New Thought Pastels

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 1850-1919Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 21K words
Chapters: 3

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 Thought Pastels by Ella Wheeler WilcoxAuthor: Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 1850-1919,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 1, 2002

Editor's review

New Thought Pastels is a poetry collection by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, centered on the positive mindset, spiritual power, and self-suggestion emphasized by the New Thought movement. Presented in short verse, the work is relatively clear in language and strong in rhythm, with a marked inspirational and spiritual-improvement flavor. Its value lies in turning abstract spiritual ideas into recitable verse, suitable for slow reading and repeated savoring in quiet moments, and convenient for excerpting inspiring lines as material for daily self-reflection. When reading, one should place it in the context of the late nineteenth-century American New Thought current and attend to how the poems convey belief through imagery and an exhortatory tone. Because the theme leans toward spiritual inspiration, readers expecting complex artistry or profound social critique may find it thin; but for those seeking gentle spiritual encouragement and fond of aphoristic verse, it offers light companionship in reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy inspirational short poems and texts on spiritual cultivation
Those who wish to use short verse for daily morning reading or self-reflection
Learners interested in the late nineteenth-century American New Thought movement
Readers who need gentle, encouraging words as material for emotional regulation

Not a good fit for

Poetry readers seeking complex artistry, dense metaphor, and multiplicity of meaning
Readers expecting depth in social critique or real-world issues
Readers who prefer long narrative or systematic theoretical exposition

Reading tips

Read one or two poems a day, with brief notes recording the lines that move you
Read aloud to feel how the rhythm of verse regulates mood and attention
Read alongside the basic tenets of the New Thought movement to understand the ideas behind the lines

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

What is meant by "New Thought"?

New Thought was a spiritual and mental movement that arose in the United States in the late nineteenth century, emphasizing the influence of positive thinking, spiritual power, and self-suggestion on life. This poetry collection expresses related ideas in verse; understanding this background while reading helps make better sense of the poems' exhortatory tone and thematic orientation.

Does this collection need to be read from beginning to end?

Not necessarily. It is better suited to casual browsing and reading by need. You can read one or two poems a day, or choose pieces according to your mood. Repeated recitation conveys its inspirational and introspective intent better than a single straight-through reading, and makes it easier to keep favorite lines as daily reminders.

Is the original English difficult to read?

The language is generally fairly clear and the sentences are not long, making it suitable for slow reading by readers with some English foundation. Still, the poems contain period vocabulary and abstract expressions; it is advisable to use a dictionary tool and first understand the basic concepts of the New Thought movement to reduce difficulties in comprehension.

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About the author

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 1850-1919 Author

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) was an American poet known for her lyric verse and short philosophical poems. The collection holds 23 of her works, spanning poetry, prose, and aphoristic essays, including Poems of Passion, Maurine and Other Poems, The Heart of the New Thought, Poems of Sentiment, Poems of Purpose, and The Kingdom of Love. Her poems often center on love, emotion, life's aims, and spiritual reflection; their plain, direct language and smooth rhythm carry an encouraging, inspirational tone that makes them easy for ordinary readers to remember and quote. Beyond poetry, she also wrote prose and maxim-like pieces, such as A Woman of the World: Her Counsel to Other People's Sons and Daughters and Hello, Boys!, addressing young readers on conduct and feeling from an experienced woman's perspective. Public information is limited, so biographical details are hard to set out; the surviving works show her attention to everyday emotion and moral counsel, in a gentle, approachable style that gave her some influence among popular poetry readers of her time.