Category: E3-Resources

The Aged Pilot Man by Mark Twain

THE AGED PILOT MAN by Mark Twain EIL Editor’s note: Being serious for once, Twain penned The Aged Pilot Man as an ode to the steamboat captains with whom he lived and worked. Taking place...

Mark Twain, American Humorist

A Sweltering Day in Australia by Mark Twain

A SWELTERING DAY IN AUSTRALIA by Mark Twain EIL Editor’s note: A whimsical exploration of Australian geography and nomenclature, Twain’s A Sweltering Day in Australia is poking fun at both linguistic differences and at...

Mark Twain; from a glass negative

Mark Twain Images

With his luxuriant mustache and insouciant air, Mark Twain looked just like what he was—a satirically humorous creative author. These images, mostly from the Library of Congress, offer a glimpse of Twain and his...

In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound

In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound (1885 – 1972) The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough. That’s it. “In a Station of the Metro”...

Chicago by Carl Sandburg

Chicago by Carl Sandburg

CHICAGO by Carl Sandburg First published in Poetry magazine, 1914.                   CHICAGO HOG Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and...

Sugar by Gertrude Stein

SUGAR A poem by Gertrude Stein SUGAR. A violent luck and a whole sample and even then quiet. Water is squeezing, water is almost squeezing on lard. Water, water is a mountain and it...

Edgar Lee Masters, as photographed in 1915.

Spoon River Anthology Excerpts

Meet the villagers of Spoon River in The Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, a collection of intertwined autobiographical epitaphs in poetry.

Memoir as post-modern biography

Seth Compton by Edgar Lee Masters

Seth Compton by Edgar Lee Masters from Spoon River Anthology (New York: Macmillan Co, 1916) WHEN I died, the circulating library Which I built up for Spoon River, And managed for the good of...

Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt, American Poet

Poetry by Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt

Poet Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt (1836–1919) is not as well known as Emily Dickinson, but her verses show some of the same power and originality. Here is an index to the Sarah Morgan Bryan...

Versailles is a classic example of the royal wealth and excess that the French revolutionaries despised.

The Palace Burner by Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt

The Palace-Burner (A Picture in a Newspaper.) by Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt To understand this poem better, you may find it helpful to read the notes from Representative Poetry Online. 1 She has been...

Prose by Mark Twain

Prose by Mark Twain

Here is an index to the pages for the Mark Twain prose writings referenced in Excellence in Literature’s American Literature (EIL3). [Mark Twain poetry is here.] Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses Mark Twain’s Autobiography  A...

A Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman

A Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman

 A Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman A noiseless patient spider, I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated, Mark’d how to explore the vacant, vast surrounding, It launched forth filament, filament,...

I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman

I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman

I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his...

Hushed be the Camps Today by Walt Whitman

Hushed be the Camps Today by Walt Whitman

Hush’d Be the Camps To-Day by Walt Whitman (May 4, 1865) Hush’d be the camps to-day, And soldiers let us drape our war-worn weapons, And each with musing soul retire to celebrate, Our dear...

O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman

O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman

O Captain! my Captain! (For the death of Lincoln.) by Walt Whitman O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done! The ship has weathered every wrack, the prize we sought is won. The...

Poetry by Mark Twain

Poetry by Mark Twain

Mark Twain Poetry Although Mark Twain was best known for being a satirist and a humorously creative author, he also wrote a few poems. We have referenced these six in our curriculum, including in...

Poetry by Walt Whitman

Poetry by Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman Poetry Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works....

Hope by Emily Dickinson

Hope by Emily Dickinson

Hope Emily Dickinson Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune–without the words, And never stops at all,   And sweetest in the gale is heard; And...

Poetry by Emily Dickinson

Poems by Emily Dickinson Here is an index to the pages for the Emily Dickinson poems referenced in American Literature (EIL3), plus a few additional favorites. “The Soul selects her own Society” “There is...