Sea Poems

Rice, Cale Young, 1872-1943Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 101K words
Chapters: 11

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.Sea Poems by Cale Young RiceAuthor: Rice, Cale Young, 1872-1943,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Apr 4, 2010

Editor's review

This edition of Sea Poems is an English-language poetry collection on maritime themes by Cale Young Rice, released free of charge through Project Gutenberg as a public-domain work in American literature. Rice wrote in the American poetry scene of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and his sea poems typically use traditional meter and a lyrical tone to depict seascapes, voyages, and coastal life, with clear imagery and a strong sense of rhythm; the book works well as an introduction to English poetry. For Chinese-language readers it is best approached as an authentic sample of English verse: modest in length, it offers a sense of how American poets of that era handled natural themes, and can also serve as material for reading aloud and appreciation in English study. Suitable reading occasions include short sessions during commutes, before sleep, or while traveling, as well as literature classes using the public-domain text for translation practice and prosody analysis. Note that this is a free eBook without modern annotations or a detailed introductory guide, so readers should bring some English reading ability and general literary-historical knowledge.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers with basic English reading ability who want to try English poetry
English majors or translation enthusiasts using it for public-domain poetry translation practice
Literature lovers interested in American literature or maritime-themed poetry
Self-learners who need short passages to read aloud and practice English feel for the language

Not a good fit for

Readers with weak English who need a Chinese parallel text or detailed annotations
Poetry readers expecting a modern style or strongly experimental expression
Researchers hoping for a systematic history of maritime literature or scholarly interpretation

Reading tips

Read through once for rhythm first, then look up unfamiliar words poem by poem; don't expect to grasp every image in one pass.
Make small cards of sea-related image words to build a stock of common nature vocabulary in English poetry.
Try recording yourself reading aloud and compare with the original to feel the musicality of meter and rhyme.
Optionally translate two or three poems into Chinese, then check against the originals for lost tone or imagery.

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 book in Chinese or English?

The original is an English poetry collection released as an eBook by Project Gutenberg, with no Chinese translation included. Chinese readers need some English reading ability and may use a dictionary or translation tools.

Is it suitable for English beginners?

Not really for complete beginners. Poetic language is condensed and often uses ellipsis and inversion, which can frustrate beginners. It is better to start with graded readers or annotated selections of English poetry before returning to this original collection.

Do I need to read it in order from start to finish?

No. The poems are relatively independent, so you can skip around by interest or group them by themes such as sea imagery or voyage scenes; reading two or three at a time is easier to absorb.

Why is there no detailed introduction to the author?

This is a public-domain eBook, which usually provides only basic information such as the author's birth and death years, language, and classification, without a modern editor's introduction. Readers can consult American literary history sources for background.

Comments

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About the author

Rice, Cale Young, 1872-1943 Author

Cale Young Rice (1872–1943) was an American poet and playwright. Public information about him is limited, and the details of his life are difficult to set out, but the eleven works by him held in this collection show that he wrote steadily in both poetry and verse drama. Poems such as Sea Poems, Many Gods and Nirvana Days take the sea, faith and Eastern philosophical reflection as their themes, with concise language and a lyrical, meditative quality; plays such as David: A Tragedy, Yolanda of Cyprus, Porzia and The Immortal Lure draw mainly on historical or legendary stories, using verse dialogue to develop their characters' emotions and conflicts of fate. His writing combines romantic imagination with a search for the meaning of life, and his works hold a place in early twentieth-century American letters, remaining of interest to readers studying the poetry and verse drama of that period.