Classic Poetry

The comprehensive collection of poetry by the world-renowned writer. Explore the transcendent world of unity and ultimate beauty in Edgar Allan Poe's verse in this complete poetry collection. Although best known for his short stories, Edgar Allan Poe was by nature and choice a poet. From his exquisite lyric "To Helen," to his immortal masterpieces, "Annabel Lee," "The Bells," and...

This selection of Poe's critical writings, short fiction, and poetry demonstrates an intense interest in aesthetic issues and the astonishing power and imagination with which he probed the darkest corners of the human mind. The Fall of the House of Usher describes the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy and the legacy of the past. In The Tell...

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics — irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Arguably America's most influential short story writer, Edgar Allan Poe's tales of suspense never fail to spook and amaze. Gathered in this selection are his very best horror stories, including the gothic tour de force...

Sonnets by William Shakespeare offers the complete collection of the bard's renowned poems in one beautiful edition. Love sonnets are ideal for romantics, starry-eyed lovers, and ardent hearts. Shakespeare's sonnets are arguably the finest ever written. However, they also appeal to cynics, star-crossed lovers, and those familiar with the pain of unrequited love. Some sonnets seem addressed to a young...

Vintage Minis bring you the world's greatest writers on the experiences that make us human – from birth to death and everything in between. Why, what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust? And, live we how we can, yet die we must What is the true meaning of power? Are some simply born to it, or can it...

The best poetic version of The Odyssey to have appeared this century - Hugh Lloyd-Jones Penelope has been waiting for her husband Odysseus to return from Troy for many years. Little does she know that his path back to her has been blocked by astonishing and terrifying trials. Will he overcome the hideous monsters, beautiful witches and treacherous seas that...

46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946 And when I shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars.

46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946 He is fond of enigmas, of conundrums, hieroglyphics; exhibiting in his solutions of each a degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension praeternatural.

Beautifully designed clothbound edition of this brilliant translation. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Describing Dante's descent into Hell midway through his life with Virgil as a guide, Inferno depicts a cruel underworld in...

Part of the authoritative and acclaimed Penguin Shakespeare series, now rejacketed in the celebrated Penguin Classics livery. A vivacious woman and a high-spirited man both claim that they are determined never to marry. But when their friends trick them into believing that each harbours secret feelings for the other, they begin to question whether their witty banter and sharp-tongued repartee...

A smouldering collection of 100 love poems by master poet Rumi that will set fire to even the iciest of hearts. Accompanied by illuminating commentary throughout, The Flame of Love explores the depths of passion, longing, and loss through Rumi's timeless verses. The Flame of Love is an alluring collection of 100 love poems by world-renowned poet Rumi, never before...

Describing Dante's descent into Hell midway through his life with Virgil as a guide, Inferno depicts a cruel underworld in which desperate figures are condemned to eternal damnation for committing one or more of the seven deadly sins. As he descends through nine concentric circles of increasingly agonising torture, Dante encounters doomed souls including the pagan Aeneas, the liar Odysseus,...

A selection of original translations of the great Persian poet by an up-and-coming American translator and musician. A vibrant selection of poems by the great Persian mystic with groundbreaking translations by an American poet of Persian descent. Rumi's poems were meant to induce a sense of ecstatic illumination and liberation in his audience, bringing its members to a condition of...

Volume 1 of the new Everyman Shakespeare, published in 1992, included the four major tragedies: Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth. Volume 2 completes the survey of Shakespeare's tragic output with Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Troilus and Cressida, and Titus Andronicus. The edited texts of the plays are supplemented with bibliographies, a chronology of Shakespeare's...

Iliad VI makes ideal reading for a student approaching the epic for the first time. Amongst other episodes, it includes the meeting of Diomedes and Glaukos in battle, which throws light on the ethics of epic warfare; and the touching scene of Hektor's final parting from his wife Andromache and baby son Astyanax. This illustrated edition includes text with notes...

The Odyssey is one of the earliest works of European literature, second only to the Iliad. These two great epic poems, the astonishing first fruits of Greek civilisation, have together determined much of the course of Western literary culture and imagination. The poem tells of the long and painful return of Odysseus from the Trojan War to his homeland of...

This beautifully curated boxed set brings together ten of William Shakespeare’s most iconic plays: Hamlet, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and As You Like It. These masterpieces showcase the Bard’s incredible range—from tragedy and romance to wit and political drama. Ideal for students, collectors,...

