Rose Leaf and Apple Leaf

James Rennell RoddProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 64K words
Chapters: 7

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.Rose Leaf and Apple Leaf by Rennell RoddAuthor: Rodd, Rennell, 1858-1941,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 18, 2011

Editor's review

Rose Leaf and Apple Leaf is a poetry collection by the British diplomat and poet Rennell Rodd, reissued by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain eBook. Rodd's work follows the late Victorian lyric tradition, with subjects drawn largely from natural imagery, travels, and emotional reflection, and a language attentive to rhythm and visual effect. The book is short and makes a light introduction to English poetry at the end of the nineteenth century; it is also well suited to poetry lovers for reading aloud and imitation exercises. The electronic edition makes it easy to dip in and out by poem—there is no need to read straight through; open to any page and begin. One note: this is the original English edition, its meter and diction bear the marks of their time, and some allusions and place names require notes or reference works. Overall, this is a small collection to read slowly and savor, not a book to read for plot momentum.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English poetry and want to know the late Victorian lyric tradition
English majors who need poetic texts for reading aloud and metrical analysis
Advanced learners with a foundation in English reading who want to build a feel for the language through short pieces
Literature lovers interested in poetry of natural imagery and travel

Not a good fit for

Readers who want a Chinese translation or a bilingual edition
Readers who prefer novels and have little patience for poetic form
Beginners with a limited English vocabulary who find poetic metaphor hard to follow

Reading tips

There is no need to read in order—start with poems whose titles or opening lines draw you in
Read aloud to feel the rhythm and rhyme, then go back over the meaning of the words
After each poem, note its central images and your own response in one or two sentences
Mark allusions and place names first, look them up together, then reread that poem

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 there a Chinese translation of this poetry collection?

Project Gutenberg offers the original English eBook, with no Chinese translation. If you want a Chinese text alongside it, you can find a reliable translation to read together, but note that translations differ from the original.

How difficult is the poetry—is it suitable for English learners?

Poetry is condensed in diction and careful in meter, making it harder than ordinary prose. Learners at university English reading level can try it, starting with shorter poems and working through with a dictionary and notes.

Do I need to know the author's life to understand it?

Not necessarily. Most poems can be understood on their own, as their themes of nature and emotion are fairly universal. For a deeper reading, you can look up the author's era and diplomatic career afterward to help with some of the travel poems.

Comments

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About the author

James Rennell Rodd Author · British · 1858–1941

James Rennell Rodd (1858–1941) was a British diplomat, poet and politician, born in London in 1858 and died in 1941. He graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, and was a close associate of Oscar Wilde, who wrote a preface to his poetry collection Rose Leaf and Apple Leaf. From 1908 to 1919 he served as British Ambassador to Italy, and he later sat as a Member of Parliament. Alongside his public career, Rodd wrote poetry over many years; three of his works are held here, namely Love, Worship and Death: Some Renderings from the Greek Anthology, Rose Leaf and Apple Leaf and Poems in Many Lands. His verse draws on classical Greek poetry and on travels abroad, combining lyric and translated pieces, and reflects the intertwining of his diplomatic career and literary interests.