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Poetry Guide
A Face
by Robert Browning
"A Face" is Robert Browning's subtly unnerving reflection on male attitudes toward female beauty. The poem's speaker reverently describes a lady's lovely face, imagining that she'd have made a perf...
Poetry Guide
Nearing Forty
by Derek Walcott
Derek Walcott's "Nearing Forty" was first published in his 1969 collection The Gulf and Other Poems, when the poet was indeed nearing 40. The poem can be considered autobiographical, as the speaker...
Lit Guide
A Warning to the Curious
by M. R. James
The small coastal town of Seaburgh is bright and colorful and features a prominent church atop a hill. The writer describes Seaburgh from memory, as he used to frequent the town in childhood. He re...
Poetry Guide
A Face
by Robert Browning
"A Face" is Robert Browning's subtly unnerving reflection on male attitudes toward female beauty. The poem's speaker reverently describes a lady's lovely face, imagining that she'd have made a perf...
Poetry Guide
Nearing Forty
by Derek Walcott
Derek Walcott's "Nearing Forty" was first published in his 1969 collection The Gulf and Other Poems, when the poet was indeed nearing 40. The poem can be considered autobiographical, as the speaker...
Lit Guide
A Warning to the Curious
by M. R. James
The small coastal town of Seaburgh is bright and colorful and features a prominent church atop a hill. The writer describes Seaburgh from memory, as he used to frequent the town in childhood. He re...
Lit Guide
This Side of Paradise
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Amory Blaine is born to middle-class, Midwestern parents. He spends most of his childhood traveling with his mother, Beatrice Blaine, and developing a taste for luxury. When Amory is 13 years old, ...
Poetry Guide
A Face
by Robert Browning
"A Face" is Robert Browning's subtly unnerving reflection on male attitudes toward female beauty. The poem's speaker reverently describes a lady's lovely face, imagining that she'd have made a perf...
Poetry Guide
Nearing Forty
by Derek Walcott
Derek Walcott's "Nearing Forty" was first published in his 1969 collection The Gulf and Other Poems, when the poet was indeed nearing 40. The poem can be considered autobiographical, as the speaker...
Lit Guide
A Warning to the Curious
by M. R. James
The small coastal town of Seaburgh is bright and colorful and features a prominent church atop a hill. The writer describes Seaburgh from memory, as he used to frequent the town in childhood. He re...
Lit Guide
This Side of Paradise
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Amory Blaine is born to middle-class, Midwestern parents. He spends most of his childhood traveling with his mother, Beatrice Blaine, and developing a taste for luxury. When Amory is 13 years old, ...
Poetry Guide
Renouncement
by Alice Meynell
"Renouncement," by Alice Meynell, is a Petrarchan sonnet that explores the agony of forbidden or unattainable love. The speaker spends all day fighting off thoughts of the person she loves, but as ...
Lit Guide
Johnny Got His Gun
by Dalton Trumbo
Joe Bonham wakes up to the sound of a phone ringing at the bakery in Los Angeles where he works. He feels like he’s waking up from a hangover. When he goes to answer the phone, he learns that his f...
Poetry Guide
Half-Past Two
by U. A. Fanthorpe
"Half-Past Two," which appears in the English poet U. A. Fanthorpe's 1992 collection Neck Verse, contrasts the wonder and naivete of childhood with the rigid authority of the adult world. The poem ...
Lit Guide
The Train Driver
by Athol Fugard
Simon Hanabe, a Black Xhosa gravedigger, tells the audience about the time a white man came to the graveyard of unmarked graves in search of a dead woman. As the play flashes back to that scene, Ro...
Lit Guide
The Pigman
by Paul Zindel
The spring of their sophomore year of high school, Lorraine Jensen and John Conlan sign an oath vowing to tell the truth—and only the truth—about their experiences with Mr. Angelo Pignati, “The Pig...
Lit Guide
The Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum
On the Kansas prairies, a young girl named Dorothy lives on a farm with her Aunt Em, her Uncle Henry, and her little black dog, Toto. While her surroundings are dull and gray, Dorothy still finds j...
Poetry Guide
Holy Thursday (Songs of Experience)
by William Blake
The English Romantic poet William Blake wrote two poems entitled "Holy Thursday": the first appeared in Songs of Innocence, and the second—the poem we're treating in this guide—in his Songs of Expe...
Poetry Guide
Echo
by Christina Rossetti
The speaker of Christina Rossetti's "Echo" begs their departed lover to visit them in dreams, where they can see their lover's face again and relive all their past happiness. But while dreaming abo...
Poetry Guide
The Deliverer
by Tishani Doshi
Tishani Doshi's "The Deliverer" addresses the horrifying reality of gender discrimination and female infanticide in India. The poem illustrates how the cultural devaluation of women's lives combine...
Poetry Guide
Among the Rocks
by Robert Browning
Robert Browning's "Among the Rocks" is the seventh in a nine-poem sequence titled "James Lee's Wife" (or, in its original printing, plain old "James Lee"), the opening piece in Browning's important...
Poetry Guide
What mystery pervades a well!
by Emily Dickinson
Written around 1877 and first published in 1896, "What mystery pervades a well!" ponders nature, fear, and awe—themes dear to Emily Dickinson throughout her writing life. The poem reflects first on...
Poetry Guide
Renouncement
by Alice Meynell
"Renouncement," by Alice Meynell, is a Petrarchan sonnet that explores the agony of forbidden or unattainable love. The speaker spends all day fighting off thoughts of the person she loves, but as ...
