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Poetry is a fascinating use of language. With almost a million words at its command it is not surprising that these Isles have produced some of the most beautiful, moving and descriptive verse through the centuries. In this series we look at each calendar month through the eyes and minds of our most gifted poets to bring you a guide to the days within each. This volume of Poetry is all about April - the fourth month of the year in our Gregorian calendar heralding Spring in earnest and of course April Showers and perhaps other unsettled weather. For our poets including Wilfred Owen, Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry Alford, Robert Browning, Henry Van Dyke, Percy Byssche Shelley and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the month provides a rich source for them to muse upon. Many of the poems are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Portable Poetry. Many samples are at our youtube channel http: //www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee The full volume can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores. Among the readers are Richard Mitchley and Ghizela Rowe

Poetry is a fascinating use of language. With almost a million words at its command it is not surprising that these Isles have produced some of the most beautiful, moving and descriptive verse through the centuries. In this series we look at poets who at first thought summon other crafts to mind. In the Scottish canon to be placed alongside Burns is high praise indeed but it's a rightful place for one of Scotland's finest novelists. Born in 1850 he managed to cram much into his 44 years travelling widely to France, the United States, Samoa and the South Seas. Of course he is widely feted for his classics Dr Jeckyll & Mr Hyde, Treasure Island and poetry volumes such as A Child's Garden Of Verses and collected here are poems that perfectly illustrate the work of a world renowned author. Many of the poems are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Portable Poetry. Many samples are at our youtube channel http: //www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee The full volume can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores. Among the readers are Richard Mitchley and Robbie McNab.

Poetry is a fascinating use of language. With almost a million words at its command it is not surprising that these Isles have produced some of the most beautiful, moving and descriptive verse through the centuries. In this series we look at individual poets who have shaped and influenced their craft and cement their place in our heritage. Many nations have produced outstanding poets who they would gladly have represent their Culture. But can any Nation say they have an equivalent of Robbie Burns? Rabbie. The Ploughman Poet. The Bard (Of Scotland). This one poet is indelibly linked and intertwined with the culture and people of Scotland. His life, loves, politics, verse and songs speak as them and for them. From humble roots, the eldest son of seven born in 1759 to parents, both from tenant farming stock, the family endured both hardship and poverty. Burns endured the test and began to write first at 15 and to publish his first volume some two years later. He wrote in both true Scottish, dialect and English as well as turning his hand to song. Politically he was an inspiration to both liberalism and socialism as well as a Scottish parliament. His unique ability enabled him to appeal to all and quite rightly to be viewed as the National poet. As well as creating his own great works he was also an avid collector of Scottish Folk Songs preserving for posterity the works of others. However his own life was short dying at the young age of only 37. What further greatness would have lain before him is impossible to say. But, poetically, on the day of his death his son, Maxwell was born. His fame today is worldwide and celebrated in January each year with the Traditional Burns night. Each New Years Eve friends and families the world over link arms to 'Auld Lang Syne', giving immortality to his words and aims. As former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan says: Burn's poems dignify and illuminate the struggle faced by the vast majority of the world's population today. In this slim volume the very best of his work is brought to you. Many of the poems are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Portable Poetry. Many samples are at our youtube channel http: //www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee The full volume can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores and is read for you by Gordon Kennedy

Sarah Flower Adams was born on February 22, 1805 in Great Harlow in Essex. Originally her ambition was to be an actress but poor health ensured her career would now be that of a writer. A Unitarian by faith she is perhaps best known for her hymns which include "Nearer, my God, to Thee" and "He sendeth sun, He sendeth shower." However she also wrote for various magazines and produced a small but beautiful folio of poems and the remarkable Vivia Perpetua which we also publish here for you. Sarah died on August 14 1848.

Charles Hamilton Sorley was born in Aberdeen on 19 May 1895. Charles was an exceptional child with an intelligence beyond his years. By 1900 the family had moved to Cambridge. Charles then continued his education at Marlborough College. A debater of some note he won a scholarship to University College, Oxford. Before taking up his studies Charles decided a year in Germany was to his liking. So in 1913 he went first to Mecklenburg and then to the University of Jena. However with war declared it was obviously not safe to be British and to be in Germany. Charles was interned at Trier but was released after an overnight stay with specific instructions to leave the Country. Charles returned to England and immediately sought to sign up. He enlisted with the Suffolk Regiment as a second lieutenant. When he arrived at the front in France on May 3oth 1915 he was a full Lieutenant. He served near Plogsteert and was promoted to Captain in August. Charles Sorley was killed, shot in the head by a sniper, at the Battle of Loos, on 13 October 1915. His death robbed the world of a talent that would have much to say and of course say it in a way that was quite extraordinary.

