Walt Whitman

Screen and stage star Rip Torn has died at the age of 88. Torn made his reputation in the works of Tennessee Williams and played roles as diverse as (...)

Born 200 years ago on Friday, Walt Whitman is now best remembered for his epic poem Leaves of Grass, which if it didn’t invent free verse, was certain(...)

What is it about a lilac in full bloom that so touches the heart? The poet and essayist Walt Whitman called this woody plant’s intensely perfumed flow(...)

Mary Oliver, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet whose work, with its plain language and minute attention to the natural world, drew a wide following while (...)

As first steps are taken on the road to a peace on the Korean peninsula it is worth remembering that when Jesus spoke about peace he was thinking abou(...)

After a recent column here about the dubious honour of being addressed as “sir” (or even “sore”) in Dublin, several readers reminded me of a passage i(...)

If the walls of a property could only talk and recount the events of its lifetime, 61 Wellington Road would have some interesting recollections. Recor(...)

I’m listening to Billy Joe Shaver And I’m reading James Joyce Some people they tell me I got the blood of the land in my voice For those still wond(...)

O Captain! My Captain! – Walt Whitman’s iconic poem about the untimely demise of American president Abraham Lincoln comes to mind. Oh Captain! My Cap(...)

Composing the Island is quite simply off the scale when it comes to the celebration of Irish composers. The festival, which will run from September 7(...)