Lilith

Collier, Ada Langworthy, 1843-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 120K words
Chapters: 12

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.Lilith by Ada Langworthy CollierAuthor: Collier, Ada Langworthy, 1843-,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 23, 2008

Editor's review

This is a long narrative poem by the nineteenth-century American woman writer Ada Langworthy Collier, built around Lilith as she appears in the Bible and in myth. As a public-domain ebook, it preserves the meter and diction of Victorian poetry, making it both a literary-historical document and an early attempt to reinterpret a female figure. Of moderate length and careful in its language, the poem rewards slow reading in a quiet setting, offering a sense of how nineteenth-century American poetry handled myth, gender, and fall. The book has no modern annotations, so first-time readers need some experience with English poetry and a willingness to look up allusions. For those interested in women's writing traditions, mythological retellings, or marginal texts in American literary history, it offers an interesting point of reference.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century American poetry and women's writing traditions
Scholars or enthusiasts studying the evolution of the Lilith figure in English literature
Readers with strong English proficiency willing to read verse slowly and look up allusions
Those needing a public-domain English text for translation or textual-analysis practice

Not a good fit for

Beginners hoping for modern annotations or an introduction
Readers who prefer fast-paced plot-driven narrative and are unaccustomed to poetry
Those whose English reading is not yet proficient enough to handle nineteenth-century diction

Reading tips

First learn the basic image of Lilith in myth and biblical commentary, then enter the text
Pause after each section to confirm rhyme and sense rather than reading only for speed
Read alongside brief background material on nineteenth-century American women's poetry

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 novel or poetry?

It is a long narrative poem by Ada Langworthy Collier, not a prose novel. The entire poem is written in verse and revolves around the mythological figure of Lilith; readers need to approach the text according to poetry's rhythm and line breaks.

Can I understand it without annotations?

Readers with a good command of English and familiarity with basic biblical and classical mythological allusions can read it independently, but some diction and references require looking up. For deeper understanding, reading alongside a mythological dictionary or related background material is recommended.

What are the features of this edition?

This is a public-domain English ebook released by Project Gutenberg, preserving the original poem's text without a modern introduction or detailed annotations. Its advantages are that it is free and easy to search and cite; its shortcoming is that readers must supply background knowledge themselves.

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About the author

Collier, Ada Langworthy, 1843- Author · American · 1843

Ada Langworthy Collier (1843– ) was an American writer and poet. Public information about her life is limited, and later readers and scholars have come to know her mainly through the works she left behind. Her representative works include the narrative poem Lilith and the novel Rough Diamonds. Both center on human fate and moral choice: the narrative poem emphasizes rhythm and the unfolding of imagery, while the novel leans toward plot development and character portrayal. Collier was skilled at using fantastical or allegorical frameworks to explore themes such as human nature, temptation, and redemption, and her style combines lyricism with storytelling. Her works hold a place in the tradition of nineteenth-century American women's writing and continue to draw the attention of scholars studying the literature and gender issues of that period. One of her works, Lilith, is included in this collection.