Switch to English Switch to French

The Open University  |   Study at the OU  |   About the OU  |   Research at the OU  |   Search the OU

Listen to this page  |   Accessibility

the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
  RED International Logo

RED Australia logo


RED Canada logo
RED Netherlands logo
RED New Zealand logo

Record Number: 7539


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Despite his grandmother's strictures on reading, Davies read widely. His first attraction was to the penny dreadfuls of his day, which he read in secret... The school books he read contained poems that stirred him deeply. One of the school texts he used contained long passges from "The Lady of the Lake" with a prose commentary attached. And then there was a favourite schoolboy poem starting with the resounding line: "The Soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers", with a refrain that the boys loved to chant at play. There were extracts from Shakespeare, the usual lyrics, and a few heavily didactic poems intended to inculcate morality in the boyish heart'.

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

1885

Country:

Wales

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Newport
specific address: school

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown


Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

William Henry Davies

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

3 Jul 1871

Socio-Economic Group:

Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder

Occupation:

iron moulder's son, later poet

Religion:

Christian

Country of Origin:

Wales

Country of Experience:

Wales

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

unknown

Title:

'The Soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers

Genre:

Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

reproduced in school textbook

Provenance

read in situ


Source Information:

Record ID:

7539

Source:

Print

Author:

Richard J. Stonesifer

Editor:

n/a

Title:

W.H. Davies: A Critical Biography

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1963

Vol:

n/a

Page:

21

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Richard J. Stonesifer, W.H. Davies: A Critical Biography (London, 1963), p. 21, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=7539, accessed: 28 March 2024


Additional Comments:

None

   
   
Green Turtle Web Design