Samuel Butler was born on 4th December 1835 at the village rectory in Langar, Nottinghamshire.His relationship with his parents, especially his father, was largely antagonistic. His education began at home and included frequent beatings, as was all too common at the time.Under his parents' influence, he was set to follow his father into the priesthood. He was schooled at Shrewsbury and then St John's College, Cambridge, where he obtained a first in Classics in 1858.After Cambridge he went to live in a low-income parish in London 1858-59 as preparation for his ordination into the Anglican clergy; there he discovered that baptism made no apparent difference to the morals and behaviour of his new peers. He began to question his faith. Correspondence with his father about the issue failed to set his mind at peace, inciting instead his father's wrath.As a result, the young Butler emigrated in September 1859 to New Zealand. He was determined to change his life.He wrote of his arrival and life as a sheep farmer on Mesopotamia Station in 'A First Year in Canterbury Settlement' (1863). After a few years he sold his farm and made a handsome profit. But the chief achievement of these years were the drafts and source material for much of his masterpiece 'Erewhon'.Butler returned to England in 1864, settling in rooms in Clifford's Inn, near Fleet Street, where he would live for the rest of his life.In 1872, he published his Utopian novel 'Erewhon' which made him a well-known figure.He wrote a number of other books, including a moderately successful sequel, 'Erewhon Revisited' before his masterpiece and semi-autobiographical novel 'The Way of All Flesh' appeared after his death. Butler thought its tone of satirical attack on Victorian morality too contentious to publish during his life time and thereby shied away from further potential problems.Samuel Butler died aged 66 on 18th June 1902 at a nursing home in St John's Wood Road, London. He was cremated at Woking Crematorium, and accounts say his ashes were either dispersed or buried in an unmarked grave.

"Age considers; youth ventures." Poetry is a fascinating use of language. With almost a million words at its command it is not surprising that these Isles have produced some of the most beautiful, moving and descriptive verse through the centuries. In this series we look at individual poets who have shaped and influenced their craft and cement their place in our heritage. In this volume we venture to the East. To met a poet who speaks a common language of love and mysticism which continues to convey valuable insights into universal themes in contemporary society. Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) who was a gifted Bengali Renaissance man, distinguishing himself as a philosopher, social and political reformer and a popular author in all literary genres. He was instrumental in an increased freedom for the press and influenced Gandhi and the founders of modern India. He composed hundreds of songs which are still sung today as they include the Indian and Bangladesh's national anthems. His prolific literary life has left a legacy of quality novels, essays and in this collection of prose poetry some of his finest poetical works. Together they earned him the distinction of being the first Asian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. Many of other poems are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Portable Poetry. Many samples are at our youtube channel http: //www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee The full volume can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores. Among our readers are Shyama Perera Mitchley and Ghizela Rowe

Robert Malise Bowyer Nichols was born in September 1893. Robert was educated at Winchester College and then Trinity College, Oxford. In September 1914 with the shadow of the Great War covering Europe he enlisted, despite poor health, with the Field Artillery. He trained for a year and reached the front line just before the beginning of the Battle of Loos in September 1915. He was also to serve at the Battle of the Somme as an artillery officer in 1916, after suffering from shell shock he was invalided back to England. Taking up service with The British Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Information he began to write more avidly. As one of the War's surviving poets he was able to also give his work a depth and reflection that many of his other fallen contemporaries were not able too. He also began to give readings of his poems as well as tours in America. Robert also wrote four plays and two novels as well as several further volumes of poetry. Now rightly regarded as one of the pre-eminent War Poets his poetry is richly rewarding, filled with vivid descriptions and emotions of the human suffering during war. It's end brought him together with Nancy Cunard who was the inspiration for his next book Aurelia (1920). He was in Tokyo from 1921 to 1924 teaching English Literature and from 1924 to 1926 Hollywood beckoned. In 1928 his play, Wings Over Europe, foretelling the splitting of the atom was a success in New York. In 1933-4 he was in Austria and Germany, his long weekly letters to Henry Head, the neurologist under whose care he had been for shell-shock, give a graphic eye-witness account of the rise of Hitler. By the end of the 1930's he was living in the South of France, his emotional and financial affairs in turmoil. With occupation of France by German and Vichy forces he was on the last ship to carry British refugees from the Cote d'Azur. Robert Nichols died on December 17th 1944. He is buried at St Mary's, in Lawford, Essex. Here we publish 'Poems & Phantasies together with some of his other of his remarkable war poems.

