Literary Composition H. P. Lovecraft In a former article our readers have been shewn the fundamental sources of literary inspiration, and the leading prerequisites to expression. It remains to furnish hints concerning expression itself; its forms, customs, and technicalities, in order that the young writer may lose nothing of force or charm in presenting his […]
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THE DEATH OF SOCRATES by Plato
“Me, already, as the tragic poet would say, the voice of fate calls. Soon I must drink the poison; and I think that I had better repair to the bath first, in order that the women may not have the trouble of washing my body after I am dead.” When he had done speaking, Crito […]
The House Beautiful by Jack London
Speaking of homes, I am building one now, and I venture to assert that very few homes have received more serious thought in the planning. Let me tell you about it. In the first place, there will be no grounds whatever, no fences, lawns, nor flowers. Roughly, the dimensions will be forty-five feet by fifteen. […]
THE REAL WAR WILL NEVER GET IN THE BOOKS by Walt Whitman
THE REAL WAR WILL NEVER GET IN THE BOOKS by Walt Whitman And so good-bye to the war. I know not how it may have been, or may be, to others—to me the main interest I found, (and still, on recollection, find,) in the rank and file of the armies, both sides, and in those […]
The Death of My Wife by Mark Twain
The Death of My Wife by Mark Twain To-morrow will be the thirty-sixth anniversary of our marriage. My wife passed from this life one year and eight months ago, in Florence, Italy, after an unbroken illness of twenty-two months’ duration. I saw her first in the form of an ivory miniature in her brother Charley’s […]
English Poetesses by Oscar Wilde
English Poetesses by Oscar Wilde (Queen, December 8, 1888.) England has given to the world one great poetess, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. By her side Mr. Swinburne would place Miss Christina Rossetti, whose New Year hymn he describes as so much the noblest of sacred poems in our language, that there is none which comes near […]
Friendship by Joseph Addison
Ovid, Met. i. 355. We two are a multitude. One would think that the larger the company is, in which we are engaged, the greater variety of thoughts and subjects would be started in discourse; but instead of this, we find that conversation is never so much straitened and confined as in numerous assemblies. When […]
Threatening Letter to Thomas Hood from An Ancient Gentleman by Charles Dickens
MR. HOOD. SIR,— The Constitution is going at last! You needn’t laugh, Mr. Hood. I am aware that it has been going, two or three times before; perhaps four times; but it is on the move now, sir, and no mistake. I beg to say, that I use those last expressions advisedly, sir, and not […]
Chicago by Rudyard Kipling
CHICAGO by Rudyard Kipling “I know thy cunning and thy greed, Thy hard high lust and wilful deed, And all thy glory loves to tell Of specious gifts material.” I HAVE struck a city—a real city—and they call it Chicago. The other places do not count. San Francisco was a pleasure-resort as well as […]
The Literary Regimen by H. G. Wells
The Literary Regimen by H. G. Wells At the risk of offending the young beginner’s illusions, he must be reminded of one or two homely but important facts bearing upon literary production. Homely as they are, they explain much that is at first puzzling. This perplexing question of distinction; the quality of being somehow fresh—individual. […]
Friendship by Ralph Waldo Emerson
We have a great deal more kindness than is ever spoken. Maugre all the selfishness that chills like east winds the world, the whole human family is bathed with an element of love like a fine ether. How many persons we meet in houses, whom we scarcely speak to, whom yet we honor, and who […]
When I Knew Stephen Crane by Willa Cather
When I Knew Stephen Crane by Willa Cather It was, I think, in the spring of ’94 that a slender, narrow-chested fellow in a shabby grey suit, with a soft felt hat pulled low over his eyes, sauntered into the office of the managing editor of the Nebraska State Journal and introduced himself as Stephen […]
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau I heartily accept the motto,—”That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe,—”That government is best which governs not at all”; […]
Andrew Lang Letter To Jane Austen After Her Death
Andrew Lang Letter To Jane Austen After Her Death by Andrew Lang Madam,—If to the enjoyments of your present state be lacking a view of the minor infirmities or foibles of men, I cannot but think (were the thought permitted) that your pleasures are yet incomplete. Moreover, it is certain that a woman of parts […]
PLYMOUTH ROCK AND THE PILGRIMS by Mark Twain
PLYMOUTH ROCK AND THE PILGRIMS by Mark Twain ADDRESS AT THE FIRST ANNUAL DINNER, N. E. SOCIETY, PHILADELPHIA, DECEMBER 22, 1881 On calling upon Mr. Clemens to make response, President Rollins said: “This sentiment has been assigned to one who was never exactly born in New England, nor, perhaps, were any of his ancestors. […]