The World's Greatest Books — Volume 17 — Poetry and Drama

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 569K words
Chapters: 57

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. The World's Greatest Books — Volume 17 — Poetry and Drama by Hammerton and Mee. Author: , Language: English, Class: PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections, Release Date: Jan 10, 2014

Editor's review

This volume, the seventeenth in The World's Greatest Books series, focuses on poetry and drama and was co-edited by Hammerton and Mee as a public-domain anthology of selected readings. Its value lies in presenting, within a single volume, classic excerpts from Western poetry and drama, allowing readers to encounter representative texts from many periods and styles in limited time; it serves both as an anthology and as a guide. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to search, copy, and carry, making it a map-like introduction to literature. It is best read as an index rather than a complete collection: when a writer or work catches your interest, seek out a full translation or the original to go deeper. Because it was compiled long ago, its selections and commentary reflect the literary tastes of their time; readers may approach it with a comparative and critical eye and observe how the canon took shape. It suits casual browsing in fragmented time—on the commute or before sleep—and can also serve as a source of supplementary material for classroom teaching.

Who it's for

A good fit for

literary beginners who want a quick outline of Western poetry and drama classics
teachers who need public-domain texts for teaching or lesson preparation
readers who like to browse excerpts in fragmented time and then trace works back to their sources
researchers interested in classic anthologies and shifts in literary taste

Not a good fit for

deep readers seeking the complete works of a single author
readers who need modern Chinese translations or detailed annotations
readers in pursuit of contemporary new works and the latest literary trends

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents, mark writers and pieces that interest you, then read in groups by theme or period.
After each piece, note your impressions in a sentence or two for later review and comparison.
When you find a work you love, read it alongside a complete translation or the original rather than stopping at the excerpt.
Read alongside a literary-history timeline to observe the anthology's choices and preferences across periods.

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

Does this book contain full texts or excerpts?

Judging by the title and the anthology's nature, it is closer to a selected reader, containing representative excerpts from poetry and drama rather than complete works. For specific contents, refer to the original table of contents; treat it as an entry point and seek full versions of works you enjoy.

Can readers with average English read it?

The original is a public-domain English text whose language carries the literary style of its era, posing some difficulty for non-native readers. Start with short poems and dialogue-heavy drama excerpts, using a dictionary and a translation for comparison, and build up to longer works.

Why does the anthology's content seem rather old?

The book was compiled long ago, and its selections reflect the literary tastes and view of the classics of that time. This is itself a reading value: readers can use it to observe how "classics" are selected and transmitted, and compare it with today's anthologies to form their own judgment.

Is it suitable for reading straight through?

There is no need to read it cover to cover. As a compiled anthology, it is better suited to browsing by interest or reading in thematic groups. Reading straight through can be tiring; browsing with backtracking is more likely to build an overall picture of poetry and drama.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.