Frontier Ballads

Hanson, Joseph Mills, 1876-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 91K words
Chapters: 10

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.Frontier Ballads by Joseph Mills HansonAuthor: Hanson, Joseph Mills, 1876-,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Mar 28, 2014

Editor's review

Frontier Ballads is a poetry collection by Joseph Mills Hanson, in the public-domain e-book category of American and Canadian literature. The “frontier” in the title points to frontier themes; ballads of this kind are often narrative and colloquial in rhythm, telling of frontier characters and scenes in short pieces suitable for recitation and fragmentary reading. As a free Project Gutenberg text, its value lies more in literary-historical documentation and reading experience: readers can get a sense of how early twentieth-century American poetry wrote about frontier life, and it can also serve as material for introductory English poetry or recitation practice. One caveat: this is an e-text, not an edition with illustrations or commentary, and the diction and syntax of ballads carry period features that may take first-time readers some getting used to. A suggested approach is to read through the table of contents first, sample pieces with appealing titles, and then decide whether to read the whole book; reading aloud conveys the ballad rhythm better than silent reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers interested in American frontier poetry
Learners who need English recitation material or an introduction to poetry
Readers studying American and Canadian literature, especially popular poetry
People who like short poems and read in fragments on electronic devices

Not a good fit for

Researchers expecting in-depth literary criticism or detailed background notes
Readers who prefer contemporary poetry and are not interested in early ballad forms
Readers who need an illustrated edition or a hardcover collector’s copy

Reading tips

First browse the table of contents, sample pieces by title, and then decide the order for reading the whole book.
Try reading aloud, paying attention to the rhythm and rhyme of each line, to appreciate the ballad form.
Jot down recurring frontier images while reading to grasp the themes as a whole.
Readers unfamiliar with the background may first learn the basic outline of American frontier history.

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

Are the poems in this book difficult to read?

The poems are in ballad form, with relatively short lines and strong narrative content; on the whole they are not obscure, but the diction and syntax carry early twentieth-century features that may take first-time readers some getting used to. It is advisable to sample short pieces first and then gradually expand.

Do I need to know American frontier history first?

Systematic prior study is not necessary, but a basic background in American frontier history will help in understanding the scenes and characters in the poems. If you are only appreciating the rhythm and narrative of the poems, you can read directly and look things up when you encounter unfamiliar background.

Is it suitable for practicing English recitation?

Fairly suitable. Ballads emphasize rhythm and rhyme, and the pieces are usually short, making them good material for recitation practice. It is advisable to read silently first to confirm word meanings, then read aloud, paying attention to stress and pauses for better results.

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About the author

Hanson, Joseph Mills, 1876- Author · American · 1876

Joseph Mills Hanson (born 1876) was an American writer of military history, known for his works on World War I and the history of the American frontier. Two of his books are currently held in this collection: Frontier Ballads and With Sully into the Sioux Land. The former presents frontier life in ballad form, while the latter centers on military operations during the Sioux Wars, showing that his writing combines historical narrative with popular presentation. Because public information is limited, details of his life, education, and career are difficult to establish, and the available information comes mainly from his works and bibliographic records. His subjects show a sustained interest in American military and western frontier history, and his books offer accessible texts of reference value for related studies.