At the heart of this book is a belief that poetry matters, and that it enables us to enjoy and understand life. In this accessible guide, Andrew Hodgson equips the reader for the challenging and rewarding experience of unlocking poetry, considering the key questions about language, technique, feeling and subject matter which illuminate what a poem has to say. In a lucid and sympathetic manner, he considers a diverse range of poets writing in English to demonstrate how their work enlarges our perception of ourselves and our world. The process of independent research is modeled step-by-step, as the guide shows where to start, how to develop ideas, and how to draw conclusions. Providing guidance on how to plan, organise and write essays, close readings and commentaries, from initial annotation to final editing, this book will provide you with the confidence to discover and express your own personal response to poetry.

This new edition of the British epistolary novel The History of Lady Louisa Stroud, and the Honourable Miss Caroline Stretton examines the theme of female agency, and is an excellent example of women's writing in the eighteenth-century. The relationships of the author, Phebe Gibbes, with the East India Company, The London Magazine, 'The Benevolent Society', and the Royal Literary Society provide rich avenues for research. Accompanied by a new introduction and editorial commentary, this text will be of great interest to students of literary history and women's writing.

John Van Buren's 'Travel journal for a trip to Europe, 1838-1839' is a record of the a year he spent in England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium and Holland, primarily for his father, Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States. A fly-on-the-wall view of the political and social situation in Europe was invaluable to the President at a highly sensitive moment in Anglo-American relations, and provides a rich and insightful view for historians of the period. Published in its entirety for the first time, Van Buren's objective and good-humoured observations present fresh insights into complex and compelling personalities and relationships on both sides of the Atlantic, providing an invaluable and highly readable resource for scholars and students of the period, as well as for the general reader.

Now Read On brings together literatures in English from around the world, combining an excellent choice of texts with sound methodological guidance.It contains approximately eighty texts and extracts from countries andcontinents including:
*Africa
*Australia
*Great Britain
*India
*Malaysia
*New Zealand
*Philippines
*Singapore
Designed as course for both native and non-native English-speakers in how to read literature, this anthology begins with shorter starter texts and questions, and develops in complexity as the reader progresses through the book. Now Read On provides the user with
*hands-on experience of working with a plurality of texts from around the world
*questions, exercises, pointers and commentary, accompanying all the passages of literature, and providing the student with the tools and confidence to critically evaluate any text
*an understanding of the major genres - poetry, short stories, drama and novels.

Play Up and Play the Game (1973) examines the type of fictional hero most embodied in the work and character, poetry and philosophy of Sir Henry Newbolt. 'Newbolt Man', imbued with the spirit of fairplay, loyalty, fearlessness, conformity (while remaining slightly philistine and sexless), can be traced in the work of Rider Haggard, Conan Doyle, Edgar Wallace, Anthony Hope and P.C. Wren. The book traces his development from the Victorian schoolboy (Tom Brown's School Days and Kipling) to the twentieth-century secret agent (Buchan's Richard Hannay), and on to his demise in Sheriff's Journey's End and Aldington's Death of a Hero.

First published in 1954, A Handbook of Latin Literature is an attempt to put together a cohesive account of classical and early post-classical writings in the Latin tongue, and is a companion to the Handbook of Greek Literature. The book traces the history of Latin literature from the earliest times down to the death of St. Augustine, and tackles both theological and non-theological interests of Christian authors. This book will be of interest to students of history and literature.

First published in 1959, Outlines of Classical Literature is a guide for students of English literature who too often come to this difficult and complex subject with little or no knowledge of one of its principal sources. It therefore does not attempt to give a complete account of the Greek and Roman writers, but tries instead to deal with those whose influences, direct or indirect, can be clearly traced in medieval and later authors. The ancients are taken in their chronological order, though this is not necessarily the order in which they became known to, or influenced the Christian World; but to follow the latter would be too confusing. The book should be of interest to the undergraduate, the general reader and to the literary critic desirous of displaying classical erudition.

From 1923, when he emigrated from Bucharest, to his deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, Benjamin Fondane made a unique and independent-minded contribution to the literary and intellectual life of Paris. One of the most significant pieces in Fondane's body of work is the long poem Ulysses, first published in 1933. Fondane considerably revised his text during the dark years of occupied Paris, and it is this second ""edition without an end,"" left unfinished at the time of his deportation, that is translated here for the first time into English. It is a moving testament to the poetic voice and philosophical engagement of this exceptional figure of the Paris avant-garde.