Robert Malise Bowyer Nichols was born in September 1893. Robert was educated at Winchester College and then Trinity College, Oxford. In September 1914 with the shadow of the Great War covering Europe he enlisted, despite poor health, with the Field Artillery. He trained for a year and reached the front line just before the beginning of the Battle of Loos in September 1915. He was also to serve at the Battle of the Somme as an artillery officer in 1916, after suffering from shell shock he was invalided back to England. Taking up service with The British Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Information he began to write more avidly. As one of the War's surviving poets he was able to also give his work a depth and reflection that many of his other fallen contemporaries were not able too. He also began to give readings of his poems as well as tours in America. Robert also wrote four plays and two novels as well as several further volumes of poetry. Now rightly regarded as one of the pre-eminent War Poets his poetry is richly rewarding, filled with vivid descriptions and emotions of the human suffering during war. It's end brought him together with Nancy Cunard who was the inspiration for his next book Aurelia (1920). He was in Tokyo from 1921 to 1924 teaching English Literature and from 1924 to 1926 Hollywood beckoned. In 1928 his play, Wings Over Europe, foretelling the splitting of the atom was a success in New York. In 1933-4 he was in Austria and Germany, his long weekly letters to Henry Head, the neurologist under whose care he had been for shell-shock, give a graphic eye-witness account of the rise of Hitler. By the end of the 1930's he was living in the South of France, his emotional and financial affairs in turmoil. With occupation of France by German and Vichy forces he was on the last ship to carry British refugees from the Cote d'Azur. Robert Nichols died on December 17th 1944. He is buried at St Mary's, in Lawford, Essex. Here we publish 'A Faun's Holiday'.

Francis Thompson was born in Preston on Lancashire in December 18th, 1859. Educated at Ushaw College, near Durham he studied medicine at Owens College in Manchester. However the medical profession held little interest to him but writing did. He moved to London in 1885 but found no success and was quickly reduced to selling matches and newspapers for a living. Ill health offered up opium as a solution and to this he quickly became addicted. Life became increasingly difficult and soon Francis was no more than a vagrant living on the streets, chiefly around Charing Cross and along the Thames. In 1888 he sent some poems to the publishers of the Merrie England magazine who were Wilfrid Meynell and his noted poet wife Alice. They quickly sought him out, arranged for his housing and other necessities as well as medical treatment and encouraged him to write more. This culminated in the publication of his book 'Poems' in 1893. The book, including the seminal 'Hound Of Heaven' was recognised as a great work by many critics at the time and encouraged further volumes; Sister Songs in 1895 and New Poems in 1897. Years of ill health, addiction and vagrancy had taken their toll upon Francis and he moved to Storrington in Wales where we continued to write though by now he was invalided. An attempt at suicide was aborted by a vision he had of Thomas Chatterton, the teenage poet, who had committed suicide a century earlier. However his remaining years were few in number and he succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of 48 on November 13th, 1907. He is buried in the Catholic section of Kensal Green Cemetery in London. G.K. Chersterton said "with Francis Thompson we lost the greatest poetic energy since Browning."

Katherine Tynan was born on January 23rd 1859 into a large farming family in Clondalkin, County Dublin, and educated at a convent school in Drogheda. In her early years she suffered from eye ulcers, which left her somewhat myopic. She first began to have her poems published in 1878. A great friend to Gerard Manley Hopkins and to WB Yeats (who it is rumoured proposed marriage but was rejected). With Yeats to encourage her, her poetry blossomed and she was equally supportive of his. She married fellow writer and barrister Henry Albert Hinkson in 1898. They moved to England where she bore and began to raise 5 children although two were to tragically die in infancy. In 1912 they returned to Claremorris, County Mayo when her husband was appointed magistrate there from 1912 until 1919. Sadly her husband died that year but Katherine continued to write. Her output was prolific, some sources have her as the author of almost a 100 novels. Here we concentrate on her poetry. Amongst the classics such as 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' are numerous war poems. She is now sometimes grouped amongst the War Poets of the First World War. Her experience was not direct but as a Mother with one son serving in France and another in Palestine, the emotions, fears and doubts are expressed in a beautiful heart-felt way. Katherine died on April 2nd 1931 and she is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

