ye are ma true luve, the bonnie face I see;
nichts I fall intae slumber, it’s ye swimming up
in all yer guidness and blitheness, yer passion.
You’ll be mine, noo, an’ till the end o’ time,
ma bonnie lassie, I’ll tak the full guid o’ ye
and gie it back, and gie it back tae ye:
a furst kiss, a lang promise, time’s gowden ring.

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53d

<p>This week's <a href="/tags/newbooks/" rel="tag">#NewBooks</a> at the library:<br>- I expanded my collection of <a href="/tags/tolkien/" rel="tag">#Tolkien</a> books with The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien's Creation from W.W. Norton<br>- I used my employer's Christmas voucher to buy a copy of Simon Parkin's The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad: A True Story of Science and Sacrifice in a City under Siege from Sceptre (look out for a review in due course).<br>- I also found a second-hand copy of What Is Regeneration? from the University of Chicago Press. </p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/scicomm/" rel="tag">#Scicomm</a> <a href="/tags/tolkien/" rel="tag">#Tolkien</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a> <a href="/tags/developmentalbiology/" rel="tag">#DevelopmentalBiology</a> <a href="/tags/seedbank/" rel="tag">#SeedBank</a> <a href="/tags/botany/" rel="tag">#Botany</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#Bookstodon</a> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span></p>

A photo of three books standing on a small, brown, wooden table. The out-of-focus background shows black shelves full of books.

On the left, standing up, The Tower and the Ruin, showing a black-and-white photo of J.R.R. Tolkien on a black background. He is wearing a suit and lighting his pipe.

In the middle, lying down, What Is Regeneration?, showing several blue drawings of hydras, a stalked underwater hydrozoan with a crown of tentacles at its free end.

On the right, standing up, The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad, showing part of a black-and-white photo of two women wearing head scarves, seated against a background of concrete rubble. The top half of the cover shows several technical botanical drawings of plants in colour and black-and-white.

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327d

<p>Tagore in Saigon: Culture, Contradictions, Champagne</p><p>Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to Vietnam in 1929 fanned the debate about the region’s potential future without the French.</p><p>By: H.M.A. Leow </p><p><a href="https://daily.jstor.org/tagore-in-saigon-culture-contradictions-champagne/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="daily.jstor.org/tagore-in-saigon-culture-contradictions-champagne/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">daily.jstor.org/tagore-in-saig</span><span class="invisible">on-culture-contradictions-champagne/</span></a></p><p>At PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/942" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/942"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/942</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Rabindranath with Einstein in 1930

UNESCO - UNESCO Gallery

In the image, Tagore, the Indian poet-philosopher and Nobel laureate in literature, stands beside Einstein, the renowned physicist and Nobel laureate in physics. Both are seen in thoughtful poses—Einstein with his characteristically wild hair and simple attire, and Tagore draped in traditional Indian robes with a composed, serene expression.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore#/media/File:Rabindranath_with_Einstein.jpg

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327d

<p>Only Surviving Roman Cookbook Reveals Origins of Europe’s Most Iconic Recipes</p><p>By Filio Kontrafouri</p><p><a href="https://greekreporter.com/2025/05/16/roman-cookbook-europe-iconic-recipes/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="greekreporter.com/2025/05/16/roman-cookbook-europe-iconic-recipes/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">greekreporter.com/2025/05/16/r</span><span class="invisible">oman-cookbook-europe-iconic-recipes/</span></a></p><p>Cookbooks at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=cookbook&submit_search=Search" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=cookbook&submit_search=Search"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc</span><span class="invisible">h/?query=cookbook&submit_search=Search</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Roman Feast by Roberto Bompiani, Getty Museum. Apicius’ cookbook still intrigues scholars and cooks with its glimpses of Roman life. Credit: Roberto Bompiani/Public Domain

The artwork portrays elegantly robed Roman men and women reclining on couches around a lavish table, engaging in conversation and indulgence. Servants and musicians attend to the guests, enhancing the sense of luxury and leisure.

Set within a richly adorned interior—with marble columns, classical décor, and detailed frescoes—the painting evokes the grandeur and sensuality of elite Roman dining.

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