Heroism in Battle and Poetry

By Laurie Epps

The story of the boy of Casabianca is shrouded in mystery. There's not enough attention paid to it in classrooms in America. I know it was written across the pond in the U.K. but it has strong literary value. This poem was memorized and recited by school children in England up till the 1930s. Proper homage should be paid.

But first, I'm going to tell you a little about the poet herself, and she had a love of literature at young age just as I did. After a very minimal amount of research, I learned I've got a lot in common with Felicia Dorothea Hemans.

Felicia Dorothea Hemans
1793-1835

We Are Seven

William Wordsworth
1770-1850

By Laurie Epps

Coping with death is hard at any age is difficult at best. However, in today's poem, the wisdom is spoken by a child. In this poem from William Wordsworth, I'll give you a little background on the author, and then my analysis.

William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in Cumberland, England to John & Anne Wordsworth. He was the second of five children. His father was a lawyer and owned a lot of property, so the family was well off.

When Woodsworth was 17, his mother died, and he went to study at St. John's College in Cambridge. On his first college break in the summer of 1788, William spent the summer hiking extensively through France, Switzerland, Germany, and Wales.

The Mouse's Petition

Anna Laetitia Barbould
1743-1825

By Laurie Epps

The Romantic Period of British Literature was unique, in that, it brought about new ways of seeing things. There was a deliberate attention given to the diminishing natural world. Focus was now being shifted to individual points of view, and these elements influenced poetry by making it more lyrical in quality.

In most British Literature courses, it begins with Anna Laetitia Barbauld. Barbould was born in 1743, and was educated at home by her mother in Leicestershire, England. In 1772, she married Rochemont Barbould.