William Cullen Bryant Biography
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT (1794-1878), American poet and journalist, was born at Cummington, a farming village in the Hampshire hills of western Massachusetts, on the 3rd of November 1794. He was the second son of...
Category: English 3: American Literature
John Greenleaf Whittier Biography
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), America’s “Quaker poet” of freedom, faith and the sentiment of the common people, was born in a Merrimack Valley farmhouse, Haverhill, Massachusetts, on the 17th of December 1807. Family Ancestry &...
Marianne Moore Poetry
Marianne Moore (1887 – 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. She won several awards for her poetry in her lifetime, and her poems are frequently anthologized. Poetry (1919) by Marianne...
The Romantic Period, 1820-1860: Essayists and Poets
Outline of American Literature: Chapter 4 The Romantic Period, 1820-1860: Essayists and Poets By Kathryn VanSpanckeren TRANSCENDENTALISM Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Walt Whitman (1819-1892) THE BRAHMIN POETS Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)...
To S. M. — A Young African Painter, a poem by Phillis Wheatley
To S. M. A Young African Painter, On Seeing His Works by Phillis Wheatley TO show the lab’ring bosom’s deep intent, And thought in living characters to paint, When first thy pencil did those...
Henry James Biography
American author Henry James, a transitional figure between literary realism and modernism, is often numbered among the great English-language novelists.
How to Make a Daguerreotype
The daguerreotype, an early photographic process, was invented by French artist and photographer Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. Introduced in 1830, it was the first publicly available photographic process but was superseded by less complicated processes in...
Washington Irving: A Biography
American writer Washington Irving, best known for “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” was an essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat.
Washington Irving Timeline
Washington Irving’s place in history This timeline documents major events and influences on Washington Irving’s life and work. It begins by outlining the events and publications in Irving’s life, then looks at American literature, visual...
![Major Andres Tree by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) (from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) (New York Public Library Digital Collections) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/www.excellence-in-literature.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Major_Andres_Tree_Rackham-sm-1.jpg?resize=256%2C245&ssl=1)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow A short story by Washington Irving Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is the story of the ill-fated 1790 courtship of Katrina Van Tassel, daughter of a wealthy...
Common Sense by Thomas Paine
COMMON SENSE addressed to the INHABITANTS of AMERICA, On the following interesting SUBJECTS —Of the Origin and Design of Government in general, with concise Remarks on the English Constitution. —Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession...
Robert Frost Resources
Robert Frost Resources Robert Lee Frost (1874 – 1963) was a highly-regarded American poet known for realistic depictions of New England rural life as well as his use of American colloquial speech. His work used homespun...
F. Scott Fitzgerald Resources
F. Scott Fitzgerald Resources Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896-1940) led a life as colorful as one of his Jazz Age novels. Although he wrote only four complete novels and short stories, he is widely...
Fitzgerald Audio Recordings
F. Scott Fitzgerald Audio Recordings Listen to these 1940s recordings of F. Scott Fitzgerald reading and reciting famous literature — he has a magnificent, magical voice that seems to give insight into his works...
Fitzgerald Collection at USC
The F. Scott Fitzgerald Collection at the University of South Carolina A fascinating F. Scott Fitzgerald Collection of documents has been made available online. According to the library’s description, “This F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary website was launched...
The Courtship of Miles Standish by Longfellow
The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow This narrative poem written in 1858 by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow tells a charming tale of a courtship during the early days of Plymouth...
Part 9: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 9 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow IX. THE WEDDING-DAY Forth from the curtain of clouds, from the tent of purple and scarlet, Issued the sun, the great High-Priest,[54] in his...
Part 8: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 8 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow VIII. THE SPINNING WHEEL Month after month passed away, and in, autumn the ships of the merchants 825 Game with kindred and friends, with...
Part 7: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 7 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow VII. THE MARCH OF MILES STANDISH.[44] Meanwhile the stalwart Miles Standish was marching steadily northward, 725 Winding through forest and swamp, and...
James Fenimore Cooper Resources
James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) Cooper is considered the first fully American novelist – someone who achieved literary success writing about American issues, characters, and settings. He was influenced in his writing by the adventure novels...
Nathaniel Hawthorne Biography
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was an American author, best known for The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. Hawthorne resources for EIL 3.4.
Part 6: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 6 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow VI. PRISCILLA Thus for a while he stood, and mused by the shore of the ocean, Thinking of many things, and most of all...
Part 5: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 5 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow V. THE SAILING OF THE MAYFLOWER Just in the gray of the dawn, as the mists uprose from the meadows, There was a stir...
Part 4: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 4 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow IV. JOHN ALDEN. Into the open air John Alden, perplexed and bewildered, Rushed like a man insane, and wandered alone by the sea-side, 340...
Part 3: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 3 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow III. THE LOVER’S ERRAND. So the strong will prevailed, and Alden went on his errand, 185 Out of the street of the village, and...
Part 2: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 2 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow II. LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP Nothing was heard in the room but the hurrying pen of the stripling, Or an occasional sigh from the laboring...
Part 1: The Courtship of Miles Standish
The Courtship of Miles Standish—Part 1 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I. MILES STANDISH [1] In the Old Colony days, in Plymouth the land of the Pilgrims,[2] To and fro in a room of his...
Whistles: A Letter from Benjamin Franklin
This letter from Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) to a friend, Madame Brillon, offers a glimpse of his clear, direct writing style, and demonstrates an apt use of metaphor. Passy, November 10, 1779 I received my dear friend’s two...
Mark Twain Resources Index
Resources for Mark Twain (1835-1910) Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 – 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. His best-known novels include The Adventures...
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....
