Flannan Isle
Ballad by the English poet Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, an imaginative account of the unexplained disappearance of three lighthouse keepers in December 1900.
Doggerel
Clumsy and awkward verse often employed for comic effect.
To a Louse
Poem by the Scottish poet Robert Burns, first published in 1786.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
English poem and nursery rhyme by Jane Taylor, first published in 1806 under the title “The Star”.
Areopagus (poetry)
Supposed organisation of poets centred on reforming English verse, founded in the 16th century.
The Diverting History of John Gilpin
Comic poem by the English poet William Cowper, first published in 1782.
Tam o’ Shanter
Narrative poem by the Scottish poet Robert Burns, first published in 1791.
You Are Old, Father William
Poem by Lewis Carroll that first appeared in his book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865).
The Inchcape Rock
Ballad written by the English poet Robert Southey. Published in 1802, it tells the story of a 14th-century attempt by the Abbot of Arbroath (“Aberbrothock”) to install a warning bell on Inchcape, a notorious sandstone reef about 11 miles (18 km) off the east coast of Scotland.