The fifth volume in the Harte Research Institute’s landmark scientific series on the Gulf of Mexico provides the first comprehensive study that covers the major core subjects of chemical oceanography in the Gulf. It synthesizes a tremendous amount of established research, together with the most recent information emerging from studies conducted during and after the Macondo Well oil spill that resulted from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. Situated within the bounda...

Measure for Measure is one of darkest of Shakespeare’s comedies. Written in about 1603 and first performed in 1604, it immediately preceded the composition of the major tragedies Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth.Duke Vincentino, the ruler of Vienna, fears that under his mild sovereignty, the people may have become lazy and lax. He decides to “go over cover” in the disguise of a monk and appoint his deputy, Angelo, who is a reputed paragon of virtu...

This collection arguably contains some of the most charming lyrics ever written in English. The childlike simplicity and trust of these artless verses are unique.Blake’s poems can be enjoyed, not only for their historical importance in an age which was fiercely proud of its genius and its traditions, but also for their simple and beautiful expression of “two contrary states of the human soul.”Songs of Innocence was originally a complete collection of twenty-three poems, fir...

As the generating force of its plot, Twelfth Night uses a device which has since become a staple in comedy: gender confusion. Viola and her twin brother Sebastian, are shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria, a country ruled by the melancholy Duke Orsino. The twins are separated and Viola is led to believe that her brother has perished. She disguises herself as a male under the name of Cesario and makes her way to the ducal court, where Orsino employs her as a messenger, to communicat...

This collection contains eight of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies. Each exhibits the vigour, humour, and optimism of the young master before he turned to the gloom and bitterness of the great tragedies.ContentsA Midsummer Night’s DreamAll’s Well That Ends WellTwelfth NightMuch Ado About NothingThe Comedy of ErrorsAs You Like ItMeasure for MeasureThe M...

This collection of 35 short poems was first published in 1927, and is a sequel to When We Were Very Young, which was the first anthology of verse dealing with the domestic adventures of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.As the author explains in the introduction: “We have been nearly three years writing this book. We began it when we were very young … and now we are six. So, of course, bits of it seem rather baby-ish to us, almost as if they had slipped out of some other book b...

This play is a dramatization of Boccaccio’s story of Gillette of Narbonne. Only the comic parts were of Shakespeare’s invention; he added the characters of the pusillanimous Parolles, the lofty courtier Lafew, the Clown Lavatch, and the long suffering Countess. He gave new depth and vitality to the leading characters, who are mere outlines in Boccaccio’s tale.The comedy has for its heroine a young woman who loves the haughty Bertram with an unrequited and despised passion,...

Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, and As You Like It are usually regarded as Shakespeare’s crowning achievements in the world of mirth and humor. In this group of plays, written during the playwright’s Second Period (1595–1600), the author depicts chiefly the cheerful, energetic side of life.In As You Like It, a wicked Duke expels his virtuous brother, the lawful ruler, from his domains. The banished Duke takes refuge with his followers in t...

Emily Dickinson was one of the most reclusive of all poets. She spent much of her life in seclusion in her father’s house in Amherst, and only a handful of her 1800 poems were published in her lifetime. Credit for the posthumous publication of her work must be given to her editor and friend Thomas W. Higginson, who reported that, in spite of the voluminous correspondence which passed between himself and Dickinson, he only met her twice in person.Dickinson’s poems are all short; few...