Sara Trevor Teasdale was born on the 8th August 1884 in St Louis, Missouri. A woman of poor health it was only at age 10 that she was well enough to begin school when she attended the Mary Institute from 1898, but moving to Hosmer Hall from where she graduated in 1903. Her first poem was published in William Marion Reedy's Reedy's Mirror, a local newspaper, in 1907. Later that same year her first collection of poems, 'Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems' was published. Her well received second volume 'Helen of Troy and Other Poems', published 4 years later, was praised for its lyrical talents and subject matter. She was courted by various men among them Vachel Lindsay, a great poet but one who thought he could not provide a suitable standard of living for her. Sara then married Ernst Filsinger, who also admired her poetry, in 1914. Sara's third poetry collection, 'Rivers to the Sea', was published in 1915 and was a best seller. A year later, in 1916, the couple moved to New York City. In 1917 she released her collection 'Love Songs' and the following year it won three awards: the Columbia University Poetry Society prize, the annual prize of the Poetry Society of America and, as a crowning achievement, the 1918 Pulitzer Prize for poetry By 1929 Sara was deeply unhappy and lonely and decided to divorce. To satisfy the criteria she moved across state lines for three months. She did not wish to inform Filsinger, and only at the insistence of her lawyers, as the divorce was going through, did she-Filsinger was shocked. After her divorce Sara remained in New York City and resumed her friendship with Vachel Lindsay, who was by this time married with children. 1931 Vachel Lindsay committed suicide. Two year later on 29th January 1933 Sara Teasdale died from an overdose of sleeping pills. She was 48. She was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

Sara Trevor Teasdale was born on the 8th August 1884 in St Louis, Missouri. A woman of poor health it was only at age 10 that she was well enough to begin school when she attended the Mary Institute from 1898, but moving to Hosmer Hall from where she graduated in 1903. Her first poem was published in William Marion Reedy's Reedy's Mirror, a local newspaper, in 1907. Later that same year her first collection of poems, 'Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems' was published. Her well received second volume 'Helen of Troy and Other Poems', published 4 years later, was praised for its lyrical talents and subject matter. She was courted by various men among them Vachel Lindsay, a great poet but one who thought he could not provide a suitable standard of living for her. Sara then married Ernst Filsinger, who also admired her poetry, in 1914. Sara's third poetry collection, 'Rivers to the Sea', was published in 1915 and was a best seller. A year later, in 1916, the couple moved to New York City. In 1917 she released her collection 'Love Songs' and the following year it won three awards: the Columbia University Poetry Society prize, the annual prize of the Poetry Society of America and, as a crowning achievement, the 1918 Pulitzer Prize for poetry By 1929 Sara was deeply unhappy and lonely and decided to divorce. To satisfy the criteria she moved across state lines for three months. She did not wish to inform Filsinger, and only at the insistence of her lawyers, as the divorce was going through, did she-Filsinger was shocked. After her divorce Sara remained in New York City and resumed her friendship with Vachel Lindsay, who was by this time married with children. 1931 Vachel Lindsay committed suicide. Two year later on 29th January 1933 Sara Teasdale died from an overdose of sleeping pills. She was 48. She was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

Sara Trevor Teasdale was born on the 8th August 1884 in St Louis, Missouri. A woman of poor health it was only at age 10 that she was well enough to begin school when she attended the Mary Institute from 1898, but moving to Hosmer Hall from where she graduated in 1903. Her first poem was published in William Marion Reedy's Reedy's Mirror, a local newspaper, in 1907. Later that same year her first collection of poems, 'Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems' was published. Her well received second volume 'Helen of Troy and Other Poems', published 4 years later, was praised for its lyrical talents and subject matter. She was courted by various men among them Vachel Lindsay, a great poet but one who thought he could not provide a suitable standard of living for her. Sara then married Ernst Filsinger, who also admired her poetry, in 1914. Sara's third poetry collection, 'Rivers to the Sea', was published in 1915 and was a best seller. A year later, in 1916, the couple moved to New York City. In 1917 she released her collection 'Love Songs' and the following year it won three awards: the Columbia University Poetry Society prize, the annual prize of the Poetry Society of America and, as a crowning achievement, the 1918 Pulitzer Prize for poetry By 1929 Sara was deeply unhappy and lonely and decided to divorce. To satisfy the criteria she moved across state lines for three months. She did not wish to inform Filsinger, and only at the insistence of her lawyers, as the divorce was going through, did she-Filsinger was shocked. After her divorce Sara remained in New York City and resumed her friendship with Vachel Lindsay, who was by this time married with children. 1931 Vachel Lindsay committed suicide. Two year later on 29th January 1933 Sara Teasdale died from an overdose of sleeping pills. She was 48. She was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

