If we shadows have offended… — We all know that Shakespeare coined a lot of common phrases. In honor of the approach of midsummer, here are the most famous ones from A Midsummer Night’s Dream! 10. Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania. I expect everyone who quotes Oberon here knows what they are quoting. It is a tremendous quote — when has a…

A forgotten ancient tradition — There’s a style of Irish music that bears little in common with Whiskey in the Jar, Danny Boy, or the reels, hornpipes, and jigs that cast such a familiar footprint. You might have heard it even if you don’t know what it’s called: athat droning trill of a single, perhaps…

And the best place to visit — Every so often, someone asks me what I think of Cuzco, where I spent a few months teaching English, and I’m not sure what to say. On one hand, it’s one of the most remarkable cities in the world: the ancient capital of the Inca Empire, the pre-Colombian streets lined…

And I shouldn’t have paid up — When I went to Iceland for a couple of weeks a few years ago (pre-Coronavirus), I made a couple of pretty major logistical mistakes that cost me a lot of money in the end. Iceland is becoming a tourist destination for good reason — it’s a really fascinating and beautiful…

When education despairs of education — Last night I watched the Daily Wire documentary What Is A Woman?, where the conservative figurehead Matt Walsh interviews a wide range of people on the subject of transgenderism. It has its faults, which are easily discernible to anyone not very steeped in either conservative or liberal rhetoric. Walsh weakens…

a poem — Between noon and night, between the window-panes Between milky farms and mountain passes Something peers at me from the glassy wood Something Angharad love me all your days Love me winding rushing green Angharad come to the sea Run into the water and I will be there laughing dancing from the shore Between the rocks, beyond…

Taras Shevchenko — Evening Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861) is Ukraine’s national poet. He was one of the first to write in Ukrainian and was also a renowned painter. Here is one of his shorter poems from his first collection of poetry. Evening The cherry orchard is by the cottage May bugs hum over the cherries Ploughmen walk…

And how to use the copula — A while ago, I wrote an article on irregular verbs in Irish, saving the verb ‘to be’ for its own article. I now present the long-awaited sequel. Now, there are three important things to pay attention to with Irish verb conjugations: The form The particles The usage #3 is where…

If you’re thinking: ‘what else can I do?’ — My favorite part about the Disney films that have come out since Frozen is that they feel like love letters to the cultures they are based on. Classic Disney gave us traditional European stories and styles romanticized into a standard canon: modern Disney is expanding its horizons. …