London, UK

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.

Samuel Johnson

It is believed that London had started to grow as an important settlement when the Romans arrived in around 43 AD. Before this, there were some smaller settlements that were soon swallowed up by the Roman army. Plenty of unstable times were to get to London, from invasions to power struggles. After the Romans left, the Anglo-Saxons came and were repeatedly attacked by Vikings who came from Scandinavian countries. In Norman times, London became the firm favorite as a center of commerce and a capital city following the construction of Westminster and this was set to stay for good after William the Conqueror built the Tower of London following his victory in 1066. Slaves were brought over to England from Africa during Tudor times, from 1485 – 1603. At the same time, Jews and Muslims as well as Dutch Traders had also begun to arrive and settle in London. These arrivals sowed the seed for London’s diversity that can be seen today. During the 1800’s, the slave trade had been abolished and London’s black communities had grown a lot. More people came from south Asian areas and China. The Jewish population continued to grow as people fled persecution in Eastern Europe. By the time World War II started, even more people came to fill job vacancies from The West Indies, Europe and India. People from the West Indies or the Caribbean were especially in demand and found work on the London Underground railway system. In present day, London has continued to grow in size and diversity. The people of London have a strong reputation for being open-minded and accepting, along with providing a haven who have been ill-treated in their own countries. London has benefitted a lot from having a lot of nationalities, especially after 1945 when there was a shortage of workers after World War 2 ended.

Great Poets of London

Many poets were born in London. In the little list of less than a dozen names, all but two are poets. Those two are Defoe, first and greatest of journalists, and Lamb, most beautiful of essayists and wisest of critics. When we come to the poets there is: Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, Herrick, Cowley, Pope, Gray, Keats and Hood. They were the sons of men carrying on the ordinary trades of her markets. Chaucer’s father was a wine-merchant and tavern-keeper, Milton’s and Gray’s were clerks, Spenser’s a tailor, Pope’s a linen-draper, Keats’s a keeper of a livery-stable, Herrick’s a goldsmith, Cowley’s a stationer, Hood’s a bookseller.