The Raven Poem by Edgar Allan Poe
“The Raven” by American writer Edgar Allan Poe is a narrative poem that tells the story of a mysterious talking raven’s visit to the narrator, who is mourning the loss of his love, Lenore....
Category: Excellence in Literature: The Curriculum
Edgar Allan Poe Resources
Many writers in the American canon have written both poetry and prose; few, however, are equally known for both. Edgar Allan Poe was one such writer. Indeed, it is almost as difficult to find...
Dr. Mahfood Dante Videos Index
Dr. Sebastian Mahfood has kindly shared these Dante videos with us: he has made a short video reflection on each canto of Dante’s Inferno. We hope you find these helpful in your studies. If...
Cantos 32 to 34 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 32-34, which cover Circle 9 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional video explanations contain...
Cantos 18 to 31 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 18 – 31, which cover Circle 8 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional video...
Cantos 12 to 17 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 12 – 17, which cover Circle 7 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. (See the end of Canto 11 for the entrance into Circle 7.) Please be aware that this...
Cantos 4 to 11 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 4 – 11, which go through Circles 1-6 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional...
Cantos 1 to 3 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood shares his insights on the first three cantos (the Dark Wood and Gate of Hell) in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes....
Babette’s Feast & The Beatific Vision
Babette’s Feast & The Beatific Vision by Joshua Gibbs Feb. 9, 2014 Several months ago, Babette’s Feast received a Criterion release accompanied by a fat little book of essays about the film, as well...
Dante’s Inferno: The 1911 Silent Movie
Have you ever read Dante’s Divine Comedy? It is a three-part book-length Italian narrative poem that tells of Dante’s journey through the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, and it’s considered one of the greatest works...
A E Housman Poetry
Alfred Edward Housman (1859 – 1936), usually known as A. E. Housman, was an English classical scholar and poet. His cycle of poems, A Shropshire Lad evoke the dooms and disappointments of youth in the...
Dickinson and Copland: Poems and Music
Composer Aaron Copeland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson provides a creative musical approach to Emily Dickinson that may help you hear her poems anew. This composition by Aaron Copeland was performed for the recital “For...
Julius Caesar Video Resources
Shakespeare was, of course, a master of the written word. It’s precisely because of this, though, that people forget that much of his work was originally meant to be performed, not merely read. Sometimes...
Composers in Death Comes for the Archbishop
Among the composers mentioned in Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop are Giuseppe Verdi, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Stephen Foster. Here are a few works of theirs to enjoy; your library may have other...
Heart of Darkness Opera
Heart of Darkness Opera Composer Tarik O’Regan has written a chamber opera based on Joseph Conrad’s novella, Heart of Darkness. Here is a video interview in which the composer discusses the process of creating...
Music the Brontë Sisters May Have Known
Music in the Brontë Sisters’ World Music and musical appreciation were, in the time of the Brontë sisters, considered to be part of the general set of “feminine accomplishments”. As the daughters of an Anglican...
“A White Heron” Audio
Listen to “A White Heron” “A White Heron,” an 1886 short story by American author Sarah Orne Jewett, features Sylvia, a young girl who comes from a big city to live in the country...
“The Ransom of Red Chief” Dramatized
“The Ransom of Red Chief” Dramatized O. Henry is the pseudonym of American author William Sydney Porter, who is best known for his funny, warm, short stories with surprise endings. In the video below, Shep O’Neal...
The Purloined Letter Dramatized
Although suspenseful music accompanies this 1952 dramatization, “The Purloined Letter” by American author Edgar Allan Poe lacks the element of horror found in most of Poe’s other short stories. Instead, this is one of...
“The Diamond Necklace” Audio
“The Diamond Necklace” (La Parure) is a short story by French author Guy de Maupassant, considered a master of the form. A 19th-century Naturalist author, de Maupassant was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and...
Sonnet VII by John Milton
Sonnet VII: How soon hath Time, the Subtle Thief of Youth ON HIS BEING ARRIVED AT THE AGE OF 23. by John Milton How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stol’n on...
Edward Lear Resources
Edward Lear Resources John Cousin tells us that Edward Lear (1812-1888) was an “artist and miscellaneous author [who was born] in London and settled in Rome as a landscape painter. He was an indefatigable...
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear
One of the first poems I recite when trying to soothe a fussy infant is “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat,” a poem I memorized through endless readings when I was a child. Its rollicking...
Solitude An Ode by Alexander Pope
Solitude: An Ode by Alexander Pope I How happy he, who free from care The rage of courts, and noise of towns; Contented breaths his native air, In his own grounds. II...
Jonathan Swift Resources
Jonathan Swift Resources Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) wrote some of the most brilliant prose in the English language and is often regarded as its foremost satirist. While best known for his masterpiece Gulliver’s Travels and,...
Jonathan Swift Biography
This Swift biography paints a vivid portrait of the life and works of Jonathan Swift, an early British novelist. Introduction to Literature, Module 1.9.
George Bernard Shaw Resources
George Bernard Shaw Resources George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was a prolific writer who worked as an art, music, and theater critic. Irish-born and largely self-educated, he found his calling writing popular plays, including Pygmalion...
Mark Twain Biography (1911)
American author Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) is best known for his humorous stories, many taking place on or near the great Mississippi River.
Washington Irving Biography
Washington Irving Biography Irving’s family Boyhood European travels Rising fame Love and poverty Tragedy, memorialized Literature as a profession Home at Sunnyside Minister to Spain Personal appearance and character End of life Sources Other...
Lord Byron Biography
Overview of Byron’s life Parents and birth Raised by his mother First love Pigots and poetry Out on his own Criticism and triumph House of Lords Travels across Europe Return to England “Childe Harold”...
