Poems

Elizabeth Drew Barstow StoddardProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 80K words
Chapters: 8

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.Poems by Elizabeth StoddardAuthor: Stoddard, Elizabeth, 1823-1902,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 1, 2004

Editor's review

Elizabeth Stoddard was a nineteenth-century American poet, and this collection gathers her poems as a public-domain work of American literature. Her verse draws largely on daily life, family relationships, and inner feeling; the language is spare and the rhythm restrained, and her lyricism often carries cool observation and a faint irony that sets it apart from the dominant sentimental poetry of her day. For readers studying American women's writing and nineteenth-century poetry, the collection offers primary texts for close reading; for general readers it works best as a book of short poems taken a few at a time, to savor the restraint of her tone and imagery. Note that the diction and syntax differ from contemporary English, so early reading is best accompanied by notes or an introduction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of American literature who need primary texts by nineteenth-century women poets
Poetry lovers willing to read short poems slowly and appreciate restrained lyricism
Scholars of American women's writing and domestic poetry
Writers who wish to practice close reading and imitation with English short poems

Not a good fit for

Beginners new to English poetry who need detailed notes and translations
Readers who prefer strongly narrative, plot-driven long works
Readers seeking quick access to the poet's biography and background

Reading tips

Read by theme—family, nature, inner monologue—and compare how different poems handle them.
Read each poem twice: first straight through for tone, then mark rhyme, line breaks, and key words.
Keep a notebook of recurring images and diction to observe her poetic habits.
Read alongside other American women poets of the period, noting differences in style and subject.

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 collection suitable for beginners to English poetry?

Not for complete beginners. The diction and syntax carry nineteenth-century features, and public-domain electronic texts usually lack detailed notes. Start with annotated anthologies of English and American poetry, and return to this collection for close reading once you have some experience with poetry.

What subjects does the collection mainly treat?

Judging by the general character of the author's work, her poems mostly concern daily life, family relationships, and personal inner feeling, with cool observation within the lyricism. Specific poems and themes depend on the actual text; readers may skim the contents and choose by interest rather than reading straight through.

Any advice for reading the public-domain electronic edition?

The electronic layout is plain, and line breaks may shift with screen width. Use a reader that locks formatting or narrows the page width to preserve the original lines; turn on dictionary lookup and note unfamiliar words promptly, so that disrupted line breaks do not distort your sense of the rhythm.

Comments

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About the author

Elizabeth Drew Barstow Stoddard Author · American · 1823–1902

Elizabeth Drew Barstow Stoddard (1823–1902) was an American poet and novelist born in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. She wrote the novel The Morgesons (1862), set in New England, which explores women's pursuit of autonomy and passion. Her other works include Two Men and Temple House, and her poems were collected in 1895 as Poems. Her writing often draws on New England local life and focuses on women's inner worlds and emotional predicaments, with careful detail and a style marked by realism and psychological portraiture. Three of her works are held in this collection: The Morgesons, Lemorne Versus Huell, and Poems. Public information is limited, making a full account of her life and work difficult, yet these works already show her distinctive place in nineteenth-century American women's writing.