Those Annual Bills by Mark Twain
THOSE ANNUAL BILLS BY MARK TWAIN EIL Editor’s note: Never one to shy away from social commentary or criticism, Twain’s Those Annual Bills is a semi-comical lament of the financial necessities of existence which is...
Tagged: poem
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...
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...
On Mr. Milton’s Paradise Lost by Andrew Marvell
Marvell on Milton Andrew Marvell composed this poem in honor of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and it became a poetic preface to the 1674 edition of the poem. On Mr. Milton’s Paradise Lost by...
Lord Byron Poetry
George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) was a Romantic writer who lead a dramatic life filled with passion, poetry, praise, and pitfalls. He traveled widely, wrote with intense emotion, and became famous after the publication...
Darkness by George Gordon Lord Byron
Darkness (1816) by George Gordon Lord Byron The year [1816] that the poem was written was known as the Year Without a Summer– this is because Mount Tambora had erupted in the Dutch East...
She Walks in Beauty by George Gordon, Lord Byron
She Walks in Beauty by George Gordon, Lord Byron I She walks in beauty—like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies, And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect...
Prometheus by George Gordon Lord Byron
Prometheus by George Gordon, Lord Byron Titan! to whose immortal eyes The sufferings of mortality, Seen in their sad reality, Were not as things that gods despise; What was thy pity’s recompense? A silent...
William Blake Poetry
William Blake Poetry William Blake (1757-1827) was a British Romantic poet and painter. He is most well known for his Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience; his own engravings illustrated these and many...
The Ecchoing Green by William Blake
“The Ecchoing Green” was first published in 1789 as part of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence. This happy poem depicts children playing in the green space of a town, evoking happy memories for the older...
A Divine Image by William Blake
A Divine Image by William Blake Cruelty has a human heart, And Jealousy a human face; Terror the human form divine, And Secresy the human dress. The human dress is forged iron, The human...
Earth’s Answer by William Blake
EARTH’S ANSWER from Songs of Experience by William Blake Earth raised up her head From the darkness dread and drear, Her light fled, Stony, dread, And her locks covered...
Songs of Experience Introduction by William Blake
SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by William Blake INTRODUCTION Hear the voice of the Bard, Who present, past, and future, sees; Whose ears have heard The Holy Word That walked among the ancient tree; Calling the...
Songs of Innocence Introduction by William Blake
Songs of Innocence by William Blake INTRODUCTION Piping down the valleys wild, Piping songs of pleasant glee, On a cloud I saw a child, And he laughing said to me: “Pipe a song about...
Charles Lamb Index
Charles Lamb and his sister Mary Lamb wrote shorter versions of many classic tales, some of which are assigned in EIL as introductions to the full-length original classics.
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 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...
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.
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...
Mrs Kessler by Edgar Lee Masters from Spoon River Anthology
Mrs. Kessler by Edgar Lee Masters from Spoon River Anthology (New York: Macmillan Co, 1916) MR. KESSLER, you know, was in the army, And he drew six dollars a month as a pension, And...
The Circuit Judge by Edgar Lee Masters from Spoon River Anthology
The Circuit Judge by Edgar Lee Masters from Spoon River Anthology (New York: Macmillan Co, 1916) TAKE note, passers-by, of the sharp erosions Eaten in my head-stone by the wind and rain— Almost as...
Lucinda Matlock by Edgar Lee Masters from Spoon River Anthology
Lucinda Matlock by Edgar Lee Masters “Lucinda Matlock” from Spoon River Anthology, a 1916 collection of short free verse poems that narrates the epitaphs of the residents of the fictional small town, Spoon River, which...
The Road Not Taken and Other Poems by Robert Frost
Like much of Robert Frost’s poetry, “The Road Not Taken” appears simple, but offers food for thought. Although it’s sometimes taken as a poem that celebrates choosing an unusual path in life, it is...
The House Below the Hill by Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt
The House Below the Hill by Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt 1 You ask me of the farthest star, 2 Whither your thought can climb at will, 3 Forever-questioning child of mine. 4 I fear...
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...
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, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, The carpenter singing his...
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...
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed by Walt Whitman
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d by Walt Whitman PRESIDENT LINCOLN’S FUNERAL HYMN. 1. When lilacs last in the door-yard bloomed, And the...
