A plaque on the traffic island at Marble Arch indicates the spot where the infamous Tyburn Tree, a three-legged gallows, once stood. An estimated 50,000 people were executed here between 1571 and 1783, many having been dragged from the Tower of…
Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, of eight 11-syllable lines, with a rhyme scheme of ABABABCC. It originated in the late 13th and early 14th centuries and was developed by Tuscan…