The Year Outgrows The Spring

The Year Outgrows The Spring

The Year Outgrows the Spring

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The year outgrows the spring it thought so sweet
And clasps the summer with a new delight,
Yet wearied, leaves her languors and her heat
When cool-browed autumn dawns upon his sight.

The tree outgrows the bud’s suggestive grace
And feels new pride in blossoms fully blown.
But even this to deeper joy gives place
When bending boughs ‘neath blushing burdens groan.

Life’s rarest moments are derived from change.
The heart outgrows old happiness, old grief,
And suns itself in feelings new and strange.
The most enduring pleasure is but brief.

Our tastes, our needs, are never twice the same.
Nothing contents us long, however dear.
The spirit in us, like the grosser frame,
Outgrows the garments which it wore last year.

Change is the watchword of Progression. When
We tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new.
This restless craving in the souls of men
Spurs them to climb, and seek the mountain view.

So let who will erect an altar shrine
To meek-browed Constancy, and sing her praise.
Unto enlivening Change I shall build mine,
Who lends new zest, and interest to my days.

Withered Leaves by Peter Burn

Withered Leaves by Peter Burn

Withered Leaves

by Peter Burn

I watch the leaves as they fade and fall
And form a heap by my garden wall.

I think of my loss in days “to be,”
My garden’s wealth but a leafless tree.

I loved those leaves in their day of birth:
I love them now in the lap of earth.

Withered leaves! They are beautiful yet,
Though nipt by the frost, and dash’d by the wet!

Mine eyes feast not on the world of green,
Death holds its revels where life has been.

Snow, sleet, and hail, and a sunless sky!
These, these are mine, till the by and by.

I wait the hour. My heart has rest;
Seasons are faithful to His behest.

Through leaden sky, and through leafless tree,
I see the summer that is to be.

The Circling Year by Ramona Graham

The Circling Year by Ramona Graham

The Circling Year

by Ramona Graham
SPRING

The joys of living wreathe my face,
My heart keeps time to freshet’s race;
Of balmy airs I drink my fill—
Why, there’s a yellow daffodil!
Along the stream a soft green tinge
Gives hint of feathery willow fringe;
Methinks I heard a Robin’s “Cheer”—
I’m glad Spring’s here!

SUMMER
An afternoon of buzzing flies.
Heat waves that sear, and quivering rise;
The long white road, the plodding team,
The deep, cool grass in which to dream;
The distant cawing of the crows,
Tall, waving grain, long orchard rows;
The peaceful cattle in the stream—
Midsummer’s dream!

AUTUMN
A cold, gray day, a lowering sky,
A lonesome pigeon wheeling by;
The soft, blue smoke that hangs and fades,
The shivering crane that flaps and wades;
Dead leaves that, whispering, quit their tree,
The peace the river sings to me;
The chill aloofness of the Fall—
I love it all!

WINTER
A sheet of ice, the ring of steel,
The crunch of snow beneath the heel;
Loud, jingling bells, the straw-lined sleigh,
A restless pair that prance and neigh;
The early coming of the night,
Red glowing logs, a shaded light;
The firelit realm of books is mine—
Oh, Winter’s fine!

In Time’s Swing by Lucy Larcom

In Time’s Swing by Lucy Larcom

In Time’s Swing

by Lucy Larcom

Father Time, your footsteps go
Lightly as the falling snow.
In your swing I’m sitting, see!
Push me softly; one, two; three,
Twelve times only. Like a sheet,
Spread the snow beneath my feet.
Singing merrily, let me swing
Out of winter into spring.

Swing me out, and swing me in!
Trees are bare, but birds begin
Twittering to the peeping leaves,
On the bough beneath the eaves.
Wait,—one lilac bud I saw.
Icy hillsides feel the thaw.
April chased off March to-day;
Now I catch a glimpse of May.

Oh, the smell of sprouting grass!
In a blur the violets pass.
Whispering from the wildwood come
Mayflower’s breath and insect’s hum.
Roses carpeting the ground;
Thrushes, orioles, warbling sound:—
Swing me low, and swing me high,
To the warm clouds of July.

Slower now, for at my side
White pond lilies open wide.
Underneath the pine’s tall spire
Cardinal blossoms burn like fire.
They are gone; the golden-rod
Flashes from the dark green sod.
Crickets in the grass I hear;
Asters light the fading year.

Slower still! October weaves
Rainbows of the forest leaves.
Gentians fringed, like eyes of blue,
Glimmer out of sleety dew.
Meadow green I sadly miss:
Winds through withered sedges hiss.
Oh, ‘t is snowing, swing me fast,
While December shivers past!

