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Odes and Nightingales
Words on nature for every day of the year
Brief Description
"In all things of nature there is something of the marvellous." - Aristotle Some of the most evocative words in language are those we use to describe the natural world. Words like petrichor, murmuration, shivelight and noonbeams all conjure up experiences of being out in nature....
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See moreFrom murmurations of starlings in spring, to petrichor - the sweet smell that you get after rain - explore the beauty of the evocative words that we use to describe nature, and celebrate the natural world through literary quotes and poems all year long.
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Description
"In all things of nature there is something of the marvellous." - Aristotle
Some of the most evocative words in language are those we use to describe the natural world. Words like petrichor, murmuration, shivelight and noonbeams all conjure up experiences of being out in nature. In Japan, this concept of spending time with the great outdoors is known as Shinrin-yoku or 'forest bathing', whilst in Norway it is Friluftsliv or 'free-air life', a word coined by playwright Henrik Ibsen, meaning a deep, daily connection with nature regardless of weather or season.
Nature has inspired poets and writers through the centuries, and the phrases they used are often what we bring to mind when we think of the natural world: Wordsworth wandered lonely as a cloud, Keats wrote his 'Ode to a Nightingale' and Shakespeare compared his muse to a summer's day.
Odes and Nightingales is a nature-lover's lexicon that celebrates the language of our wildlife and landscape; their origins, and the very best writing on nature. Perfect for reading or sharing, this is a gift to treasure all year long.
Highlights include:
- Extracts from some of the UK's best-loved nature poets and writers, including Wordsworth, Keats, Robert Burns, Tennyson, Jane Austen, Emily Bronte, Shakespeare and many more.
- Learn the fascinating origins of words like mawkit, hyperborean, dumberdash and polliwog.
- Discover words from around the world, from Inuit words for snow, to Japanese blossom viewing parties, and the Icelandic custom of closing offices early on a sunny day.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781788406802
Publisher: Octopus Publishing Group
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 13 August 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Octopus Publishing Group
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 22.0mm
Width: 128.0mm
Height: 202.0mm
Weight: 258g
Pages: 256
About the Author
Robert Tuesley Anderson is a writer, poet and editor living in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. He is the author of several books including Recipes From the World of Tolkien. His cookbooks have given him the opportunity to bring together two lifelong enthusiasms: good home-cooked food and classical literature.
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