Jordan's work is generally ahistorical and his poetry "suggests a jazz musician working over well-worn themes to move inexorably deeper into the poetic imagination."

Such a person cannot have chosen the well-worn theme of Remainder unadvisedly.

(This was the well-worn theme of "Marilyn" as well.)

Hawksmoor's quirky, vigorous variations on well-worn classical themes gave London several of its most remarkable religious edifices, planned between 1714 and 1730.

Idealized love is a well-worn theme, but Mr. Maalouf has found a fresh way to revisit it.

Every part of War Horse riffs on a well-worn Spielbergian theme: our humanity isn't what separates us from animals, it's what draws us to them.

Mr. Moufarrege was especially adept at using well-worn themes to link different cultures and levels of artistic endeavor.

Now, in her latest novel "A Friend From England," Ms. Brookner works a variation on this well-worn theme.

He told me, "They have to have a unique attitude, they have to put a twist on a well-worn theme."

Songs would explore well-worn epicurean themes such as drinking and eating, though political and social songs also played an important part.