Taliesin, according to Welsh legend, was a 6th century poet and minstrel who reputedly was a bard at the court of King Arthur, and possibly two other Celtic kings besides. The problem is though that most of what has been written down about him is very much based on legend. In this case it is difficult to separate actual events from probably ...
Better known as Simonides of Ceos, depicting the place where he was born, this was a 6th century BC Greek poet who became famous as much for his elegies as his romantic, lyrical poetry. He wrote a great deal about the fallen in great battles fought between the Greeks and the “Barbarians”, this term fitting almost any enemy who was not of ...
The story of Thomas Paine is, indeed, a curious one. He was one of the original Founding Fathers of the United States of America in the late 18th century. He was a great visionary, author of many books and pamphlets and a revolutionary thinker both in Europe and the new American States. He was feted everywhere he went as a man of ...
Comedian, singer and poet, Stanley Holloway was born in Manor Park in Essex in 1890 and was one of the most popular celebrities of the early 20th century, famous for his comic poetic monologues and radio shows. Appearing in film classics such as Brief Encounter and The Titfield Thunderbolt, he wrote and performed some of the most memorable comic poems of ...
Largely credited for laying at least part of the foundations for the modern democratic country of Greece, Solon was a politician and poet who was prominent in Athens between 638 and 558 BC. As with many of his contemporaries, there is a dearth of documentary and archaeological evidence concerning the life of this Athenian statesman who remains an influential figure in our ...
