First published in 1948, this book may be described as Dame Edith Sitwell's personal notebook. It consists of essays on the subject of the general aspect of the plays-those great hymns to the principle and the glory of life, in which there are the same differences in nature, in matter, in light, in darkness, in movement, that we find in the universe, and in which the characters are so vast they seem each an element (Water, Hamlet; Air, Romeo and Juliet; Fire, King Lear) and which yet bear ...

In "The Queens and the Hive," Edith Sitwell crafts a vivid tapestry that intertwines the themes of power and artifice within the context of a decaying society. The work is notable for its impressionistic style, rich imagery, and musicality, reflecting Sitwell's fascination with the intricate worlds of insect life as a metaphor for human existence. Through the lens of poetic narrative, Sitwell juxtaposes the regal queens with their buzzing subjects, delving into the complexities of identity...

The constant themes of the great poet, Birth, Death, Pity and Indignation, the unity of life, the re-birth that is brought by Spring, and the necessity for choice that informs all sentient life, are the core of this collection of poems by Dr. Edith Sitwell.The poet's awareness of the atomic age into which mankind has emerged renders more poignant and moving her assurance of the spiritual pattern behind the material facades. She knows that: "... we live now in the age of the terribl...

In the 20th Century War enveloped the globe on two occasions. Myriad other wars erupted, spent themselves in fury or rumbled on, decaying into untold misery and pain.Whilst The War Poets were heralded, the women poets were not much spoken of. True, their role was not on the front lines directly, in the heat and line of battle, but they were there, just behind, witnessing the wholesale slaughter of a generation in the ‘War to end all wars’.In this volume we hear just how the...

Hear rare recordings from some of the world's most-respected poets reading their own works: J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hoard; ee cummings, Prose Jottings; Archibald Macleish, The Old Man To The Lizard; Ted Hughes, Six Young Men; May Swenson, Naked In Borneo; Marilyn Hacker, The Dark Twin; Kenneth Patchen, 23rd Street Runs Into Heaven; Edith Sitwell, An Old Woman; Theodore Roethke, The Bat. Recording obtained and published by Rick Sheridan.

Did Richard, Duke of York, the younger of the Princes on the Tower, survive his imprisonment? In this revealing new book medieval historian David Baldwin presents an original and intriguing scenario.On 27 December 1550 an old man named Richard Plantagenet was buried at Eastwell in Kent. He had spent much of his life working as a bricklayer at St John's Abbey, Colchester, but, unusually for a bricklayer, he could read Latin. Reluctant to give any account of his back...

Mary Boleyn, the infamous other Boleyn girl, began her court career as the mistress of the king of France. François I of France would later call her The Great Prostitute and the slur stuck.The bête-noir of her family, Mary was married off to a minor courtier but it was not long before she caught the eye of Henry VIII and a new affair began. Although a bright star at Henrys court, she was soon eclipsed by her highly spirited and more accomplished sister, Anne, who rapidly took her pl...

Elizabeth Woodville is a historical character whose life no novelist would ever have dared invent. She has been portrayed as an enchantress, as an unprincipled advancer of her family's fortunes and a plucky but pitiful queen in Shakespeare's histories. She has been alternatively championed and vilified by her contemporaries and five centuries of historians, dramatists and novelists, but what was she really like?In this revealing account of Elizabeth's life...

Anne Neville was queen to England's most notorious king, Richard III. She was immortalised by Shakespeare for the remarkable nature of her marriage, a union which brought together a sorrowing widow with her husband's murderer. Anne's misfortune did not end there. In addition to killing her first husband, Richard also helped kill her father, father-in-law and brother-in-law, imprisoned her mother, and was suspected of poisoning Anne herself. Dying before the age of thirty, ...

Jane Seymour is often portrayed as meek and mild and as the most successful, but one of the least significant, of Henry VIIIs wives. The real Jane was a very different character, demure and submissive yet with a ruthless streak as Anne Boleyn was being tried for treason, Jane was choosing her wedding dress. From the lowliest origins of any of Henrys wives her rise shows an ambition every bit as great as Annes.Elizabeth Norton tells the thrilling life of a country girl from rural Wil...

Which king's guards massacred a group of his supporters by mistake? Who had an oversized tongue and had to slobber when they ate food? Who was so large when they died that they had to be buried in a square coffin? Who survived seven assassination attempts? As you can tell from the bizarre questions above, it wasn't all thrones and sceptres for British kings and queens. Some of them were completely batty, and others were downright vicious. On the other hand, some monarchs were an icon to th...

When Edward IV died in 1483, the Yorkist succession was called into question by doubts about the legitimacy of his sons (the 'Princes in the Tower'). The crown therefore passed to Edward IV's undoubtedly legitimate younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. But Richard, too, found himself entangled in the web of uncertainly, since those who believed in the legitimacy of Edward IV's children viewed Richard III's own accession with suspicion.From the day that Edwa...