The complete Dream Songs--hypnotic, seductive, masterful--as thrilling to read now as they ever wereJohn Berryman's The Dream Songs are perhaps the funniest, saddest, most intricately wrought cycle of oems by an American in the twentieth century. They are also, more simply, the vibrantly sketched adventures of a uniquely American antihero named Henry. Henry falls in and out of love, and is in and out of the hospital; he sings of joy and desire, an...

A wild, masterful Pulitzer Prize-winning cycle of poems that half a century later still shocks and astoundsJohn Berryman was hardly unknown when he published 77 Dream Songs, but the volume was, nevertheless, a shock and a revelation. A "spooky" collection in the words of Robert Lowell-"a maddening work of genius."As Henri Cole notes in his elegant, perceptive introduction, Berryman had discovered "a looser style that mixed high and low dictions with...

A lively sampling from the work of one of the most celebrated and daring poets of the twentieth centuryJohn Berryman was perhaps the most idiosyncratic American poet of the twentieth century. Best known for the painfully sad and raucously funny cycle of Dream Songs, he wrote passionately: of love and despair, of grief and laughter, of longing for a better world and coming to terms with this one. The Heart Is Strange, a new selection of his poems, along with...

The language of Poetry is an art that most of us attempt at some point in our lives. Although its commonplace exposure has been somewhat marginalised in today’s often fast-paced lives we all recognise good verse that can empathise with our thoughts or open us up to experience new things in new ways, to better understand and to enjoy the many strands of our lives.But finding a starting point can be overwhelming, even off-putting, so in this series we offer up our Top 10 classic poet...

What do we know of masculinities in non-patriarchal societies? Indigenous peoples of the Americas and beyond come from traditions of gender equity, complementarity, and the sacred feminine, concepts that were unimaginable and shocking to Euro-western peoples at contact. Indigenous Men and Masculinities, edited by Kim Anderson and Robert Alexander Innes, brings together prominent thinkers to explore the meaning of masculinities and being a man within such traditions, further examin...

The King of the Golden River (1841), the history of modern fantasy literature is usually said to begin with George MacDonald, the Scottish author of such novels as The Princess and the Goblin and Phantastes (1858), the latter of which is widely considered to be the first fantasy novel ever written for adults. MacDonald was a major influence on both J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. The other major fantasy author of this era was William Morris, who wrote several novels in the latter part of...

Gullivers Travels in Lilliput and Brobdingnag, Told to the Children, is a children's version of Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels, from the Told to the Children Series (published in 1910). Adaption was made by John Lang. The children's adventure story covers Gulliver's visits to the lands of Lilliput and Brobdingnag. Age 9-15.Gulliver's Travels (1726), is a prose satire by Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift, that is both a ...

Hints to Servants is a compelling anthology that weaves together diverse literary styles and voices from different epochs to explore the intricate socio-economic dynamics and satirical observations surrounding the theme of servitude. Through this collection, readers encounter a captivating range of prose that challenges societal norms with humor and biting wit. The anthology'Äôs richness is further amplified by standout pieces that use contrasting tones, from pointed satire to subtle irony...

Jonathan Swift's classic travel adventure has been adapted into an easy-reading Stepping Stones early chapter book, while keeping all the fun, humor, and unusual perspectives of the original story.Gulliver has an itch to travel around the world, but whenever he steps on a ship, bad luck seems to find him. He is shipwrecked, abandoned, marooned, and mutinied against, and each time lands in a strange and curious place. First he discovers the kingdom of the six-inch-tall Lilliputians,...

"To summarise what has been indicated above, our aim should be complete deliverance from suffering, or stated positively, the unconditioned and perfect happiness of Nibbāna; to be differentiated from other forms of happiness which are imperfect because ‘conditioned’ by impermanence, and thus liable to revert to suffering when circumstances or ‘the conditions’ change. By an understanding of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism we are set in the right direction to achieve this aim. But to reach...

The story of the bloody 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge is, according to many of today’s tellings, a heroic founding moment for Canada. This noble, birth-of-a-nation narrative is regularly applied to the Great War in general. Yet this mythical tale is rather new. “Vimyism”—today’s official story of glorious, martial patriotism—contrasts sharply with the complex ways in which veterans, artists, clerics, and even politicians who had supported the war interpreted its meaning over the decades.

A devastating shipwreck, a prisoner of miniature empires, and a hilarious, biting mirror held up to human folly.Washed ashore after a violent storm, the ambitious surgeon Lemuel Gulliver awakens on the strange island of Lilliput—only to find himself bound to the earth by thousands of microscopic threads. His captors are a civilization of humans barely six inches tall, yet possessed of massive ambitions, petty rivalries, and deeply absurd political schisms. From med...