Classic and pre-20th century poetry Books

Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847) is an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. A master of poetic tradition and form, Longfellow wrote Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie in dactylic hexameter, the meter of such classical epics as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey...

Maud, and Other Poems (1850) is a collection of poems by British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The first work Tennyson published after becoming Poet Laureate in 1850, Maud, and Other Poems contains several of the poet's most celebrated works. "Maud," the...

While traveling to a wedding, a young man is pulled into the eventful narrative of the Ancient Mariner who is compelled to share his story. It's a miraculous tale about guilt, humanity and one's capacity to change.The Ancient Mariner notices a young man...

A knight, a monk, a merchant, a summoner, and a wife all walk into an inn, and realize they are in the company of many others who intend to make the same pilgrimage to Canterbury. As a group of English people all gather at the Tabard inn, they learn...

With satire, adventure, and imagination, Phantasmagoria and Other Poems explores subjects such as the supernatural, love, friendship, and nature. Featuring sixteen of Lewis Carroll's poems, Phantasmagoria and Other Poems has something to appeal to...

The Rape of the Lock (1906) is an epic poem by English literary icon Alexander Pope. Known for his caustic wit and satirical outlook as much as he was for his formal expertise, Pope is arguably the most important English poet of the eighteenth century...

The Princess (1847) is a poem by British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Written before Tennyson was named Poet Laureate, the poem addresses accusations from critics that the poet refused to write on serious subjects, as well as the founding of Queen's...

The Voyage of the Argo is an epic poem centering Jason and his legendary crew as they venture to find the Golden Fleece. Faced with various hurdles and unbeatable odds, they're committed to achieving their ultimate goal.When a young man threatens the...

After James Douglas and his daughter Ellen are banished from their home, they go into hiding with the help of several enemies of the king.The Lady of the Lake is an intricate story filled with political and social intrigue, romance and chivalry.James...

Idylls of the King (1859-1885) is a cycle of narrative poems by British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Written while Tennyson was serving as Poet Laureate, Idylls of the King reworks the medieval Arthurian legend in blank verse and with an elegiac tone...

"The first taste I had for books came to me from my pleasure in the fables of the Metamorphoses of Ovid. For at about seven or eight years of age I would steal away from any other pleasure to read them, inasmuch as this language was my mother tongue, and...

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812-1818) is a book length poem by British Romantic Lord Byron. Published in cantos, the narrative poem is arranged in four parts, each following the journey of Harold, a character based on Byron himself. Childe Harold's...

The Divine Comedy (1320) is a narrative poem by Dante Alighieri. Begun in 1308 while Dante was exiled from his native Florence, The Divine Comedy-a long poem divided into three books of 33 cantos each-presents the author's spiritual journey from...

Don Juan is a satirical poem inspired by the Spanish libertine, who's known for his romantic trysts, frequent adventures and salacious activities throughout the land. George Gordon reinvents the character, by subverting expectations and changing the...

When Lord Marmion, a favorite of the king, becomes enamored by Clara, a rich noble woman, he is willing to stop at nothing to get her attention. Though Clara is engaged to the heroic Sir Ralph De Wilton, and he already has a mistress, Lord Marmion views...

The Song of Hiawatha (1855) is an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. A master of poetic tradition and form, Longfellow wrote The Song of Hiawatha in trochaic tetrameter, the meter of such classical epics as the Finnish Kalevala. Inspired by stories...

"In the whole of European literature there is no poet who can furnish the texts for a more significant variety of discourse than Virgil. [He] symbolizes so much in the history of Europe, and represents such central European values..." T.S. EliotThe...

The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley Volume I (1914) compiles some of Percy Bysshe Shelley's best-known works as a leading poet, playwright, and political thinker of the nineteenth century. As a leading figure among the English Romantics,...

Martn Fierro: An Epic of the ArgentineMartn Fierro is a masterpiece of Spanish-language literature that continues to define and inform Argentine culture today. In this text, scholar Henry A. Holmes translates parts of the poem while contextualizing it...

This collection of original essays offers new ways of understanding the production of epic poetry in Portugal and Spain from 1543 to 1639. The epic poems written during the rise of Portugal and Spain on the global stage often dealt with topics quite...

Framed in Spenser's distinctive, opulent stanza and in some of the trappings of epic, Book One of Spenser's The Faerie Queene consists of a chivalric romance that has been made to a typical recipe--fierce warres and faithfull loves--but that has been...

Successfully integrating elegance and a close fidelity to the Greek, these new translations aim to provide Greekless students with as close a sense as possible of how the Greeks themselves thought and wrote about the world. Miller's skillful introduction...

First published by Odyssey Press in 1957, this classic edition provides Milton's poetry and major prose works, richly annotated, in a sturdy and affordable clothbound volume.

"Robert Lamberton's Introduction is an excellent, concise exposition of current scholarly debate: his notes are informative and helpful. . . . Those who want a translation that captures something of the spirit of an ancient Greek poetic voice and its...

Selections from both Iliad and Odyssey, made with an eye for those episodes that figure most prominently in the study of mythology.

Long a master of the crafts of Homeric translation and of rhapsodic performance, Stanley Lombardo now turns to the quintessential epic of Roman antiquity, a work with deep roots in the Homeric tradition. With characteristic virtuosity, he delivers a...

In this new translation of the Homeric Hymns, Sarah Ruden employs a melodious and flexible non-rhyming line of eleven syllables, offering a close approximation of Greek hexameter verse in natural English rhythms. The result is a Homeric Hymns marked by...