Jonathan Swift first used the phrase “belles lettres” in Tatler 230 (1710): “The Traders in History and Politics, and the Belles Lettres.”
In French the term means “beautiful letters, fine writing.”
Swift added the pejorative connotation of light or trivial literature.
The Argonauts were the crew of the ship Argo, which sailed in quest of the Golden Fleece.
The thirty-second piece Breath by Samuel Beckett has no actors and no dialogue.
Osric, a foppish courtier, is the referee in the duel between Hamlet and Laertes in Act 5 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Lolita was twelve when Humbert Humbert first met her.
Albany-born Daniel Quinn, the protagonist of Quinn’s Book, is the grandfather of Danny Quinn of Ironweed (1983). Ironweed is part of the Albany Cycle, which also includes Legs (1975), Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game (1978), and Very Old Bones (1992).
John Greenleaf Whittier describes the bravery of the fictional title character in his poem “Barbara Frietchie” (1863) who said, “Shoot, if you must, this old gray head”. The aged Frietchie displays a Union flag when Confederate troops march by. Stonewall Jackson forbids his troops to harm the old woman.