Alexandrinesby Julia BilgerAngelus Silesius was a German mystic of the Counter-Reformation. He was born and baptized Johannes Scheffler in 1624 in the province of Silesia. In 1653, he converted to Catholicism from Lutheranism and spent the rest of his life avidly trying to reconvert the people of Silesia. Today, however, he is known primarily for his mystical poetry, which was cast primarily in the form of 'Alexandrines', which are simple rhymed couplets. Of course, they los...

"Gitanjali", or Song Offerings, is a collection of poems translated by the author, Rabindranath Tagore, from the original Bengali. This collection won the Nobel prize for Tagore in 1913. This volume includes the original introduction by William Butler Yeats that accompanied the 1911 English language version. "Gitanjali" is a collection of over 100 inspirational poems by India's greatest poet.

The perfect gift for someone you love, an illustrated collection of love poems from the poet considered to be the greatest writer in the English language.Shakespeare's sonnets are revered the world over for perfectly capturing the torments and joys of love requited or otherwise in just fourteen lines of iambic pentameter. This treasure of a book collects twenty-nine of the bard's most romantic sonnets, each one lovingly illustrated by the talented Caitlin Keegan. P...

Poetry is a fascinating use of language. With almost a million words at its command it is not surprising that these Isles have produced some of the most beautiful, moving and descriptive verse through the centuries. In this series we look at individual poets who have shaped and influenced their craft and cement their place in our heritage. In this volume we venture to the East. To met a poet who speaks a common language of love and mysticism which continues to convey valuable insights into...

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, is one of the books of the Bible that is considered deuterocanonical by some churches such as the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church, and non-canonical or apocryphal by others such as theProtestant Churches. It is one of the seven Sapiential or wisdom books included with the Septuagint, along with Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon (Song of Songs), and Sirach.

Sonnets from the Portuguese is the collection of love poems written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in the time leading up to her marriage to Robert Browning. Elizabeth hesitated in publishing the poems, as they were so personally revealing, but her husband persuaded her of their high worth. She decided to pass them off as translations, in order to obscure her authorship, and so the title of the collection came about. They were, and remain, immensely popular.

ONE day last winter, in a moment which I must confess to have been idle, I took up Dr. Alexander Whyte’s “Appreciation” of Behmen as, following William Law, he calls him. There I found the following passage: “While we have nothing that can properly be called a biography of Jacob Behmen, we have ample amends made to us in those priceless morsels of autobiography that lie scattered so plentifully up and down all his books. And nothing could be more charming than just those incidental and uns...

The Spiritual Doctrine of St. Catherine of Genoa is one of the most unusual Catholic books ever written. The subject of this book explains what the spirit of Christ opposed to the spirit of the world can mean in the life of a soul. St. Catherine of Genoa, a member of an illustrious Italian noble family, was married but had no children. She and her husband worked in a hospital in Genoa, of which she later became director. This volume contains three separate works: The life and Doctrine of S...

"The Earth Gods, the last book to be published while Gibran was still in this world, came into the poet's hands two weeks before he was to lay aside all earthly volumes. . . . He had a peculiar feeling of tenderness for this book, unlike what he felt for any of the others. 'Because,' he said, 'it was written out of the poet's hell—a process of childbirth and child-bearing.' . . ."It is, in my opinion, one of the greatest poems in the language. The Earth Gods is, p...

Cupid and Psyche is a story from the Latin novel Metamorphoses, also known as The Golden Ass, written in the 2nd century AD by Apuleius. It concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche ("Soul" or "Breath of Life") and Cupid ("Desire"), and their ultimate union in a sacred marriage.

James Allen's Poems of Peace is a compilation of thirty six of his finest works including Eolaus, A Lyrical, Dramatic Poem, Practice and Perception, The Inward Purity, The End of Evil, a poem for his daughter on her tenth birthday and more. James Allen was a British philosophical writer known for his inspirational books and poetry and as a pioneer of self-help movement. Allen's practical philosophy for successful living has awakened millions to the discovery that "they themselves are maker...