Much is written about success and failure in the career of literature, about the reasons which enable one man to reach the front, and another to earn his livelihood, while a third, in appearance as likely as either of them, fails and, perhaps, faints by the way. Mr. R. F. Murray, the author of The Scarlet Gown, was among those who do not attain success, in spite of qualities which seem destined to ensure it, and who fall out of the ranks. To him, indeed, success and the rewards of this world,...

The Romanticism that emerged after the American and French revolutions of 1776 and 1789 represented a new flowering of the imagination and the spirit, and a celebration of the soul of humanity with its capacity for love. This extraordinary collection sets the acknowledged genius of poems such as Blake's 'Tyger', Coleridge's 'Khubla Khan' and Shelley's 'Ozymandias' alongside verse from less familiar figures and women poets such as Charlotte Smith and Mary Robinson. We also see familiar poet...

A mariner stops a man on his way to a wedding. The mariner then relates to the man all the events of a long sea voyage, arousing in his listener feeling of impatience, fear, fascination and bemusement. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was published in the collection Lyrical Ballads (1798), which contributed significantly to the advent of modern poetry and the beginnings of British Romance literature.

A fantastic look at the history of English literature from Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century to Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the 19th, taking in 30 authors on the way, including William Shakespeare, John Milton and Alexander Pope.

Daniel Karlin has selected poetry written and published during the reign of Queen Victoria, (1837-1901). Giving pride of place to Tennyson, Robert Browning, and Christina Rossetti, the volume offers generous selections from other major poets such asArnold, Emily Bronte, Hardy and Hopkins, and makes room for several poem-sequences in their entirety. It is wonderful, too, in its discovery and inclusion of eccentric, dissenting, un-Victorian voices, poets who squarely refuse to 'represent' th...

This vintage book contains Percy Bysshe Shelley's seminal 1819 poem, "Masque of Anarchy". The poem, though written in a relaxed and familiar manner, is highly characteristic of Shelly's other works. It has the usual ardour of his tone, the unbounded sensibility by which he combines the most domestic with the most remote and fanciful images, as well as his signature patience. This volume is highly recommended for all poetry-lovers, and is a must-read for fans of Shelley's work. It comes com...

In "Life of Robert Burns," Thomas Carlyle embarks on a profound exploration of the life, poetry, and legacy of Scotland's iconic bard, Robert Burns. Utilizing a vivid and engaging literary style, Carlyle interweaves biographical details with incisive social commentary, drawing from both Burns' works and the cultural milieu of 18th-century Scotland. The text serves as an early example of literary biography, underscoring the impact of Burns' poetry not only as art but as a vessel for Scottis...

Charles Lamb (1775-1834), essayist, poet, humorist, critic and letter-writer, has an enduring reputation for his early "Tales from Shakespeare" (1807), written in collaboration with his sister Mary, and his " Essays of Elia," first published in the "London Magazine." This thematic selection of Lamb's writings - essays, dramatic criticism, verse and

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Keats was a peer of other great poets such as Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley and his poems have become more popular after his death. This edition of Letters of John Keats to His Family and Friends includes a table of contents.

The Man Behind The Lyrics: Life, Letters, and Literary Remains of John Keats gathers the intimate materials through which Keats's lyric genius becomes inseparable from his lived experience. Letters, biographical traces, and literary fragments illuminate the making of poems shaped by sensuous imagery, philosophical intensity, and the Romantic preoccupation with beauty, mortality, and imagination. Read in context, these remains reveal not merely a poet of odes, but a mind refining art under ...

This book contains a biographical and critical study of Keats written by Edward Thomas. It was originally published in 1916 and is here being republished with a new introductory biography on the author. Thomas took great influence from Keats and here the reader can read between the lines and see how Thomas created his own style and purpose within his own poetry.

In writing this brief sketch of the Life of Tennyson, and this attempt to appreciate his work, I have rested almost entirely on the Biography by Lord Tennyson (with his kind permission) and on the text of the Poems. As to the Life, doubtless current anecdotes, not given in the Biography, are known to me, and to most people. But as they must also be familiar to the author of the Biography, I have not thought it desirable to include what he rejected.