Sara Trevor Teasdale was born on the 8th August 1884 in St Louis, Missouri. A woman of poor health it was only at age 10 that she was well enough to begin school when she attended the Mary Institute from 1898, but moving to Hosmer Hall from where she graduated in 1903. Her first poem was published in William Marion Reedy's Reedy's Mirror, a local newspaper, in 1907. Later that same year her first collection of poems, 'Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems' was published. Her well received second volume 'Helen of Troy and Other Poems', published 4 years later, was praised for its lyrical talents and subject matter. She was courted by various men among them Vachel Lindsay, a great poet but one who thought he could not provide a suitable standard of living for her. Sara then married Ernst Filsinger, who also admired her poetry, in 1914. Sara's third poetry collection, 'Rivers to the Sea', was published in 1915 and was a best seller. A year later, in 1916, the couple moved to New York City. In 1917 she released her collection 'Love Songs' and the following year it won three awards: the Columbia University Poetry Society prize, the annual prize of the Poetry Society of America and, as a crowning achievement, the 1918 Pulitzer Prize for poetry By 1929 Sara was deeply unhappy and lonely and decided to divorce. To satisfy the criteria she moved across state lines for three months. She did not wish to inform Filsinger, and only at the insistence of her lawyers, as the divorce was going through, did she-Filsinger was shocked. After her divorce Sara remained in New York City and resumed her friendship with Vachel Lindsay, who was by this time married with children. 1931 Vachel Lindsay committed suicide. Two year later on 29th January 1933 Sara Teasdale died from an overdose of sleeping pills. She was 48. She was buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

Shelley is one of the most revered figures in the English poetical landscape. Born on the 4th August 1792 he has, over the years, become rightly regarded as a major Romantic poet. Yet during his own lifetime little of his work was published. Publishers feared his radical views and possible charges against themselves for blasphemy and sedition. On 8th July 1822 a month before his 30th birthday, during a sudden storm, his tragic early death by drowning robbed our culture of many fine expected masterpieces. But in his short spell on earth he weaved much magic. The Cenci, A Tragedy in Five Acts was a verse play that Shelley tried to have performed at Covent Garden in his lifetime. He was unsuccessful despite the play being his only work to be published in a second edition and many acclaiming the work as a tragic masterpiece. He was inspired to dramatise this real life story of the tragic execution of a young Italian woman in 1599 for the pre meditated murder of her father after viewing a portrait of her, Beatrice Cenci by the painter Guido Reni. After seeing a performance of the play in 1886 George Bernard Shaw commented that: Shelley and Shakespeare are the only dramatists who have dealt in despair of this quality

Shelley is one of the most revered figures in the English poetical landscape. Born on the 4th August 1792 he has, over the years, become rightly regarded as a major Romantic poet. Yet during his own lifetime little of his work was published. Publishers feared his radical views and possible charges against themselves for blasphemy and sedition. On 8th July 1822 a month before his 30th birthday, during a sudden storm, his tragic early death by drowning robbed our culture of many fine expected masterpieces. But in his short spell on earth he weaved much magic. Whilst Prometheus Unbound is a four act lyric play it was not written to be performed as a play but staged within the imagination of the reader. It is a reply to Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound which has the hero stealing fire from the gods to give to mortals. Many think this work is Shelley's masterpiece as it represents a culmination of the poet's political thought and displays his considerable gift of lyrical expression. The play was written over 4 years as its progress was severely impeded by the tragic death of first his daughter Clara Everina in 1818 and then his son William in 1819. The fourth act, a warning that evil must be checked lest tyranny reign, was added many months after the first three had been completed and revised. Shelley compares his Prometheus to Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost: But Prometheus is, as it were, the type of the highest perfection of moral and intellectual nature, impelled by the purest and the truest motives to the best and noblest ends.

Shelley is one of the most revered figures in the English poetical landscape. Born on the 4th August 1792 he has, over the years, become rightly regarded as a major Romantic poet. Yet during his own lifetime little of his work was published. Publishers feared his radical views and possible charges against themselves for blasphemy and sedition. On 8th July 1822 a month before his 30th birthday, during a sudden storm, his tragic early death by drowning robbed our culture of many fine expected masterpieces. But in his short spell on earth he weaved much magic. The Witch of Atlas was composed in the summer of 1820 whilst Shelley attended the San Guiliano Baths near Pisa. The central character of this light hearted visionary rhyme, the Witch creates a sexless creature of both male and female form who becomes her companion in her travels, adventures and pranks on humanity. Mary Shelley wrote that The Witch of Atlas "is a brilliant congregation of ideas such as his senses gathered, and his fancy coloured, during his rambles in the sunny land he so much loved."

