Poetry in Motion
In Reading Gaol, he wrote a long letter to ‘Bosie’ — later published as De Profundis — in which he lamented his former hedonism but refused to deny his own nature. “It is no less than a denial of the soul.” pic.twitter.com/WSuzdMb92i
— The School of Life (@TheSchoolOfLife) November 30, 2022
Wilde instead fled to Europe, where he was reunited with Douglas, though their families forced them to separate soon afterwards. Despite encouragement, Wilde found himself unable to write — “I have lost the mainspring of life and art…the joy of life is gone.” pic.twitter.com/c81SDvkQ8P
— The School of Life (@TheSchoolOfLife) November 30, 2022
More than a century on, Wilde’s story still has the power to infuriate and move us. It’s a reminder of just how quickly a reputation can be ruined — and just how many of those who stand accused in the court of public opinion today might actually deserve our pity and sympathy. pic.twitter.com/h6Q9KsLkeN
— The School of Life (@TheSchoolOfLife) November 30, 2022
In 2017, Wilde, along with 50,000 others, received a posthumous pardon for his conviction. Though his defiant self-assertion may have doomed him, it has also helped, in no small way, to redeem us.
End of thread. pic.twitter.com/mttGpFjTBY
— The School of Life (@TheSchoolOfLife) November 30, 2022
2 December 1985. Leading British Poet, Philip Larkin, died (aged 63). He was offered, but declined, the role of Poet Laureate in 1984. One of his most famous lines was that sexual intercourse began in 1963, “Between the end of the (Lady) Chatterley ban and The Beatles’ first LP.” pic.twitter.com/33iSQkqpRf
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 2, 2022
3 December 1894. Robert Louis Stevenson died (aged 44). He was author of a number of classic novels, including: Treasure Island, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Kidnapped. During his lifetime, he was seen as too overtly popular to be judged a great novelist, but is seen as such now. pic.twitter.com/wKiBYu7aLV
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 3, 2022
4 December 1937. The first issue of the popular children’s comic, The Dandy, was published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. It’s the world’s 3rd-longest running comic, but ceased publication on 4 December 2012. pic.twitter.com/3nyp7Vaw6E
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 4, 2022
4 December 1948. George Orwell completed the final draft of his landmark futuristic novel, Nineteen Eighty Four, which depicts a totalitarian tyranny ruled by “Big Brother”, and supported by a pervasive secret police operating blanket surveillance of the entire population. pic.twitter.com/oTCO2c05fQ
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 4, 2022
This day 25 years ago - 7 December 1995 - Seamus Heaney accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature in Stockholm:
“The way in which walls have come down in Europe and iron curtains have opened, all this inspires a hope that new possibility can still open up in Ireland as well.” pic.twitter.com/aJXK7PxjK3
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) December 7, 2020
7 December 1985. Acclaimed writer and poet, Robert Graves, died (aged 90). He produced more than 140 works in his lifetime, including collections of poems, translations of Greek myths, the famous novel, I Claudius, and his famous memoir of his early life, Good-Bye to All That. pic.twitter.com/53rmb4gbFy
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 7, 2022
8 December 1951. Best selling writer, primarily of travelogue books, Bill Bryson, was born in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He is a self-confessed Anglophile, and has lived in Britain for most of his adult life. pic.twitter.com/OjBy6pKVrN
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 8, 2022
9 December 1854 Lord Tennyson’s classic narrative poem, Charge of the Light Brigade, was published. The charge of the Light Brigade occurred during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. Tennyson wrote the poem on 2 December 1854. pic.twitter.com/9njOt6yBVr
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 9, 2022
10 December 1884. Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was published. It’s commonly named among the “Great American Novels” and was the sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and is noted for its vivid descriptions of people and places along the Mississippi River. pic.twitter.com/PO5SZc46fv
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 10, 2022
10 December 1907. Rudyard Kipling became the first English writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, in consideration of his “power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration”. pic.twitter.com/9grn5eh1at
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 10, 2022
#RIP #OTD in 2021 author (Interview with the Vampire, The Feast of All Saints, Exit to Eden), Anne Rice died from complications of a stroke in Rancho Mirage, California, aged 80. Rice family mausoleum, Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans https://t.co/oVb6IP0jwj pic.twitter.com/Vr2ElMDitu
— RIP The Final Footprint (@RIPTFF) December 11, 2022
12 December 1847 (probably). The classic novel, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (writing under the male pseudonym Ellis Bell), was first published in the UK. It was Bronte’s only completed novel, and is a classic of English literature. pic.twitter.com/m01qVtOYT9
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 12, 2022
12 December 1889. Robert Browning, one of the leading English Victorian poets, died (aged 77). His poems were noted for their irony, dark humour, social commentary, and challenging syntax. His leading works include: Men and Women, Dramatis Personae, and The Ring and the Book. pic.twitter.com/ohdsjlph7A
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 12, 2022
12 December 1929. Leading British playwright, John Osborne, was born in London. His play, Look Back in Anger, ushered in a new movement in British drama and led Osborne to be known as the first of the “Angry Young Men”. pic.twitter.com/1TIoZNoVbL
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 12, 2022
12 December 1999. Acclaimed novelist, Joseph Heller, died (aged 76). His best-known work is Catch-22, published in 1962 which is a satire on war and bureaucracy, whose title has become a synonym for a difficult circumstance from which there is little chance to escape. pic.twitter.com/I5BOj4Hseo
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 12, 2022
This day 128 years ago – 13 December 1890 – W.B. Yeats's poem Lake Isle of Innisfree was first published in the National Observer.
The title refers to an uninhabited island in Lough Gill, Co. Sligo.
It was voted the favourite Irish poem by readers of The Irish Times in 1999. pic.twitter.com/IAEcieqXZR
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) December 13, 2018
14 December 1946. Best selling historian, Antony Beevor, was born in London. A master of gripping narrative history, he has chronicled the Second World War in Europe in a series of books, primarily on its key battles. pic.twitter.com/Zw185v1uOy
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 14, 2022
15 December 2011. Acclaimed author, critic and journalist, Christopher Hitchens, died (aged 62). He was the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of over 30 books, including, 5 collections of essays on culture, politics, and literature. He became an American citizen in 2007. pic.twitter.com/tJJ0q7zqXO
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 15, 2022