First published in 1925, Primitive Culture in Greece dispassionately reviews the claim that the Greeks were 'heathen' and asks how much of the savage ancestry was left in the classical Greek. In doing so it traces a historical continuity from the barbaric invasions of Greece to its later emergence of a classical culture. It is not written merely for the specialist, and assumes no technical knowledge, but simply an interest in one of the most remarkable civilizations of the world.

This book, first published in 1986, explores the allusions in Dickens's work, such as current events and religious and intellectual issues, social customs, topography, costume, furniture and transportation. Together with an analysis of Dickens's imaginative responses to his culture, and their place in the genesis and composition of the text, this book is a full-scale, thoroughgoing annotation that The Mystery of Edwin Drood requires.

The study of contemporary fiction is a fascinating yet challenging one. Contemporary fiction has immediate relevance to popular culture, the news, scholarly organizations, and education - where it is found on the syllabus in schools and universities - but it also offers challenges. What is 'contemporary'? How do we track cultural shifts and changes? The Routledge Companion to Twenty-First Century Literary Fiction takes on this challenge, mapping key literary trends from the year 2000 onwards, as the landscape of our century continues to take shape around us. A significant and central intervention into contemporary literature, this Companion offers essential coverage of writers who have risen to prominence since then, such as Hari Kunzru, Jennifer Egan, David Mitchell, Jonathan Lethem, Ali Smith, A. L. Kennedy, Hilary Mantel, Marilynne Robinson, and Colson Whitehead. Thirty-eight essays by leading and emerging international scholars cover topics such as: * Identity, including race, sexuality, class, and religion in the twenty-first century; * The impact of technology, terrorism, activism, and the global economy on the modern world and modern literature; * The form and format of twenty-first century literary fiction, including analysis of established genres such as the pastoral, graphic novels, and comedic writing, and how these have been adapted in recent years. Accessible to experts, students, and general readers, The Routledge Companion to Twenty-First Century Literary Fiction provides a map of the critical issues central to the discipline, as well as uncovering new perspectives and new directions for the development of the field. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of contemporary literature.

a ~A useful starting point.... It is the breadth of the coverage that makes the Encyclopedia of African Literature stand out.a (TM) a " Booklist/RBB
a ~[A] comprehensive work for general readers.... Highly recommended.' a "Pennsylvania School Librarians Association Best Reference Titles

The most comprehensive reference work on African literature to date, this easy-to-use book contains over 600 alphabetically arranged entries that cover major and less established African authors and texts, criticism and theory, and African Literaturea (TM)s development as a field of scholarship.

Now available in paperback, this volume is an essential resource for students of African literature and a useful tool for those considering African culture across the fields of Literary Studies, African Studies, Anthropology, Cultural Studies and Postcolonial Studies.

This book, first published in 1988, is the most comprehensive annotation of Bleak House ever undertaken. It provides authoritative background information about the topical issues of the novel that interested Dickens as a social critic and activist. It also describes the novel's literary antecedents and identifies the sources of its hundreds of literary and historical allusions. The annotation is based on a wide range of nineteenth-century sources - from newspapers, periodicals and parliamentary papers to travel guides and cookery books - and gives the modern reader unprecedented access to both Bleak House - Dickens's tract for the times - and the period when it was written.

This book, first published in 1988, reveals the great care Dickens took with the planning and preparation of A Tale of Two Cities and its roots. It also explores the aspects of Dickens's life, especially his interest in private theatricals, which contributed to the genesis of the novel. For the first time the historical sources for the very individual account of the French Revolution presented in A Tale of Two Cities are examined, and the book investigates the novelist's debt to French and English eye-witnesses. This Companion identifies the multitude of allusions to what Dickens often regarded as the whims of eighteenth-century justice, religion, philosophy, fashion and society. It provides the modern reader with both fundamental sources of information and a fascinating account of the creation of a complex historical novel.

Published in 1979: This is a play based on the reign of King John with notes.

The visionary poet and artist William Blake is one of the most vivid figures in British Romantic literature. With chapters written by leading international scholars, The Reception of William Blake in Europe is the first comprehensive and systematic reference guide to Blake's influence across Europe. Exploring Blake's impact on literature, art, music and culture, the book includes bibliographies of major translations of Blake's work in each country covered, as well as a publication history and timeline of the poet's reception on the continent.

