England's Antiphon

MacDonald, George, 1824-1905Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.9

Word count: 459K words
Chapters: 46

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.England's Antiphon by George MacDonaldAuthor: MacDonald, George, 1824-1905,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 1, 2003

Editor's review

England's Antiphon is George MacDonald's systematic survey of the English devotional poetry tradition, combining a literary-historical perspective with his personal poetic sensibilities. In an essayistic style, the author links devotional poets and poems from the early period to modern times, sketching the overall thread while freely adding his own appraisals and digressions; it reads less like a rigid textbook than like a learned elder wandering with the reader along the lines of verse. Its value lies in helping readers build an overall impression of English devotional poetry and, through MacDonald's interpretations, discover certain overlooked poems. It suits being used as an entry point for thematic reading: first read the chapters that interest you, then follow the poets mentioned in the book to look up their original works. Note that the discussions carry distinct personal positions and marks of their era; readers should read with a discriminating eye rather than taking them as definitive conclusions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in English literary history and the devotional poetry tradition
Researchers who hope to understand English devotional poetry from a poet's perspective
Literature enthusiasts who want to expand their reading leads through essayistic criticism
Readers with good English proficiency willing to read the English originals

Not a good fit for

Beginners expecting a systematic textbook-style literary-historical framework
Readers who need a Chinese translation and are unwilling to read the English original
Pure fiction readers with no interest in religious topics

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and introductory chapters first to establish the book's thematic scope, then choose chapters to explore in depth.
When encountering quoted poems, read them alongside the originals to build up familiarity with the poetic texts.
Prepare a chronology of poets and use it to locate the literary-historical stage of each chapter as you read.
After reading, revisit MacDonald's judgments and distinguish factual statements from personal opinions.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a poetry anthology or a critical work?

From the available information, this is MacDonald's discursive work on English devotional poetry. It quotes and discusses poems, but the main body consists of the author's evaluations and survey rather than a pure poetry anthology. Readers should treat it as criticism with quoted poems.

Can I read it without background knowledge of religion?

You can, but the discussion centers on devotional poetry and involves many religious concepts and allusions. Without background, it is advisable to first learn the basic outline of English devotional poetry, or look up relevant figures and terms as you read, for smoother reading.

What should I pay attention to when reading the electronic edition?

This is a public-domain e-book; layout and notes depend on the source text, and display may vary across devices. Use a reader that supports table-of-contents navigation, and prepare your own note-taking tool to record the poets and poems mentioned for later reference.

Comments

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About the author

MacDonald, George, 1824-1905 Author

George MacDonald (1824–1905) was a Scottish author known for his fairy tales, fantasy novels and religious sermons. This library holds 68 of his works, including The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, At the Back of the North Wind, Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women, Sir Gibbie and the three series of Unspoken Sermons. His fairy tales often centre on children, weaving adventure with questions of morality and faith in plain, imaginative prose, while his fantasy works are regarded as forerunners of modern fantasy literature and have influenced later writers of the genre. Public information is limited, so no biographical details are speculated here; his works alone show him to be skilled in both storytelling and spiritual reflection, writing for children and adults alike.