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Lit Guide
No Longer Human
by Osamu Dazai
An unnamed speaker describes pictures of a man later revealed to be Yozo. There are three pictures of him: one as a child, one when he’s slightly older, and one as an adult. The unnamed speaker fin...
Lit Guide
Caesar and Cleopatra
by George Bernard Shaw
The Egyptian god Ra addresses the play’s audience directly, belittling them for their ignorance and insulting contemporary (mid-Victorian) British society. He also establishes the origins of Julius...
Poetry Guide
A Study of Reading Habits
by Philip Larkin
"A Study of Reading Habits" was published in Philip Larkin's popular third collection, The Whitsun Weddings (1964). The poem's speaker describes how reading once offered him an escape and seemed to...
Lit Guide
No Longer Human
by Osamu Dazai
An unnamed speaker describes pictures of a man later revealed to be Yozo. There are three pictures of him: one as a child, one when he’s slightly older, and one as an adult. The unnamed speaker fin...
Lit Guide
Caesar and Cleopatra
by George Bernard Shaw
The Egyptian god Ra addresses the play’s audience directly, belittling them for their ignorance and insulting contemporary (mid-Victorian) British society. He also establishes the origins of Julius...
Poetry Guide
A Study of Reading Habits
by Philip Larkin
"A Study of Reading Habits" was published in Philip Larkin's popular third collection, The Whitsun Weddings (1964). The poem's speaker describes how reading once offered him an escape and seemed to...
Poetry Guide
My Grandmother's House
by Kamala Das
"My Grandmother's House," an autobiographical poem by Indian writer Kamala Das, tells a story of nostalgia and sorrow. The poem's speaker longs to return to her grandmother's house, where she once ...
Lit Guide
No Longer Human
by Osamu Dazai
An unnamed speaker describes pictures of a man later revealed to be Yozo. There are three pictures of him: one as a child, one when he’s slightly older, and one as an adult. The unnamed speaker fin...
Lit Guide
Caesar and Cleopatra
by George Bernard Shaw
The Egyptian god Ra addresses the play’s audience directly, belittling them for their ignorance and insulting contemporary (mid-Victorian) British society. He also establishes the origins of Julius...
Poetry Guide
A Study of Reading Habits
by Philip Larkin
"A Study of Reading Habits" was published in Philip Larkin's popular third collection, The Whitsun Weddings (1964). The poem's speaker describes how reading once offered him an escape and seemed to...
Poetry Guide
My Grandmother's House
by Kamala Das
"My Grandmother's House," an autobiographical poem by Indian writer Kamala Das, tells a story of nostalgia and sorrow. The poem's speaker longs to return to her grandmother's house, where she once ...
Poetry Guide
When Great Trees Fall
by Maya Angelou
The American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou wrote "When Great Trees Fall" in 1987 after the death of her friend and fellow writer/activist James Baldwin. The poem, which Angelou read a...
Poetry Guide
O sweet spontaneous
by E. E. Cummings
"[O sweet spontaneous]" appears in E. E. Cummings's first poetry collection, Tulips and Chimneys (1923). The poem imagines nature as a mysterious, "spontaneous" force that the human intellect can n...
Poetry Guide
Why So Pale and Wan Fond Lover?
by Sir John Suckling
Sir John Suckling, a noted Cavalier poet, wrote "Why so pale and wan fond lover?" for his 1637 play Aglaura. In this poem, a speaker counsels his heartbroken friend to stop moping around over an un...
Poetry Guide
A Valediction: Of Weeping
by John Donne
"A Valediction: Of Weeping" is English Metaphysical poet John Donne's tale of a sad goodbye. As the speaker and his beloved share a last embrace before the speaker leaves on a long voyage, the spea...
Poetry Guide
I Ask My Mother to Sing
by Li-Young Lee
In Li-Young Lee's "I Ask My Mother to Sing," a speaker listens to their mother and grandmother singing a song about the China of their youth. Through the song, the speaker feels connected to places...
Poetry Guide
Genetics
by Sinéad Morrissey
Sinéad Morrissey's "Genetics" meditates on the way that inherited traits connect people to their past. The poem's speaker notes that their hands contain features inherited from both their mother an...
Poetry Guide
Nurse's Song (Songs of Experience)
by William Blake
British visionary poet William Blake included two versions of "Nurse's Song" in his self-published collection Songs of Innocence and Experience (1794). In the Innocence version of the poem, a nurse...
Lit Guide
Metamorphoses
by Ovid
Ovid begins the Metamorphoses by asking the gods to help him trace the origins of the world and its development up to his own time (Caesar Augustus’s reign in the Roman Empire). Ovid then explains ...
Lit Guide
I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem
by Maryse Condé
Tituba tells the story of her early life: her mother Abena is an Ashanti woman who was captured, enslaved, and taken to Barbados. While on the ship, Abena is assaulted by a white sailor, resulting ...
Poetry Guide
Edge
by Sylvia Plath
"Edge" is thought to be the final poem Sylvia Plath ever wrote. Dated February 5, 1963, six days before her death, "Edge" has been read by many critics (though not all) as a reflection of her despa...
Poetry Guide
The More Loving One
by W. H. Auden
"The More Loving One" is British poet W.H. Auden's wry, complex reflection on the indifference of the universe and the value of love. Gazing at the night sky, the poem's speaker understands that th...
Poetry Guide
When Great Trees Fall
by Maya Angelou
The American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou wrote "When Great Trees Fall" in 1987 after the death of her friend and fellow writer/activist James Baldwin. The poem, which Angelou read a...
