In 1855, an unknown but wildly ambitious young poet self-published the first edition of Leaves of Grass, consisting of twelve untitled poems and an explanatory preface. Walt Whitman spent the rest of his life engaged in expanding and revising this work, through six editions and nearly four decades, establishing Leaves of Grass as one of the central works in the history of world poetry. This edition reproduces the magnificent "death-bed edition," published...

The dead arise from their sleep in the cemetery of a small town to tell their individual stories about an entire community caught in a web of scandal, sin, and vice in the early twentieth century.

Presents the original text of Shakespeare's play side by side with a modern version, with marginal notes and explanations and full descriptions of each character.

THE PROPHET is a book of 26 prose poetry essays written in English by the Lebanese artist, philosopher and writer Kahlil Gibran. It was originally published in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf. It is Gibran's best known work. The Prophet has been translated into over 40 different languages and has never been out of print. The prophet, Almustafa, has lived in the foreign city of Orphalese for 12 years and is about to board a ship which will carry him home....

Classic Books Library presents this new beautiful edition of "Shakespeare's Sonnets" (1609). Featuring a specially commissioned new biography of William Shakespeare, it is a must for classical poetry enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Shakespeare's collection of 154 sonnets beautifully explore the age-old human themes of love and beauty, time and mortality, and contain some of the most revered lines in poetry such as, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's...

"This vivid travelogue conveys John Muir's life-changing adventure in the Sierra Nevada. Penniless but itching to travel, Muir took a job relocating Pat Delaney's sheep from California's Central Valley to the Yosemite region. When he set out in the summer of 1869, Muir, whose closest previous experience was walking a thousand miles from Indiana to Florida, wasn't sure that "the silly sheep" would make it through the wilds of the mountains. He was...

Les Fleurs du mal is a collection of poems by Charles Baudelaire, encompassing almost all of his production in verse, from 1840 until his death at the end of August 1867. Flowers of Evil It is a major work of modern poetry. His pieces break with agreed style, in use until then and rejuvenate the structure of the verse by regular use of crossings, rejects and counter-rejects. This renovates the rigid form of the sonnet. He uses suggestive images by...

One of the most recognizable poets of the last century, Charles Bukowski is simultaneously a common man and an icon of urban depravity. He uses strong, blunt language to describe life as he lives it, and through it all charts the mutations of morality in modern America. Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way is a treasure trove of confessional poetry written towards then end of Bukowski's life. With the overhang of failing...

Splendid color illustrations by a distinguished painter and teacher highlight this volume of practical instruction in the foundations of art. Perfect for intermediate-level and advanced artists wishing to take their work to the next level, this manual combines detailed anatomy studies with guidance in the principles and practice of perspective and the art of composition. Author Stan Smith interprets the traditions of European art from the Renaissance...

"Generally considered among the greatest American poets, Emily Dickinson has been read, studied, and admired by generations of literature students and poetry lovers. This modestly priced edition presents over 100 of her best-known and most-loved poems, reprinted from authoritative early editions. Unflinchingly honest, psychologically penetrating, and technically adventurous, the poems include such favorites as "The Chariot," "I taste a liquor never...