These easy-to-read editions incorporate over thirty years of Shakespeare scholarship undertaken since the original series, edited by Alfred Harbage, appeared between 1956 and 1967. With these electrifying new covers, dependable texts, and illuminating essays, the Pelican Shakespeare will remain a valued resource for students, teachers, and theatre professionals for many years to come. This edition of Titus Andronicus is edited...

A complete and annotated edition of Shakespeare's non-dramatic verse, including the sonnets, Venus and Adonis, and The Rape of Lucrece.

This edition contains the Greek text, and is supplemented by an introduction giving the necessary background and setting Book III in the context of the Iliad as a whole, explanatory notes and a vocabulary.

This edition of Iliad I provides an admirable introduction to a first reading of Homer. The book deals with the origin of Achilles’ wrath, which gives rise to the poem’s main plot. It introduces principal characters such as Odysseus and Nestor and adumbrates the role the gods are to play in the story. This edition provides text with notes on...

The greatest tragic plays of William Shakespeare—including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. What is tragedy? The Elizabethans defined it as a "lofty" play showing "personages of great state" caught up in a "lamentable" action that "beginneth prosperously and endeth unfortunately." Whether judged by this or any other standard, the plays selected for this collection are considered to be the...

The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now repackaged in award-winning modern covers, aims to inspire Shakespearians of all ages. The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series is edited by A. R. Braunmuller and Stephen Orgel. This legendary series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an...

Macbeth, a Scottish general, is enslaved by his passion when a trio of witches prophesy that he would one day become the King of Scotland. Blinded by the lust for power, he succumbs to the evil wishes of Lady Macbeth, stabs King Duncan in his sleep, and seizes the throne. But soon enough, Macbeth is tormented by guilt and terror....

"Made up of poems that are so original in their style and so startlingly accomplished in their confessional voice that they helped change the direction of contemporary poetry, Ariel is a masterpiece." -- New York Observer Sylvia Plath's famous collection, as she intended it. When Sylvia Plath died, she not only left behind a prolific life but also her unpublished...

Volume 1 of the Everyman Shakespeare, published in 1992, includes the four major tragedies: Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth. The authoritatively edited texts of the plays are supplemented with extensive bibliographies, a chronology of Shakespeare's life and times, and a substantial introduction in which Professor Tony Tanner examines Shakespeare's evolution as a tragedian while also providing detailed discussions of...

A tale of unbridled greed and an insatiable thirst for power set in eleventh-century Scotland, Macbeth has long been recognised as Shakespeare’s fastest-moving tragedy. It combines relentless narrative momentum with a profound examination of how psychological coercion mixed with personal ambition can lead to murder – and how individual impulses can shape both a man’s own destiny and the course...

This penultimate volume contains Shakespeare's later comedies, including The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night and Measure for Measure. The book provides a detailed chronology of Shakespeare's life and times.

First published in 1609, Shakespeare's Sonnets are considered some of the most beautiful poems in the English language. They include famous lines which evoke joy and tenderness, such as 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day' or 'To me, fair friend, you can never be old', while other lines express deep passion and desire. Whether addressed to the Fair...

55 Cards of Bliss and Reverie from Rumi Delight in ecstatic illuminations and drink in the great love of the Divine with inspired selections from Rumi’s Divan of Shams. This exquisitely crafted set delivers blissful moments of profound and playful reverie with reflections on love, devotion, sacred passion, and the beautiful miracle of life. Choose a card and be enriched...

Retold in graphic-novel format, the epic tale of Julius Caesar's rule over Rome. Brutus and Cassius, friends and supporters of Julius Caesar, brood and worry over his increasing ambitions. Caesar's pursuit of power leads the two men to worry that Caesar will crown himself Emperor, which would ruin Rome's Republic of the people. Behind closed doors, Cassius and Brutus begin...

A comprehensive collection of the mysteries, dread figures, poetry, and horror stories of Edgar Allan Poe, now in a beautiful gift edition for the Union Square & Co. Signature Clothbound Editions line. Featured in these pages are Edgar Allan Poe's best-loved and most-feared literary creations: the clever C. August Dupin, precursor to Sherlock Holmes; the terrifying ghouls of Tales of...

On December 1727, an intriguing play called Double Falshood; Or, The Distrest Lovers was presented for production by Lewis Theobald, who had it published in January 1728 after a successful run at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. The title page of the published version claims that the play was 'Written Originally by W. SHAKESPEARE'. Double Falsehood's plot is a...

