Poetry Essays

Emerson wrote most of his important essays as lectures first and then revised them for print. His first two collections of essays, Essays: First Series (1841) and Essays: Second Series (1844), represent the core of his thinking. They include the well-known essays "Self-Reliance" and "The Over-Soul". Together with "Nature", these essays made the decade from the mid-1830s to the mid-1840s Emerson's most fertile period.

This is a collection of poems and short essays that find among their lines the questioning of the self as it is reflected in the words and concepts they seek. It is a journey into the depths of the soul and the feelings that we express as humans in our language.

Before Langston Hughes and his literary prowess became synonymous with American poetry, he was a seventeen-year-old on a train to Mexico City, seeking funds to pursue his passion. His early poems, beloved verses like “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” were written without formal training, often on the back of napkins and envelopes, and were inspired by the sights and sounds of Black working-class people he encountered in his early life. Blues in Stereo is a posthumous collection of these early works, in which we see Langston Hughes like we’ve never seen him before.

In this Very Short Introduction, Bernard O'Donoghue provides a fascinating look at the many different forms of writing which have been called "poetry" - from the Greeks to the present day. As well as questioning what poetry is, he asks what poetry is for, and considers contemporary debates on its value. Is there a universality to poetry? And does it have a duty of public utility and responsibility?

The Embrace of Light and Darkness series consists of five books—Dance of Sounds, The Matter of Matter, The Home of the World, All Women in One, and Strange Thoughts—and offers a diverse exploration of poetry focused on themes of emotion, existence, and the human experience. Four of these books are poetry collections, while the fifth book features prose poems, short stories, aphorisms, epigrams, and essays written in English between 2005 and 2010, with a few exceptions that were added or corrected later. This series marks a critical period in Stojanović's transition to writing in ...

"Clearly Francis Gilbert is a gifted and charismatic teacher." Philip Pullman, former teacher and author of "Northern Lights". Why did William Blake call his book of poetry "Songs of Innocence and Experience"? Why do some critics say his poem "The Tyger" is about the French revolution? Why did he illustrate his poems with pictures? Why is Blake's rose "sick"? What is the "youthful harlot's curse" in the famous poem "London"? This is the ultimate study guide to William Blake's classic poetry collection "Songs of Innocence and Experience". Written by an experienced teacher and author, it not ...

As the Enlightenment movement was gathering strength in the early 18th century, various challenges to established religious faith were launched. In response, a number of celebrated commentators produced defences of religion and morality, and among these was Alexander Pope, who was inspired to write "some pieces on Human Life and Manners." The result was a collection of poems in rhyming couplets, designated "Epistles", which were published in instalments.

Psychological injuries and trauma suffered during childhood are extremely common. They lead to all sorts of addictive behaviors as well as anxiety, depression, and debilitating and life-threatening physical maladies. In Healing with Psychedelics, Chris writes about how to recognize the often-hidden histories that caused us as children to create a false self and changed how we operate in this world. He then takes us on his personal healing journey, revealing the details of his own experience and describing the process of psychedelic-assisted sacred-medicine therapy.

On April 11, 1931, Virginia Woolf ended her entry in A Writer's Diary with the words "too much and not the mood." She was describing how tired she was of correcting her own writing, of the "cramming in and the cutting out" to please other readers, wondering if she had anything at all that was truly worth saying. The character of that sentiment, the attitude of it, inspired Durga Chew-Bose to write and collect her own work. The result is a lyrical and piercingly insightful collection of essays and her own brand of essay-meets-prose poetry about identity and culture.

Life is full of good times and bad times. It is not enough to live, one needs to truly appreciate all the different aspects of life before passing judgment. When you are young, you ruminate about assorted elements which come your way. Experience is built via relationships and obstacles and challenges. Each life has its own assortment, and the variety often shapes the character, morals, values, thoughts, ideas, and feelings of the individual living it. This book holds a variety of lessons and contributes to sharing, from one soul to the next. It is deep, it is intriguing, and it is a ...

José Lezama Lima (1910–1976) was one of the most influential writers in Latin American Literature. Born in Havana, Cuba, he lived through turbulent times in his country’s history. He was mainly a poet but gained attention with the publication of his autobiographical novel Paradiso (1966), which the press characterized as decadent and pornographic due to its homoeroticism, but which was soon recognized as a major work of the 20th century. A Poetic Order of Excess collects Lezama Lima’s essays on poets of world literature such as Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Valéry, and Luis de Góngora....

Christian Wiman explores the relationships between art and faith, death and fame, heaven and oblivion. Above all, He Held Radical Light is a love letter to poetry, filled with moving, surprising, and sometimes funny encounters with the poets Wiman has known.

As the old saying goes, ''a pen is mightier than a sword,'' I can change that phrase to use simpler words which say, ''a pen lives longer than a sword.'' A strong king continues to survive as long as he still has the strength to defend his castle but once he passes on that would be the end of the hero. His life story is then left at the mercy of the local poets to immortalize his name, whether he shall be called great or small is all in the hands of a lowly poet. He therefore relies on others that are in a totally different kind of profession to keep his name remembered, poets may not be ...

Vidyan Ravinthiran was born in the north of England to Sri Lankan Tamils, and moved to the United States five years ago. Considering identity in both its political and psychological senses, he leaps adventurously between memoir and criticism, understanding his life through poetry, and vice versa. This electric, compelling hybrid memoir discovers a new way of writing about the self and also literature.

A simple writing style coupled with almost prophetic content characterize George Orwell's works. Orwell's most famous pieces include the satirical novel Animal Farm and dystopian masterpiece 1984. His colorful autobiographical novel Down and Out in Paris and London is also an unforgettable read. Throughout his writings, Orwell accurately and scathingly criticized totalitarianism while supporting democratic socialism.

In Struck Inside Out, writer and blogger Danielle Bertoli delivers lessons on cultivating daily inspiration, overcoming heartbreak, and loving yourself unconditionally. This moving companion offers reminders that no matter what you’re going through, you can handle it. Through reflections in poetry and prose, Danielle shares her story of overcoming obstacles to transform self-doubt into self-love.

Long ESSAY about Elizabeth Bishop and the technical and acoustic underpinnings of her poetry. Useful for someone looking for an introduction to Bishop's poetry as well as those interested in discovering how Bishop achieved some of her marvelous imagery and effects.

En este volumen, integrado por ensayos breves, concentrados y aleccionadores, Gabriel Zaid enfoca su atención siempre viva, su inteligencia siempre despierta, en poetas individuales, movimientos poéticos y aspectos de la poesía y su peculiar estética. Leer por gusto es el método que propone este libro que habla de poesía como los amigos que salen platicando de ver una película. Puede servir como una introducción al arte de leer poesía, especialmente mexicana, pero no es un tratado, sino una conversación de lector a lector.

Do you feel like you live life looking in from the outside? From the way you speak, to the color of your skin, to the way you vote, or the way you pray, you don't fit the mold. And yet you find yourself still trying to prove yourself to others. In Set Me Free, New York Times bestselling author Lecrae invites you on a poetic and artistic exploration of how you can persevere against the lies of unworthiness to experience the freedom given to you in Jesus.

Anne Waldman takes the opportunity with this 20th-anniversary expanded edition to add 20 poems to this collection that brings into focus her lifelong engagement with “chant” as central to contemporary performative poetry.