Tuesday 5 May 2020

English Verse, Lesson 11: The Wombat




Incidentally, Dante Gabriel Rossetti wrote a beautiful poem about a wombat. He'd ordered one as a pet, and, while waiting for it to arrive he said:

Oh how the family affections combat
Within this heart, and each hour flings a bomb at
My burning soul! Neither from owl nor from bat
Can peace be gained until I clasp my wombat.

More information here.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for these lessons, I've been enjoying them very much. It was particularly entertaining going through the wombat before watching your analysis to test my learning so far. There was an intense debate about whether or not in this case 'berries' was actually being said as a single syllable due to the rhythm the poem was setting up. Like double-time in music. Anyway, it was much fun and I thank you for all you're doing. Hope you're keeping safe and well.

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    Replies
    1. Now I'm trying to pronounce berries as one word. Will lockdown never end?

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  2. These are brilliant! Please keep them up and make many many more! On a side note (I’ve been asking everyone recently) any writing advice? Thanks again :)

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