Now a major movie. HarperCollins is proud to present our range of timeless literary classics. All my days are consumed in longing – to travel home and see the day of my arrival dawn. If a god must shatter me upon the wine-dark sea, so be it. One of the most enduring tales ever told, The Odyssey is the original...

Now a major movie. HarperCollins is proud to present our range of timeless literary classics. All my days are consumed in longing – to travel home and see the day of my arrival dawn. If a god must shatter me upon the wine-dark sea, so be it. One of the most enduring tales ever told, The Odyssey is the original...

Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy. A Penguin Classics Hardcover So begins Robert Fagles's magnificent translation of The Odyssey, literature's grandest evocation of an everyman's journey through life. Odysseus's reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival against...

Discover Puffin Clothbound Classics - gorgeously giftable editions of the best-loved classics for young readers. Swoon over this stunning Puffin Clothbound Classic edition of Romeo and Juliet. ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow.’ Shakespeare's timeless tale of ill-fated love is the most well-known love story ever told. After a chance meeting at a ball, young Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall...

Nudgers and shovers In spite of ourselves. Our kind multiplies: We shall by morning Inherit the earth . . . Delve deep into the undergrowth and explore the underfoot world of mushrooms through the breathtaking words of Pulitzer Prize winner, Sylvia Plath. Discover their many colours and hues, their ability to break through any terrain and their determination to not...

Step into the timeless epic of Homer’s The Odyssey, where myth and destiny collide. Packaged in a stunning foiled cover. Follow legendary Odysseus, a king and hero forged in the fires of the Trojan War, as he embarks on a long and perilous journey that will push him to his limits. This is no ordinary voyage, though, as he and...

When Michael Palma's translation of the Inferno appeared in 2002, it defied the conventional wisdom of literary commentators who had long argued that Dante's intricate terza rima form simply could not be rendered in "rhyme-poor" English. Palma's achievement in rhyming tercets was quickly received as a spectacular feat of poetic artistry that was “accurate... admirably clear, and readable” (Richard Wilbur)...

Twelfth Night, or What You Will: The Oxford Shakespeare is one of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays in the modern theatre, and this edition places particular emphasis on its theatrical qualities throughout. Peopled with lovers misled either by disguises or their own natures, it combines lyrical melancholy with broad comedy. The introduction analyses its many views of love and...

Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, Blood and revenge are hammering in my head. In Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus, the Roman general Titus incurs the wrath of the Queen of the Goths when he enslaves her and kills one of her sons. The shocking violence of her revenge and his retaliation earn Titus its reputation as...

Richard III is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays on the stage and has been adapted successfully for film. This new and innovative edition recognises the play's pre-eminence as a performance work: a perspective that informs every aspect of the editing. Challenging traditional practice, the text is based on the 1597 Quarto which, it is argued, brings us closest to...

The Shakespearean Originals series aims to provide readers of modern drama with 16th- and 17th-century playtexts treated as historical documents. These are reproduced as closely to their original printed forms as the conditions of modern publication will permit. Each volume in the series includes a general series introduction, an introduction to the play, the original text, a select bibliography, full...

Twelfth Night is one of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays in the modern theatre, and this edition places particular emphasis on its theatrical qualities throughout. The introduction analyses the many views of love in the play, and the juxtaposition of happiness and melancholy used to dramatise them. The presentation of the text has been re-thought in theatrical terms, and...

Titus Andronicus was the young Shakespeare's audacious, sporadically brilliant experiment in sensational tragedy. Its horrors are notorious, but its powerful poetry of grief is the work of a true tragic poet. Introducing this edition, E.M. Waith provides a fresh view of the play in its historical context, as well as an original discussion of the famous 'Peacham' drawing—the only surviving...

The Winter's Tale is Shakespeare's most perfectly realised tragicomedy, as notable for its tragic intensity as for its comic grace and, throughout, for the richness and complexity of its poetry. It concludes, moreover, with the most daring and moving reconciliation scene in all Shakespeare's plays. Though the title may suggest an escapist fantasy, recent criticism has seen in the play...

Richard III is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays on the stage and has been adapted successfully for film. This new and innovative edition recognises the play's pre-eminence as a performance work: a perspective that informs every aspect of the editing. Challenging traditional practice, the text is based on the 1597 Quarto which, it is argued, brings us closest to...

