Poem Gallery

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by William McLaren

King Arthur welcomes the Green Knight into the Banqueting Hall and invites him to dismount and eat with the company. Everyone is amazed to see the unexpected visitor, holding a bunch of holly in one hand and a large green axe in the other. The Green Knight turns down Arthur's invitation, instead issuing a challenge, that if anyone there is brave enough to exchange blows with him, he will give them his battleaxe

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Cover design for Narcisse by Nikolai Tcherepnin

Cover design for Narcisse, a mythological poem set to music by the Russian composer Nikolai Nikolayevich Tcherepnin (1873-1945). Tcherepnin wrote a ballet piece entitled Narcisse et Echo in 1911, and this may be a movement from it. A performance by the Ballets Russes took place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in July 1912, with designs by Bakst. On this cover, a bright green faun is depicted, playing a long flute or pipe

© Mary Evans Picture Library

Christmas Day in the Workhouse

Illustration and opening verses of In the Workhouse: Christmas Day - better known as Christmas Day in the Workhouse, written by George R Sims in 1877. This sentimental poem about the supposed cruelties of the workhouse system became enormously popular. The scene depicts the fur-clad Union Guardians looking down on a table of workhouse inmates as their Christmas pudding is served

© Mary Evans / Peter Higginbotham Collection