This revised Norton Critical Edition is based on the first edition text (dated 1818, but likely issued in late 1817). The editor has spelled out ampersands and made superscript letters lowercased. The novel, which is accompanied by revised and expanded explanatory annotations, is followed by the two canceled chapters that comprise Persuasion's original ending. "Backgrounds and Contexts" collects contemporary assessments of Jane Austen as well as materials relating to the social issues of the day. Included are an excerpt from William Hayley's 1785 "Essay on Old Maids"; Austen's letters to Fanny Knight, which reveal her skepticism about marriage as the key to happiness; Henry Austen's memorial tribute to his famous sister; assessments by nineteenth-century critics Julia Kavanagh and Goldwin Smith, who viewed Austen as an unassuming, sheltered, and "feminine" rural writer; and the perspective of Austen's biographer, Geraldine Edith Mitten. The Second Edition emphasizes current critical scholarship, reflecting enormous shifts in our comprehension of Austen's achievement and opening the door to new ways of thinking about Persuasion and its author. For the first time, we can think complexly about Austen living through the Napoleonic Wars on the Continent and experiencing their political repercussions at home-the same as everyone else in England at that time. Four new essays-by Linda Bree, Sidney Gottlieb, John Wiltshire, and David Monaghan-speak to these new perspectives; those by Gottlieb and Monaghan expand the conversation into film adaptations of the novel. A Chronology of Austen's life and work, new to the Second Edition, is included along with an updated Selected Bibliography.

First published in 1906, this edition of Magnyfycence aimed to highlight the true significance of the play within both the canon of John Skelton's work and English drama. Robert Lee Ramsay situates Magnyfycence as a morality play which functioned as a bridge between medieval miracle plays and the modern comedy. He demonstrates the text's significance as the first example of a play by an English man of letters and our first example of a secular and literary rather than theological morality play. This edition features an extensive scholarly introduction exploring areas such as the staging, versification, sources and characterisation, followed by the Middle-English text itself along with glosses.

First published in 1905, these two volumes together reproduced the text of Rawlinson MS. B 408 from the Bodleian Library in two parts. They consist of a preface followed the full Middle English text with glosses. The initial section of the manuscript is slightly older and consists of prefixed liturgical pieces such as the Articles of Excommunication. This follows the common historical practice of combining manuscripts to encourage their preservation. The remainder of the text presents the reader with the Register of the Estates of Godstow Abbey. The manuscript was initially created as a translation of the Latin register in order to allow the nuns, who were literate in English but not Latin, to manage their own estates. This manuscript was, at the time of publication, the only known complete English-language cartulary made for a monastic house. It holds significant implications not only for the status, linguistic development and usage of the English language, but also for women's history in the church and their socioeconomic agency, along with the ability of language to both restrict and open doors. The text includes its own introduction in which the founding of the Abbey by Dame Edyve of Winchester, first Abbess of Godstow, is recounted, followed by deeds relating to the local area.

James Loeb (1867-1933), one of the great patrons and philanthropists of his time, left many enduring legacies both to America, where he was born and educated, and to his ancestral Germany, where he spent the second half of his life. Organized in celebration of the sesquicentenary of his birth, the James Loeb Biennial Conferences were convened to commemorate his achievements in four areas: the Loeb Classical Library (2017), collection and connoisseurship (2019), psychology and medicine (2021), and music (2023). The subject of the inaugural conference was the legacy for which Loeb is best known and the only one to which he attached his name-the Loeb Classical Library, and the three series it has inspired: the I Tatti Renaissance Library, the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, and the Murty Classical Library of India. Including discussions by the four General Editors of each Library's unique history, mission, operations, and challenges, the papers collected in The Loeb Classical Library and Its Progeny also take stock of these series in light of more general themes and questions bearing on translations of "classical" texts and their audiences in a variety of societies past, present, and future.

With the decline of formalism and its predilection for Old English poetry, Old English prose is leaving the periphery and moving into the center of literary and cultural discussion. The extensive corpus of Old English prose lends many texts of various kinds to the current debates over literary theory and its multiple manifestations. The purpose of this collection is to assist the growing interest in Old English prose by providing essays that help establish the foundations for considered study and offer models and examples of special studies. Both retrospective and current in its examples, this collection can serve as a "first book" for an introduction to study, particularly suitable for courses that seek to entertain such issues as authorship, texts and textuality, source criticism, genre, and forms of historical criticism as a significant part of a broad, cultural teaching (and research) plan.