King Lear, widely considered Shakespeare's most deeply moving, passionately expressed, and intellectually ambitious play, has almost always been edited from the revised version printed in the First Folio of 1623, with additions from the quarto of 1608. Acting on recent discoveries, this volume presents the first full, scholarly edition to be based firmly on the quarto, now recognised as the...

Often under-rated as a mechanical farce, The Comedy of Errors, hilarious in its exploitation of mistaken identity, masterly in construction, and brilliant in linguistic invention, is the first of Shakespeare's romantic comedies, deeply moving in the reunions and reconciliations of its conclusion. This, the first major edition since 1988, bases itself directly on the 1623 Folio text and provides helpful...

As Henry's throne is threatened by rebel forces, England is divided. The characters reflect these oppositions, with Hal and Hotspur vying for position, and Falstaff leading Hal away from his father and towards excess. During Shakespeare's lifetime, Henry IV, Part One was his most reprinted play, and it remains enormously popular with theatre-goers and readers. Falstaff still towers among Shakespeare's...

Written near the end of Shakespeare's most phenomenally creative period, Antony and Cleopatra is perhaps the most ambitious of all Shakespeare's designs. Its unmatched geographical and historical sweep, bold mingling of genres, and extraordinary variety of style, mood, and effect set it apart. Yet the degree and nature of its success remain surprisingly contentious, and performances of the play have...

A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps the best-loved of Shakespeare's plays, and certainly the one that children are likely to encounter first. Its mixture of aristocrats, workers, and fairies meeting in a wood outside Athens has a magic of its own. Simple and engaging on the surface, it is nonetheless a highly original and sophisticated work, remarkable for both its...

The fruit of four years' work, Lawrence published his translation of Homer's epic under the pseudonym of T. E. Shaw, after George Bernard Shaw. Reading like a novel, it was described in the New York Herald Tribune as perhaps the most interesting translation of one of the world's most interesting books, while the Book of the Month Club News called...

What was Shakespeare's attitude to Semitism? The introduction to this edition of The Merchant of Venice opens by addressing this vital issue raised by the play and goes on to study the sources, background, and date, including a discussion of Sigmund Freud's essay on 'The Three Caskets'. Professor Halio interprets the play's contradictions, inconsistencies, and complementarities, especially as these relate...

The Iliad is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, for which Barry Powell, one of the twenty-first century’s leading Homeric scholars, has given us a magnificent new translation. Graceful, lucid, and energetic, Powell’s translation renders the Homeric Greek with a simplicity and dignity reminiscent of the original. The text immediately engrosses students with its tight and balanced...

War, the bringer of tears... For 2,700 years, The Iliad has gripped listeners and readers with the story of Achilles' anger and Hector's death. This tragic episode during the siege of Troy, sparked by a quarrel between the leader of the Greek army and its mightiest warrior, Achilles, is played out between mortals and gods, with devastating human consequences. It...

King Lear, widely considered Shakespeare's most deeply moving, passionately expressed, and intellectually ambitious play, has almost always been edited from the revised version printed in the First Folio of 1623, with additions from the quarto of 1608. Now for the first time, this new volume presents the full, scholarly edition to be based firmly on the quarto, now recognised as...

This first volume of Robert Durling's new translation of The Divine Comedy brings a new power and accuracy to the rendering of Dante's extraordinary vision of Hell, with all its terror, pathos, and humour. Remarkably true to both the letter and spirit of this central work of Western literature, Durling's is a prose translation (the first to appear in twenty-five...

Described variously as the greatest poem of the European Middle Ages and, because of the author's evangelical purpose, the fifth Gospel, The Divine Comedy is central to the culture of the west. The poem is a spiritual autobiography in the form of a journey - the poet travels from the dark circles of the Inferno, up the mountain of Purgatory,...

The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare's most farcical plays, with not one but two sets of twins sliding past each other into mistakes, violence, and madness. An early romantic comedy, it is often considered an immature play but also a piece of dramatic experimentation. This New Oxford Shakespeare edition examines links between Shakespeare's play and its literary sources...

The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series edited by A. R. Braunmuller and Stephen Orgel. The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors...

Working in partnership with the RSC, this brand new series is ideal for introducing students to Shakespeare's plays. Using trusted and established RSC approaches, Shakespeare's plays come to life in the classroom and establish a deeper understanding and lasting appreciation of his work. Comprising the most popular plays used in schools, these full-colour editions include the RSC's active approaches to...

