Relatively unknown in his own lifetime, Gerard Manley Hopkins is the now accredited as the author of some of the finest and most complex poems in the English language. As a Victorian poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, Hopkins pioneered a revolutionary form of meter he termed "sprung rhythm" in his first major work, "The Wreck of the Deutschland." This poem, like most of Hopkins' work, reflects both his belief in the doctrine that human...

Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats is considered one of the most important figures in the second generation of English Romantic poets. Born on Halloween in 1795, John Keats lived a very short life, dying at the age of twenty-five from tuberculosis. In 1814 John Keats began an apprenticeship with Thomas Hammond, a surgeon and apothecary and by 1816 had achieved his apothecary's license, which allowed him to practice medicine....

Robert Browning was a deeply religious man who wrestled to obtain and keep his Christian faith. His conviction was that life in this world is so riddled with evil and sorrow that only a future life can make sense out of it. He viewed life as a training ground which God provided in His divine love and sovereign will. Given Browning's intensely romantic love affair with Elizabeth Barrett, it is characteristic that he should view love as life's animating...

"A new biography of John Keats that uncovers the reality of his imagination within the context of his time"--

In this series, a contemporary poet selects and introduces a poet of the past whom they particularly admire. By their selection of verses and critical reactions they express in their prefaces, the selectors offer intriguing insights into their own work.

A collection of poems by important women as well as some biographical information on each.

"The Irish poet and playwright's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, appears in this splendid showcase of philosophy and wit. Additional selections include Wilde's ever-popular comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest; his essay on aestheticism, "The Decay of Lying: an Observation"; his prison letter, "De Profundis"; and other works of poetry and prose"--