Cutting lines: How lawnmowers found a place in English poetry
According to a new study, the mundane task of grass-cutting has seeded a distinct literary tradition. Its author, Francesca Gardner of the University of Cambridge, proposes we recognise a new 'micro-genre' of English verse: lawnmower poetry.
She suggests that generations of poets have found in lawnmowers devices both comically banal and endlessly suggestive. 'They might seem like strange and humdrum subjects, but they have inspired meditations on the grandest of themes, from conflict and death to parenthood and heartbreak,' she said.
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