Verse
Explore our 'Verse' category for a curated selection of poetry and verse, showcasing diverse voices and timeless expressions of the human experience.
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Rudyard Kipling was a well-respected English writer who grew up in India. He is known for writing The Jungle Book, which is highly inspired by his environment. Rudyard Kipling's Verse is a collection of the author's poetry. Read how the great writer and journalist address the art of poetry. See the impact of his birth in India on his unique collection of poems. Discover a different side of the h=genius behind the beloved The Jungle Books
Robert Louis Stevenson is a well-known Scottish author famous for Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. Stevenson was also a prolific poet and specifically wrote A Child's Garden of Verses as poetry for children. Read along as Stevenson writes verse told from the eyes of a child. The poems are a huge success and their unique style has been used by many since the book was published.
A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems translated by Arthur Waley is a captivating collection of ancient Chinese poetry that captures the beauty, wisdom, and complexity of the Chinese culture. Through his masterful translations, Waley brings to life a rich tapestry of emotions, from the joy and ecstasy of love to the profound sadness of loss and longing. The poems range in style and subject matter, from the lyrical and romantic to the philosophical and reflective. They offer a glimpse into a world that is both ancient and timeless, a world of nature, spirituality, and human connection.
The speaker feels different from others, even from a young age. They can’t find happiness or love in the same way as those around them. Instead, they feel isolated, finding both beauty and fear in nature’s powerful forces, like storms, mountains, and lightning. These experiences shape their life, filling it with a mysterious sense of loneliness that they can’t escape.
Rudyard Kipling was an English poet and writer born in British India. He is well-known for his fiction adventure series, The Jungle Books. Barrack-Room Ballads is a collection by Kipling of poems and songs about the Victorian British Army. The pieces in the collection are regarded as some of Kipling's best works, including "Tommy" and "Danny Deever." Read this intriguing collection of verses that artfully captures the vernacular and spirit of the army at the time.
In the ancient lands of Scandinavia, a fearless warrior named Beowulf emerges as a beacon of hope. He faces the monstrous terror known as Grendel, clashing with unmatched skill and unwavering strength. Yet, victory comes at a cost as a vengeful adversary, Grendel's mother, emerges. In a treacherous underworld, Beowulf confronts his own demons and finds redemption. But a chilling prophecy looms, leading to a cataclysmic battle against a malevolent dragon. Beowulf's legacy shines as a testament to bravery, sacrifice, and the indomitable human spirit.
The Canterbury Tales (Middle English: Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and Justice of Peace and, in 1389, Clerk of the King's work. It was during these years that Chaucer began working on his most famous text, The Canterbury Tales. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims.
A man in a dusty city office dreams of the wide-open outback and the freedom of a drover's life. He recalls his friend Clancy, who has left for Queensland, droving cattle under the endless sky. As he imagines Clancy riding under the stars and through the vast sunlit plains, he feels trapped by the noisy, crowded streets around him.
The present collection of Japanese poetry is compiled and translated into English from what the Japanese call “The Collection of Myriad Leaves,” and from a number of other anthologies made by imperial decree year by year from the tenth until the fifteenth century. Selections translated into English by Basil Hall Chamberlain.
While reading a dull Postal Guide, the narrator stumbles upon a curious name: "Come-by-Chance." Intrigued by this mysterious place with no clear location, he decides to leave home and venture northward in search of it. Read the poem to discover what happens next in his whimsical journey!
Dorothy Parker was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. Parker published her first volume of poetry, Enough Rope, in 1926. The collection sold 47,000 copies and garnered impressive reviews. The Nation described her verse as "caked with a salty humor, rough with splinters of disillusion, and tarred with a bright black authenticity."
Eugene Onegin (pre-reform Russian: Евгеній Онѣгинъ; post-reform Russian: Евгений Оне́гин) is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin. Onegin is considered a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes (so-called superfluous men).
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