Thomas A. Copeland
John Donne's Satires
Donne’s StyleIn John Donne’s day, a satire was such a poem as a satyr might compose. Satyrs were rough, savage creatures in Greek mythology…
The Age of Reason (version 3)
In these volumes, Paine demonstrates the anonymity of the books contained in both the Old and the New Testaments, the only certainties being…
Songs of Innocence and Experience (version 3)
The short, simple lines of these delicate poems resemble song lyrics, emphasizing the concrete but hinting at transcendent realities, althou…
Monsieur Beaucaire
A madcap Frenchman posing as an ambassador's barber blackmails a dishonest duke to introduce him as a nobleman to a wealthy belle of Bath. S…
Back to Methuselah
In this late work, Shaw examines many contemporary issues under the broad rubric of evolution and then illustrates his opinions in five brie…
Balder Dead (version 2)
The poem begins with the beloved god Balder, thought to be invulnerable, dead at the hands of the inoffensive blind god Hoder, in a game. L…
Of Education
A well educated population is the cornerstone of a strong society. On the personal level, education contributes to virtue and self-knowledge…
Black Amazon of Mars (Version 3)
In his final adventure on Mars, Eric John Stark acquires a relic of an ancient Martian hero, a gem or lens which is believed to be the key t…
Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania
The protagonist in Joseph and His Friend: A Story of Pennsylvania, by Bayard Taylor, is an intelligent and educated young farmer who has led…
Sohrab and Rustum: An Episode
A young soldier born among Tartars but sired by the mighty Persian lord Rustum, serves in the Tartar army, seeking his great father. To this…
The Shadow Flies
The title of the original, British release of this novel was They Were Defeated, referring, among other matters, to the English Civil War, 1…
Milton's Minor Poems
“On Shakespear 1630” typifies much of Milton’s poetry. By some miracle never yet explained, at age 24 he managed to get a 16-line encomium i…
A Selection from the Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick
Robert Herrick had been apprenticed to a goldsmith before entering holy orders. This early training has been credited with influencing his m…
Rosalynde or, Euphues' Golden Legacie
This novel, which Shakespeare adapted in his pastoral comedy As You Like It, is the archetypal pastoral adventure. Two young persons of high…
The Tables of the Law and The Adoration of the Magi
The first two tales involve the persona's relationship with a certain Aherne, who has come into possession of a beautiful book by Joachim of…
Amoretti and Epithalamion
"These Sonnets furnish us with a circumstantial and very interesting history of Spenser's second courtship, which, after many repulses,…
Sonnets
It has been observed that within the narrow confines of a sonnet the mind can turn around but cannot take flight. Some of Millay’s sonnets, …
The "Old" Arcadia
Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the bat…
The Anniversary Poems
Elizabeth Drury, daughter of Donne's patron, Sir Robert Drury, died in 1610. A year later Donne laments her hyperbolically as the soul of th…
Venus and Adonis (Version 2)
Both Ovid and Spenser also treat this ancient myth, but Spenser alters the ending, converting the tale into an archetype of fulfilled love, …