Frosty-bearded Father Time,
Stop your footfall on the rime!
Hard you push, your hand is rough;
You have swung me long enough.
“Nay, no stopping,” say you? Well,
Some of your best stories tell,
While you swing me—gently, do!—
From the Old Year to the New.

The Seasons by E.F Hayward

The Seasons by E.F Hayward

The Seasons

by E. F. Hayward

I love to watch the seasons change;
As Summer takes the throne from Spring,
So wonderful sublime and strange,
Each one its own sweet songs does sing.

It seems each one, in turn, is best;
Is gifted with some special grace;
Yet Summer fades, as have the rest,
And Autumn boldly takes its place.

This of the Four I hold most dear,
Would be content to have it stay;
But Winter comes to close the year,
And Autumn scenes must pass away.

Just so our lives; our childhood days
Are filled with joy, that’s ne’er forgot;
And he is wise who simply says,
“I love them all,” and murmurs not.

The Mirage Machine by Lord Bechard

The Mirage Machine by Lord Bechard

The Mirage Machine
by Rev Lord CM Bechard

I. The Spark Beneath the Skull

In the temple of bone where the neurons hum,
Where the pulse of eternity softly drums,
There stirs a storm, unseen but bright—
A prism birthed from the absence of light.

A whisper crawls through synaptic seas:
“Suffer not from the world, but from your dreams.”
And lo! the fabric of reason tears,
Spilling colors that never were there.

The mind begins its mirrored climb,
Through the fractal folds of thought and time,
Where nightmare, memory, myth, and muse
Collide like gods with no excuse.

II. The Kingdom of What-If

The dream unfurls—electric vines,
A thousand worlds in tangled lines,
Each one born of an anxious spark,
A rumor blooming in the dark.

There—castles built from phantom fears,
Their bricks are made of unseen tears,
Where kings of doubt wear crowns of smoke,
And laughter burns where silence spoke.

The rivers flow with thoughts untrue,
Reflecting skies of borrowed blue,
And every tree bears fruit of dread,
That feeds the ghosts inside your head.

O kingdom vast! O mirror made!
By our own hand, by our own blade,
We forge the iron of despair,
And breathe illusions into air.

III. The Dream Architect

Upon the horizon—a figure stands,
Blueprints drawn in trembling hands,
A weaver of what-might-have-been,
The maker of pain that’s never seen.

He murmurs in pulses, soft, divine:
“I am your fear. You are my spine.
I borrow flesh from your belief,
I am the shadow of your grief.”

He bends the cosmos with his art,
Each thought a universe torn apart,
And from imagination’s womb,
He builds the walls that become our tomb.

IV. The Shattering

Then lightning struck the mental veil,
And truth rode through on a solar gale—
A comet voice of clarity spoke:
“The cage you fear is your own smoke.”

Galaxies cracked, the dream was torn,
The mirage collapsed where it was born.
The endless suffering, all so grand,
Melted to sand in my open hand.

The serpent of panic hissed and fell,
Dissolved beneath a golden bell,
And silence—pure, unbound, complete—
Kissed the dust beneath my feet.

V. The Awakening Beyond Thought

I rose through the rippling, radiant field,
Where the wounds of imagination healed,
Where every monster’s face revealed
The frightened child it tried to conceal.

Each doubt became a blooming sun,
Each fear—a truth already won,
And the void, no longer black and vast,
Sang: “The future’s fiction, not forecast.”

Through starlit corridors of mind,
I left my old self far behind,
The dreamer woke within the dream,
And drank from time’s kaleidoscope stream.

VI. The Return to Flesh

Back in the skull-cave—breathing, still,
The heart resumed its subtle will,
And all the chaos, all the flame,
Were fragments dancing in my name.

Reality sat, serene and mild,
Like a mother watching her restless child.
And I laughed, I wept, I finally knew—
The worst I feared was never true.

For imagination is both sword and key,
The chain, the fire, the alchemy—
It wounds, it heals, it blinds, it frees,
It’s hell, it’s art, it’s divinity.

VII. The Final Flame

Now, when darkness claims my sight,
I paint the void in liquid light.
No longer slave to phantom pain,
I dance with madness in the rain.

For Seneca’s voice still hums in me:
“Suffer not from reality,
But from the mind’s own masquerade—
A phantom war the heart has made.”

So I breathe in peace, exhale the lie,
And wink at the stars in the knowing sky,
For imagination’s not my chain—
It’s just the mirror of my brain.

And when it breaks, I clearly see:
The dream was never over me.