Oxford School Shakespeare is an acclaimed edition especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. King Lear is a popular text for study by secondary students the world over. Key features: Accessible notes and commentaries Two-column format for easy reference checking and immediate explanations Wide margins to provide...

Oxford School Shakespeare is an acclaimed edition especially designed for students, with accessible on-page notes and explanatory illustrations, clear background information, and rigorous but accessible scholarly credentials. Antony and Cleopatra is a popular text for study by secondary students the world over. Key features: Accessible notes and commentaries Two-column format for easy reference checking and immediate explanations Wide margins to...

Sparkling with the witty dialogue between Beatrice and Benedict, Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare's most enjoyable and theatrically successful comedies. This edition offers a newly edited text and an exceptionally helpful and critically aware introduction. Paying particular attention to analysis of the play's minor characters, Sheldon P. Zitner discusses Shakespeare's transformation of his source material. He rethinks...

Henry V, the climax of Shakespeare's sequence of English history plays, is an inspiring, often comic celebration of a young warrior-king. But it is also a study of the costly exhilarations of war, and of the penalties as well as the glories of human greatness. Introducing this brilliantly innovative edition, Gary Taylor shows how Shakespeare shaped his historical material, examines...

The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now repackaged in dazzling new modern covers to inspire Shakespearians of all ages. The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series is edited by A. R. Braunmuller and Stephen Orgel. The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's...

One of the greatest plays of all time, the compelling tragedy of the tormented young prince of Denmark continues to capture the imaginations of modern audiences worldwide. Confronted with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, and with his mother's infidelity, Hamlet must find a means of reconciling his longing for oblivion with his duty as avenger. The ghost, Hamlet's...

This new critical edition, including Mark Musa's classic translation, provides students with a clear, readable verse translation accompanied by ten innovative interpretations of Dante's masterpiece. Dante's Inferno, the Indiana Critical Edition offers a comprehensive insight into Dante Alighieri's seminal work, enhancing understanding through modern perspectives and scholarly analysis.

"Sylvia Plath's last poems have impressed themselves on many readers with the force of myth. They are among the handful of writings by which future generations will seek to know us and give us a name." — The Critical Quarterly Sylvia Plath's celebrated collection. When Sylvia Plath died, she not only left behind a prolific oeuvre but also her unpublished...

In its towering central characters, vast geographical and historical sweep, and its variety of style and mood, Anthony and Cleopatra is perhaps the most ambitious of Shakespeare's designs. Yet the degree and nature of its success remain surprisingly contentious, and performances of the play have seldom matched the extravagant expectations of its admirers. Michael Neill's wide-ranging introduction evaluates the play...

A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps the best loved of Shakespeare's plays. It brings together aristocrats, workers, and fairies in a wood outside Athens, and from there the enchantment begins. Simple and engaging on the surface, it is nonetheless a highly original and sophisticated work, remarkable for both its literary and theatrical mastery. It is one of the very few...

Now beautifully redesigned, this collection brings us into the world of Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson, where even the most ordinary things can turn magical. In addition to a brief biography of Emily Dickinson, more than 35 much-loved poems are included, such as “I'm nobody, who are you?” and “I started early, took my dog.” Superb, yet always child-friendly,...

A curated collection of essential poems by American writer Emily Dickinson, now freshly repackaged for the Union Square & Co. Signature Editions line. This edition collects a wide selection of Dickinson's brief but memorable poems. Bursting with insights about life, love, nature, death, and immortality, these works are among the most beloved in American poetry.

A curated collection of essential poems by American writer Emily Dickinson, now freshly repackaged for the Union Square & Co. Signature Editions line. This edition collects a wide selection of Dickinson's brief but memorable poems. Bursting with insights about life, love, nature, death, and immortality, these works are among the most beloved in American poetry.

"I celebrate myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease...observing a spear of summer grass." So begins Leaves of Grass, the first great American poem and indeed, to this day, the greatest and most essentially American...

William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the incredible comedy about unrequited love, both hilarious and heartbreaking, now presented by the Folger Shakespeare Library with valuable new tools for educators and dynamic new covers. Named for the twelfth night after Christmas, the end of the Christmas season, Twelfth Night plays with love and power. The Countess Olivia, a woman with her own household,...

The authoritative edition of Titus Andronicus from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers. Titus Andronicus is the earliest tragedy and the earliest Roman play attributed to Shakespeare. Titus, a model Roman, has led twenty-one of his twenty-five sons to death in Rome’s wars; he stabs another son to death for...