Poetry Guide
O sweet spontaneous
by E. E. Cummings
"[O sweet spontaneous]" appears in E. E. Cummings's first poetry collection, Tulips and Chimneys (1923). The poem imagines nature as a mysterious, "spontaneous" force that the human intellect can n...
Poetry Guide
Why So Pale and Wan Fond Lover?
by Sir John Suckling
Sir John Suckling, a noted Cavalier poet, wrote "Why so pale and wan fond lover?" for his 1637 play Aglaura. In this poem, a speaker counsels his heartbroken friend to stop moping around over an un...
Poetry Guide
A Valediction: Of Weeping
by John Donne
"A Valediction: Of Weeping" is English Metaphysical poet John Donne's tale of a sad goodbye. As the speaker and his beloved share a last embrace before the speaker leaves on a long voyage, the spea...
Poetry Guide
I Ask My Mother to Sing
by Li-Young Lee
In Li-Young Lee's "I Ask My Mother to Sing," a speaker listens to their mother and grandmother singing a song about the China of their youth. Through the song, the speaker feels connected to places...
Poetry Guide
Genetics
by Sinéad Morrissey
Sinéad Morrissey's "Genetics" meditates on the way that inherited traits connect people to their past. The poem's speaker notes that their hands contain features inherited from both their mother an...
Poetry Guide
Nurse's Song (Songs of Experience)
by William Blake
British visionary poet William Blake included two versions of "Nurse's Song" in his self-published collection Songs of Innocence and Experience (1794). In the Innocence version of the poem, a nurse...
Lit Guide
Metamorphoses
by Ovid
Ovid begins the Metamorphoses by asking the gods to help him trace the origins of the world and its development up to his own time (Caesar Augustus’s reign in the Roman Empire). Ovid then explains ...
Lit Guide
I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem
by Maryse Condé
Tituba tells the story of her early life: her mother Abena is an Ashanti woman who was captured, enslaved, and taken to Barbados. While on the ship, Abena is assaulted by a white sailor, resulting ...
Poetry Guide
Edge
by Sylvia Plath
"Edge" is thought to be the final poem Sylvia Plath ever wrote. Dated February 5, 1963, six days before her death, "Edge" has been read by many critics (though not all) as a reflection of her despa...
Poetry Guide
The More Loving One
by W. H. Auden
"The More Loving One" is British poet W.H. Auden's wry, complex reflection on the indifference of the universe and the value of love. Gazing at the night sky, the poem's speaker understands that th...
Poetry Guide
My Grandmother's House
by Kamala Das
"My Grandmother's House," an autobiographical poem by Indian writer Kamala Das, tells a story of nostalgia and sorrow. The poem's speaker longs to return to her grandmother's house, where she once ...
Poetry Guide
When Great Trees Fall
by Maya Angelou
The American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou wrote "When Great Trees Fall" in 1987 after the death of her friend and fellow writer/activist James Baldwin. The poem, which Angelou read a...
Poetry Guide
O sweet spontaneous
by E. E. Cummings
"[O sweet spontaneous]" appears in E. E. Cummings's first poetry collection, Tulips and Chimneys (1923). The poem imagines nature as a mysterious, "spontaneous" force that the human intellect can n...
Poetry Guide
Why So Pale and Wan Fond Lover?
by Sir John Suckling
Sir John Suckling, a noted Cavalier poet, wrote "Why so pale and wan fond lover?" for his 1637 play Aglaura. In this poem, a speaker counsels his heartbroken friend to stop moping around over an un...
Poetry Guide
A Valediction: Of Weeping
by John Donne
"A Valediction: Of Weeping" is English Metaphysical poet John Donne's tale of a sad goodbye. As the speaker and his beloved share a last embrace before the speaker leaves on a long voyage, the spea...
Poetry Guide
I Ask My Mother to Sing
by Li-Young Lee
In Li-Young Lee's "I Ask My Mother to Sing," a speaker listens to their mother and grandmother singing a song about the China of their youth. Through the song, the speaker feels connected to places...
Poetry Guide
Genetics
by Sinéad Morrissey
Sinéad Morrissey's "Genetics" meditates on the way that inherited traits connect people to their past. The poem's speaker notes that their hands contain features inherited from both their mother an...
Poetry Guide
Nurse's Song (Songs of Experience)
by William Blake
British visionary poet William Blake included two versions of "Nurse's Song" in his self-published collection Songs of Innocence and Experience (1794). In the Innocence version of the poem, a nurse...
Lit Guide
Metamorphoses
by Ovid
Ovid begins the Metamorphoses by asking the gods to help him trace the origins of the world and its development up to his own time (Caesar Augustus’s reign in the Roman Empire). Ovid then explains ...
Lit Guide
I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem
by Maryse Condé
Tituba tells the story of her early life: her mother Abena is an Ashanti woman who was captured, enslaved, and taken to Barbados. While on the ship, Abena is assaulted by a white sailor, resulting ...
Poetry Guide
Edge
by Sylvia Plath
"Edge" is thought to be the final poem Sylvia Plath ever wrote. Dated February 5, 1963, six days before her death, "Edge" has been read by many critics (though not all) as a reflection of her despa...
Poetry Guide
The More Loving One
by W. H. Auden
"The More Loving One" is British poet W.H. Auden's wry, complex reflection on the indifference of the universe and the value of love. Gazing at the night sky, the poem's speaker understands that th...
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