Shelley is one of the most revered figures in the English poetical landscape. Born on the 4th August 1792 he has, over the years, become rightly regarded as a major Romantic poet. Yet during his own lifetime little of his work was published. Publishers feared his radical views and possible charges against themselves for blasphemy and sedition. On 8th July 1822 a month before his 30th birthday, during a sudden storm, his tragic early death by drowning robbed our culture of many fine expected masterpieces. But in his short spell on earth he weaved much magic. The Revolt of Islam: A Poem in 12 Cantos has little to do with Islam although is set within the Ottoman Empire but focuses more on revolutionary themes of social reform and anti religious sentiments that were inspired by the French Revolution. It was composed in 1817 and consists of nearly 5,000 lines written in Spenserian stanzas, namely verses of nine lines with 8 of iambic pentameter and the final line in iambic hextameter. The publishers, Charles and James Ollier, refused to print the work without changes to the statements on religion and the dilution of the incest within the poem. Shelley also changed the title and said of the poem that: I felt that it was in many respects a genuine picture of my own mind. I felt that the sentiments were true, not assumed. And in this have I long believed that my power consists; in sympathy and that part of the imagination which relates to sentiment and contemplation.

Shelley is one of the most revered figures in the English poetical landscape. Born on the 4th August 1792 he has, over the years, become rightly regarded as a major Romantic poet. Yet during his own lifetime little of his work was published. Publishers feared his radical views and possible charges against themselves for blasphemy and sedition. On 8th July 1822 a month before his 30th birthday, during a sudden storm, his tragic early death by drowning robbed our culture of many fine expected masterpieces. But in his short spell on earth he weaved much magic. Queen Mab was Shelley's first major poem and he pressed only 250 copies intended for friends and not a wider distribution. It is a fairy tale that offers a vision for a utopian society that might have a history of oppression and at present be riddled with misery but can have a future where humanity's nobler characteristics can be in harmony with the world and work with nature to create a better society for all. Mary Shelley expressed his intentions as such: He saw, in a fervent call on his fellow-creatures to share alike the blessings of the creation, to love and serve each other, the noblest work that life and time permitted him. In this spirit he composed Queen Mab.

In 1847 he married Elizabeth Shaw and after initially settling in New York they moved to Massachusetts. By 1851 his masterpiece, Moby Dick, was ready and published. It is perhaps, and certainly at the time, one of the most ambitious novels ever written. However it never sold out its initial print run of 3,000 and Melville's earnings on this masterpiece was $556.37. In succeeding years his reputation waned and he found life increasingly difficult. His family was growing, now four children, and a stable income was essential. By 1855 with his writings almost ignored he joined the New York Customs house and worked there for the next 19 years. He published his last book in 1857 to little notice. Despite periods of drinking, depression and other ails Elizabeth stood by her husband despite calls from other family members and the marriage held together. In the 1860's he wrote many poems, many based on the Civil War. But there was no publisher for him and no audience. In 1876 he was at last able to publish privately his 16,000 line epic poem Clare! It was to no avail. By 1885 with his wife's inheritances they were able to retire. Herman Melville, novelist, poet, short story writer and essayist, died at his home on September 28th 1891. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of America. Her we publish his remarkable collection 'John Marr & Other Poems'.

It is often said that two things are unavoidable; Death and Taxes. Certainly the latter is a common thorn in adult life but as to the former it seems that for many people it is merely a hiccup in Life's eternal journey. A journey they wish, if being of good deed and character, to share at the eternity of Heaven's largesse, a reward for Faith and the obligations of Religion. Of course for those not so fortunate an altogether different experience was prepared for them; Hell. Its nightmare visions so terrifying conjured up by Dante and Milton. Here we have gathered together verse by such luminaries as William Blake, Gerald Manley Hopkins, John Milton, Ben Jonson, Rupert Brooke and of course many others to share their thoughts and vision.