Listen to The Episode

Listen to the Mirage Machine on the Poetic Flows podcast

Top Influential UK Authors

Top Influential UK Authors

A list of British authors includes classic writers like William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens, modern authors such as George Orwell and Virginia Woolf, and contemporary authors like J.K. Rowling and Zadie Smith. Other notable authors span different eras and genres, including Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkien, the Brontë sisters, and Roald Dahl. 

“Top” British authors can refer to classic literary figures, modern bestsellers, or critically acclaimed writers.

Classic British Authors
These authors are considered foundational to English literature
  • William Shakespeare: Widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, known for plays like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth.
  • Jane Austen: Celebrated for her novels of manners and social observation, including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma.
  • Charles Dickens: A prominent Victorian novelist who created some of the world’s most well-known fictional characters in works such as Great Expectations and Oliver Twist.
  • Mary Shelley: Best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein, which is a landmark work of English literature.
  • George Orwell: Known for the dystopian novels Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, which have had a lasting impact on political discourse
Modern and Contemporary British Author
These authors have achieved significant commercial success or critical acclaim in recent decades
  • J.K. Rowling: The creator of the best-selling Harry Potter series, which has sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide.
  • Agatha Christie: The best-selling fiction writer of all time, known for her mystery novels featuring detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
  • Kazuo Ishiguro: A Nobel Prize in Literature winner, known for works such as The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go.
  • Ian McEwan: An acclaimed author known for his intricate plots and psychological depth in novels like Atonement.
  • Hilary Mantel: The late, award-winning author of the Wolf Hall trilogy, celebrated for her richly detailed historical fiction.
  • Neil Gaiman: A versatile author known for his works spanning fantasy and graphic novels, including The Ocean at the End of the Lane and the Sandman series
UK Female Authors

A list of the top 10 UK female authors often includes classics like Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters, modern powerhouses like J.K. Rowling, and influential contemporary writers such as Zadie Smith and Hilary Mantel. Other notable authors include Agatha Christie, Virginia Woolf, and Mary Shelley

  • Jane Austen: Author of classics like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.
  • Charlotte Brontë: Known for Jane Eyre and her sisters’ Gothic novels.
  • Emily Brontë: The author of Wuthering Heights.
  • J.K. Rowling: Creator of the globally successful Harry Potter series.
  • Agatha Christie: Famous for her mystery novels, including The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
  • Virginia Woolf: A modernist writer known for works like Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse.
  • Mary Shelley: Author of the classic science fiction novel Frankenstein.
  • Zadie Smith: A contemporary author known for White Teeth and On Beauty.
  • Hilary Mantel: A historical fiction writer, best known for her Wolf Hall trilogy.
  • Daphne du Maurier: The author of gothic novels such as Rebecca and Jamaica Inn. 

 

 

UK Male Authors

A list of the top 10 UK male authors is subjective, but a frequently cited group includes Shakespeare, Dickens, and Orwell, along with contemporary authors like Ian McEwan, Philip Pullman, and George R.R. Martin. Other notable male authors include J.R.R. Tolkien, Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Neil Gaiman

Classic and 20th-century authors

William Shakespeare: Widely considered the greatest writer in the English language, known for plays like Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.

Charles Dickens: A prolific Victorian-era author who created memorable characters in novels like Oliver Twist and Great Expectations.

George Orwell: Famous for his dystopian novels Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm.

J.R.R. Tolkien: The author of the epic fantasy novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

C.S. Lewis: Known for the Chronicles of Narnia series and his Christian apologetics.

Graham Greene: A prolific novelist who wrote works such as The Power and the Glory and The End of the Affair. 

 

Number 1 Female Author in the UK

Number 1 Female Author in the UK

Join me in this post as we discuss UK female authors. There are 78,200 authors, writers and translators in the UK. Out of that number 47000 are female which makes roughly 60%..that makes sense right? lets carry on

UK Female Authors

There are 47,000 female writers, authors and translators in the UK. This makes up 60% of the total number of authors in the UK

The Number 1 Female Author in the UK

Julia Donaldson is the number one female author in the UK based on recent best-seller lists for 2024 and 2025. However, Agatha Christie is considered the bestselling novelist of all time, and J.K. Rowling is one of the most famous and wealthiest authors

  • By current sales volume: Julia Donaldson is currently the UK’s best-selling author, based on recent performance data.
  • Historically, by total volume sold: Julia Donaldson has surpassed J.K. Rowling to become the UK’s all-time top author by volume since records began.
  • Julia Donaldson: Tops recent best-seller lists, especially for children’s books.
  • Agatha Christie: Known as the bestselling novelist of all time, with billions of books sold.
  • J.K. Rowling: A globally celebrated author famous for the Harry Potter series and one of the wealthiest authors in the world
  • For all-time global book sales: Agatha Christie is the bestselling novelist of all time.
  • For the best-selling book series: J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is the best-selling book series in history

