New Collected Rhymes

Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 53K words
Chapters: 6

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.New Collected Rhymes by Andrew LangAuthor: Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: May 1, 1999

Editor's review

Andrew Lang's New Collected Rhymes is a slim late-19th-century collection in which a British man of letters retells folk tales and legends in verse—light in wording, brisk in rhythm, and carrying the wit and refinement peculiar to the late Victorian era. As a free electronic text from Project Gutenberg, its value lies chiefly in giving readers low-cost access to how Lang, a broadly learned literary figure, turned folklore material into short poems that can be read aloud: subjects are often drawn from fairy tales, ballads and classical anecdotes, and the tone falls between jest and lyric. It is not a systematic poetics treatise and does not aim for profound intellectual weight; it suits casual reading or as an introduction to English poetry. Read it as a little book to flip through a few pages at a time—one or two poems on the commute or before bed—to feel the cadence of old-style English verse; those interested in verse retellings of folk tales may also compare it with Lang's work as an editor of fairy tales.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English verse and light poetry and want to read in spare moments
Readers interested in verse retellings of folk tales, fairy tales and ballads
Learners who want to practice reading poetry aloud and develop a feel for the language with low-cost English originals
General readers curious about the literary tastes of the late Victorian era

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic poetics theory or literary history textbooks
Readers expecting serious, profound themes and strong engagement with real life
Beginners with limited English reading ability who need Chinese annotations and guided introductions

Reading tips

Read two or three poems at a time in the original order, aloud, to appreciate the rhymes and rhythm
Skip unfamiliar allusions at first and look up the background after finishing a group
Read alongside Lang's fairy-tale collections to observe two ways of treating the same material
Use the e-reader's annotation function to mark favorite lines for later rereading

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 a poetry collection or a story collection?

It is a collection of short works written in verse, mostly drawing on folk tales, ballads and classical anecdotes, so it can be read either as poetry or as verse retellings of stories. Individual pieces are usually short, suited to fragmented reading.

Can I understand it without a poetry background?

Yes, but a certain level of English reading ability is needed. The rhymes and sentence patterns are fairly traditional, and some allusions require lookup. Start with short, humorous pieces; don't insist on understanding every word—first feel the tone and rhythm, then gradually fill in background knowledge.

What are the features of this electronic edition?

This edition comes from Project Gutenberg and is a free public-domain electronic text in English, classified under English literature. It is easy to search and annotate on electronic devices, but it has no modern editorial notes or Chinese introduction, so readers must supplement background material themselves.

Is it suitable for learning English?

It suits use as supplementary material rather than a main textbook. Its verse rhythm helps develop a feel for the language, but the vocabulary and allusions are rather old, and the grammar does not fully match modern spoken usage. Use it alongside modern English reading materials, focusing on reading aloud and perceiving rhythm.

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About the author

Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912 Author

Andrew Lang (1844–1912) was a British writer, poet and folklorist best known for compiling collections of fairy tales and myths. The library holds 77 of his works, including The Blue Fairy Book, The Red Fairy Book, The Yellow Fairy Book, The Violet Fairy Book and The Brown Fairy Book, as well as Tales of Troy and Greece and The Homeric Hymns. He gathered, edited and retold folk tales from Europe and around the world, naming the volumes by colour; his clear, fluent prose served both children and folklore scholarship. These collections preserved a wealth of oral material and shaped the modern English-speaking world's image of fairy tales, leaving a lasting influence on fairy-tale publishing and comparative story research. Public information on his life is limited, so this note focuses on his editorial and literary contributions.