John Dryden was born on August 9th, 1631 in the village rectory of Aldwincle near Thrapston in Northamptonshire. As a boy Dryden lived in the nearby village of Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire. In 1644 he was sent to Westminster School as a King's Scholar. Dryden obtained his BA in 1654, graduating top of the list for Trinity College, Cambridge that year. Returning to London during The Protectorate, Dryden now obtained work with Cromwell's Secretary of State, John Thurloe. At Cromwell's funeral on 23 November 1658 Dryden was in the company of the Puritan poets John Milton and Andrew Marvell. The setting was to be a sea change in English history. From Republic to Monarchy and from one set of lauded poets to what would soon become the Age of Dryden. The start began later that year when Dryden published the first of his great poems, Heroic Stanzas (1658), a eulogy on Cromwell's death. With the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 Dryden celebrated in verse with Astraea Redux, an authentic royalist panegyric. With the re-opening of the theatres after the Puritan ban, Dryden began to also write plays. His first play, The Wild Gallant, appeared in 1663 but was not successful. From 1668 on he was contracted to produce three plays a year for the King's Company, in which he became a shareholder. During the 1660s and '70s, theatrical writing was his main source of income. In 1667, he published Annus Mirabilis, a lengthy historical poem which described the English defeat of the Dutch naval fleet and the Great Fire of London in 1666. It established him as the pre-eminent poet of his generation, and was crucial in his attaining the posts of Poet Laureate (1668) and then historiographer royal (1670). This was truly the Age of Dryden, he was the foremost English Literary figure in Poetry, Plays, translations and other forms. In 1694 he began work on what would be his most ambitious and defining work as translator, The Works of Virgil (1697), which was published by subscription. It was a national event. John Dryden died on May 12th, 1700, and was initially buried in St. Anne's cemetery in Soho, before being exhumed and reburied in Westminster Abbey ten days later.

Dora Mary Sigerson was born in Dublin on August 16th, 1866, the daughter of George Sigerson, a surgeon and writer, and Hester (née Varian) also a writer. Her father was a leader in Dublin's intellectual world and immersed the young Dora in the vibrant literary society of Dublin throughout her childhood, helping her gain a deep and complete love of her country. Like her father, Dora was active in the Irish literary revival, and a passionate campaigner for home rule. Her poetry collections date from 1893 and are particularly evocative when she writes of her homeland, War and, most of all, the Easter Rising of 1916. Her friends included Katharine Tynan, the noted Irish poet and author as well as fellow writers and poets Rose Kavanagh and Alice Furlong. When she married Clement King Shorter, an English journalist and literary critic, in 1895 they moved to England and she wrote under the name Dora Sigerson Shorter. Although in England her heart's passion remained with Ireland. The tragic events of Easter 1916, were a terrible blow to her and her health quickly began to fail. Dora Mary Sigerson Shorter died on January 6th, 1918. The cause of her death was not disclosed. As well as a foremost poet Dora's talents extended to sculpture, journalism and novels. Dora's best-known sculpture is the memorial in Glasnevin Cemetery to the executed leaders of the Easter Rebellion. In her lifetime she was renowned for her personal beauty and her charm. That charm is reflected in her works which are full of eagerness, love, sympathy, and, of course, suffering.

Dora Mary Sigerson was born in Dublin on August 16th, 1866, the daughter of George Sigerson, a surgeon and writer, and Hester (née Varian) also a writer. Her father was a leader in Dublin's intellectual world and immersed the young Dora in the vibrant literary society of Dublin throughout her childhood, helping her gain a deep and complete love of her country. Like her father, Dora was active in the Irish literary revival, and a passionate campaigner for home rule. Her poetry collections date from 1893 and are particularly evocative when she writes of her homeland, War and, most of all, the Easter Rising of 1916. Her friends included Katharine Tynan, the noted Irish poet and author as well as fellow writers and poets Rose Kavanagh and Alice Furlong. When she married Clement King Shorter, an English journalist and literary critic, in 1895 they moved to England and she wrote under the name Dora Sigerson Shorter. Although in England her heart's passion remained with Ireland. The tragic events of Easter 1916, were a terrible blow to her and her health quickly began to fail. Dora Mary Sigerson Shorter died on January 6th, 1918. The cause of her death was not disclosed. As well as a foremost poet Dora's talents extended to sculpture, journalism and novels. Dora's best-known sculpture is the memorial in Glasnevin Cemetery to the executed leaders of the Easter Rebellion. In her lifetime she was renowned for her personal beauty and her charm. That charm is reflected in her works which are full of eagerness, love, sympathy, and, of course, suffering.

"A man thinks that by mouthing hard words he understands hard things."Herman Melville, best known for writing Moby Dick, was an American writer whose poetry perhaps goes largely unheralded. Undeservedly so, he was considered by some as the first modernist poet in the United States. It would obviously be hard to establish ones poetry after the rousing success of his novels. However Melville's poetry is both insightful and descriptive and despite being in the shadow of his larger works is an incredible and challenging read for fans of Melville and poetry alike.