Top UK Female Authors

A list of the top 10 UK female authors often includes classics like Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters, modern powerhouses like J.K. Rowling, and influential contemporary writers such as Zadie Smith and Hilary Mantel. Other notable authors include Agatha Christie, Virginia Woolf, and Mary Shelley

  • Jane Austen: Author of classics like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.
  • Charlotte Brontë: Known for Jane Eyre and her sisters’ Gothic novels.
  • Emily Brontë: The author of Wuthering Heights.
  • J.K. Rowling: Creator of the globally successful Harry Potter series.
  • Agatha Christie: Famous for her mystery novels, including The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
  • Virginia Woolf: A modernist writer known for works like Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse.
  • Mary Shelley: Author of the classic science fiction novel Frankenstein.
  • Zadie Smith: A contemporary author known for White Teeth and On Beauty.
  • Hilary Mantel: A historical fiction writer, best known for her Wolf Hall trilogy.
  • Daphne du Maurier: The author of gothic novels such as Rebecca and Jamaica Inn. 

 

Number 1 Male Author in the UK

Number 1 Male Author in the UK

Who is your favorite Male UK author? do you love poems, drama, crime, thrillers, philospophy or are you into indie authors??? I guess we will find out in the comments below.

According to statistics there are 78200 writers, authors  and translators in the UK and 31200 of those are male authors..lets work with that

UK Male Authors

There are an estimated 31,200 male authors, writers, and translators in the UK, making up 40% of all writers in that field. However, this number varies depending on the specific category, such as theatre or primary occupation

The Number 1 Male Author

Drum roll please…….announcing the all time favorite British Male author….

William Shakespeare is considered the number one male author in the UK, recognized as one of the greatest writers in the English language. He is credited with a prolific body of work, including 38 plays and over 150 sonnets and poems, and is known for his significant impact on the English language.
  • Legacy: Shakespeare’s work, like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, is still studied and adapted worldwide today.
  • Impact: He coined many words and phrases still in use today and his influence on English literature is immense.
  • Recognition: He is often listed as a top or greatest British writer in various rankings and is widely considered one of the most famous writers in history
    About William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare (23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon” or simply “the Bard”. His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays154 sonnets, three long narrative poems and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

    Best Selling Author in the UK

    Best Selling Author in the UK

    Julia Donaldson is the UK’s number one author by volume, having sold over 48.6 million units. She overtook J.K. Rowling in 2024, who is now the second-bestselling author by volume with 48 million lifetime sales. 

    Donaldson’s lifetime book sales exceed Rowling’s by 600,000, according to Nielsen BookData. While Rowling remained the bestselling author in terms of monetary value, her sales to the consumer market of 48 million books were surpassed by Donaldson’s 48.6 million, Nielsen BookData said

    julia donaldson

    Julia Donaldson is the UK’s number one author by volume, having sold over 48.6 million units. She overtook J.K. Rowling in 2024, who is now the second-bestselling author by volume with 48 million lifetime sales. 

    julia donaldson

    About Julia Donaldson

    Julia Donaldson is a children’s writer, poet, playwright and songwriter. She has written over 200 books for children and was the 2011-13 Children’s Laureate. She has collaborated with the illustrator Axel Scheffler on over twenty titles, including The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom. Julia has worked with many other illustrators, among them Rebecca Cobb (The Paper Dolls), Helen Oxenbury (The Giant Jumperee) and Nick Sharratt (Toddle Waddle). She has won numerous awards, including the Blue Peter Awards, the Scottish Children’s Book Awards and the Smarties Prize.

    Overall Bestselling Authors
    William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie are generally considered the top two British authors by total estimated global sales of fiction books, each with an estimated 2 billion to 4 billion copies sold.
    Bestselling Living Authors
    • J.K. Rowling, the creator of the Harry Potter series, has been the long-standing best-selling living author in the UK by overall sales value since records began (around 1998). Her book series is the best-selling in history.
    • Julia Donaldson (author of The Gruffalo and many other children’s books) has recently surpassed J.K. Rowling to become the all-time top author by volume (number of copies sold) in the UK. She consistently tops the list of bestselling authors in the UK on a half-yearly or yearly basis in terms of volume of copies sold
    Other Notable Authors
    • David Walliams is another highly successful contemporary author, known for his children’s books, which are also bestsellers.
    • Authors like Richard Osman, known for the Thursday Murder Club series, frequently appear at the top of weekly and monthly bestseller lists in the UK.
    • In terms of popularity surveys of contemporary fiction writers in the UK, Stephen King (an American author) is often ranked as the most popular, followed closely by J.K. Rowling. 

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