Lit Guide
Johnny Got His Gun
by Dalton Trumbo
Joe Bonham wakes up to the sound of a phone ringing at the bakery in Los Angeles where he works. He feels like he’s waking up from a hangover. When he goes to answer the phone, he learns that his f...
Poetry Guide
Half-Past Two
by U. A. Fanthorpe
"Half-Past Two," which appears in the English poet U. A. Fanthorpe's 1992 collection Neck Verse, contrasts the wonder and naivete of childhood with the rigid authority of the adult world. The poem ...
Lit Guide
The Train Driver
by Athol Fugard
Simon Hanabe, a Black Xhosa gravedigger, tells the audience about the time a white man came to the graveyard of unmarked graves in search of a dead woman. As the play flashes back to that scene, Ro...
Lit Guide
The Pigman
by Paul Zindel
The spring of their sophomore year of high school, Lorraine Jensen and John Conlan sign an oath vowing to tell the truth—and only the truth—about their experiences with Mr. Angelo Pignati, “The Pig...
Lit Guide
The Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum
On the Kansas prairies, a young girl named Dorothy lives on a farm with her Aunt Em, her Uncle Henry, and her little black dog, Toto. While her surroundings are dull and gray, Dorothy still finds j...
Poetry Guide
Holy Thursday (Songs of Experience)
by William Blake
The English Romantic poet William Blake wrote two poems entitled "Holy Thursday": the first appeared in Songs of Innocence, and the second—the poem we're treating in this guide—in his Songs of Expe...
Poetry Guide
Echo
by Christina Rossetti
The speaker of Christina Rossetti's "Echo" begs their departed lover to visit them in dreams, where they can see their lover's face again and relive all their past happiness. But while dreaming abo...
Poetry Guide
The Deliverer
by Tishani Doshi
Tishani Doshi's "The Deliverer" addresses the horrifying reality of gender discrimination and female infanticide in India. The poem illustrates how the cultural devaluation of women's lives combine...
Poetry Guide
Among the Rocks
by Robert Browning
Robert Browning's "Among the Rocks" is the seventh in a nine-poem sequence titled "James Lee's Wife" (or, in its original printing, plain old "James Lee"), the opening piece in Browning's important...
Poetry Guide
What mystery pervades a well!
by Emily Dickinson
Written around 1877 and first published in 1896, "What mystery pervades a well!" ponders nature, fear, and awe—themes dear to Emily Dickinson throughout her writing life. The poem reflects first on...
Lit Guide
This Side of Paradise
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Amory Blaine is born to middle-class, Midwestern parents. He spends most of his childhood traveling with his mother, Beatrice Blaine, and developing a taste for luxury. When Amory is 13 years old, ...
Poetry Guide
Renouncement
by Alice Meynell
"Renouncement," by Alice Meynell, is a Petrarchan sonnet that explores the agony of forbidden or unattainable love. The speaker spends all day fighting off thoughts of the person she loves, but as ...
Lit Guide
Johnny Got His Gun
by Dalton Trumbo
Joe Bonham wakes up to the sound of a phone ringing at the bakery in Los Angeles where he works. He feels like he’s waking up from a hangover. When he goes to answer the phone, he learns that his f...
Poetry Guide
Half-Past Two
by U. A. Fanthorpe
"Half-Past Two," which appears in the English poet U. A. Fanthorpe's 1992 collection Neck Verse, contrasts the wonder and naivete of childhood with the rigid authority of the adult world. The poem ...
Lit Guide
The Train Driver
by Athol Fugard
Simon Hanabe, a Black Xhosa gravedigger, tells the audience about the time a white man came to the graveyard of unmarked graves in search of a dead woman. As the play flashes back to that scene, Ro...
Lit Guide
The Pigman
by Paul Zindel
The spring of their sophomore year of high school, Lorraine Jensen and John Conlan sign an oath vowing to tell the truth—and only the truth—about their experiences with Mr. Angelo Pignati, “The Pig...
Lit Guide
The Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum
On the Kansas prairies, a young girl named Dorothy lives on a farm with her Aunt Em, her Uncle Henry, and her little black dog, Toto. While her surroundings are dull and gray, Dorothy still finds j...
Poetry Guide
Holy Thursday (Songs of Experience)
by William Blake
The English Romantic poet William Blake wrote two poems entitled "Holy Thursday": the first appeared in Songs of Innocence, and the second—the poem we're treating in this guide—in his Songs of Expe...
Poetry Guide
Echo
by Christina Rossetti
The speaker of Christina Rossetti's "Echo" begs their departed lover to visit them in dreams, where they can see their lover's face again and relive all their past happiness. But while dreaming abo...
Poetry Guide
The Deliverer
by Tishani Doshi
Tishani Doshi's "The Deliverer" addresses the horrifying reality of gender discrimination and female infanticide in India. The poem illustrates how the cultural devaluation of women's lives combine...
Poetry Guide
Among the Rocks
by Robert Browning
Robert Browning's "Among the Rocks" is the seventh in a nine-poem sequence titled "James Lee's Wife" (or, in its original printing, plain old "James Lee"), the opening piece in Browning's important...
Poetry Guide
What mystery pervades a well!
by Emily Dickinson
Written around 1877 and first published in 1896, "What mystery pervades a well!" ponders nature, fear, and awe—themes dear to Emily Dickinson throughout her writing life. The poem reflects first on...
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