"I am, as I am; whether hideous, or handsome, depends upon who is made judge."Herman Melville, best known for writing Moby Dick, was an American writer whose poetry perhaps goes largely unheralded. Undeservedly so, he was considered by some as the first modernist poet in the United States. It would obviously be hard to establish ones poetry after the rousing success of his novels. However Melville's poetry is both insightful and descriptive and despite being in the shadow of his larger works is an incredible and challenging read for fans of Melville and poetry alike.

"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."Herman Melville, best known for writing Moby Dick, was an American writer whose poetry perhaps goes largely unheralded. Undeservedly so, he was considered by some as the first modernist poet in the United States. It would obviously be hard to establish ones poetry after the rousing success of his novels. However Melville's poetry is both insightful and descriptive and despite being in the shadow of his larger works is an incredible and challenging read for fans of Melville and poetry alike.

Letitia Elizabeth Landon was born on 14 August 1802 in Chelsea, London. A precocious child she had her first poem published is 1820 using the single 'L' as her marker. The following year her first volume appeared and sold well. She published a further two poems that same year with just the initials 'L.E.L." It provided the basis for much intrigue. She became the chief reviewer of the Gazette and published her second collection, The Improvisatrice, in 1824. By 1826, rumours began to circulate that she had had affairs. For several years they continued to circulate until she broke off an engagement when her betrothed, upon further investigation, found them to be unfounded. Her words reflect the lack of trust she felt "The mere suspicion is dreadful as death". On June 7th 1838 she married George Maclean, initially in secret, and a month later they sailed to Cape Coast. However the marriage proved to be short lived as on October 15th Letitia was found dead, a bottle of prussic acid in her hand. Her reputation as a poet diminished until fairly recently; her work felt to be simplistic and too simply constructed. However when put into context it is more rightly seen as working on many levels and meanings as was needed for those more moral times.

Celia Laighton Thaxter was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on June 29th, 1835 and spent her childhood years on the Isles of Shoals, initially on White Island, where her father, Thomas Laighton, was a lighthouse keeper, and then the wonderfully named Smuttynose and Appledore Islands. At sixteen, she married Levi Thaxter, her father's business partner, and moved to the mainland, residing first in Watertown, Massachusetts, at a property his father owned. In 1854, they moved to a house in Newburyport and later, in 1856, acquired their own home near the Charles River at Newtonville. Celia had two sons, one of whom was Roland, born August 28, 1858, and would become a prominent mycologist who would later teach at Harvard. Her first published poem was written during this time on the mainland. That poem, "Land-Locked", was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1861 and earned her $10. It was to be the beginning of a career that would make her one of America's most popular poets and short story writers. Her marriage with Levi was not perfect, tensions gradually increased. After 10 years she moved back to the islands and her beloved Appledore Island. The marriage was not over but the separations grew longer as Levi didn't share his wife's love of island life. Celia became the hostess of her father's hotel, the Appledore House, and many New England literary and artists stayed thee; Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Henry David Thoreau, John Greenleaf Whittier, Sarah Orne Jewett, and the artists William Morris Hunt, Childe Hassam, who painted several pictures of her and watercolorist Ellen Robbins, who painted the flowers in her garden. Celia was present at the time of the infamous murders on Smuttynose Island, about which she wrote the essay, A Memorable Murder which we have included at the end of this volume of poetry. William Morris Hunt, a close family friend, trying to recover from a debilitating depression, drowned in late summer 1879, an apparent suicide, three days after finishing his last sketch. Celia bore the horror of discovering the body. That same year, the Thaxters' bought 186 acres on Seapoint Beach on Cutts Island, Kittery Point, where they built a grand Shingle Style "cottage" called Champernowne Farm. In 1880, they auctioned the Newtonville house, and in 1881, moved to their new home. In March 1888, her friend and fellow poet Whittier hoped "on that lonesome, windy coast where she can only look upon the desolate, winter-bitten pasture-land and the cold grey sea" she could be comforted by "memories of her Italian travels". Among Celia's most remembered and best loved poems are "The Burgomaster Gull", "Landlocked", "Milking", "The Great White Owl", "The Kingfisher", and "The Sandpiper". Celia Thaxter died suddenly on August 25th, 1894 on Appledore Island and is buried not far from her cottage, which later burned down in the 1914 fire that consumed The Appledore House hotel.