Poetry

With her virtuoso translation, classicist and bestselling author Caroline Alexander brings to life Homer’s timeless epic of the Trojan War Composed around 730 B.C., Homer’s Iliad recounts the events of a few momentous weeks in the protracted ten-year war between the invading Achaeans, or Greeks, and the Trojans in their besieged city of I

Anger be now your song, immortal one, Akhilleus' anger, doomed and ruinous, that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss and crowded brave souls into the undergloom, leaving so many dead men-carrion for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done. -Lines 1-6 Since it was first published more than twenty-five years ago, Robert Fitzger

Homer's The Iliad is a monumental epic of heroism, honor, and the devastating impact of war. Set during the final year of the Trojan War, this ancient Greek masterpiece chronicles the fierce battles and legendary exploits of warriors such as Achilles, Hector, and Ajax. As the Greek and Trojan forces clash on the plains of Troy, themes of glory, fate, and the wrath

From Stephen Mitchell, the renowned translator whose Iliad was named one of The New Yorker’s Favorite Books of 2011, comes a vivid new translation of the Odyssey, complete with textual notes and an illuminating introductory essay. The hardcover publication of the Odyssey received glowing reviews: The New York Times praised “

This book contains Alexander Pope’s seminal interpretation of the original Homeric poem, published serially from 1715 to 1720. Hailed by Samuel Johnson as “a performance which no age or nation could hope to equal,” this is a classic text that has moulded centuries of British and American culture through its beautiful and timeless poetry. This edition provides a perfect ren

Named one of the Best Poetry Books of 2021 by The Guardian Longlisted for the 2021 National Translation Award in Poetry. Picked for Kirkus Reviews’ Best Fiction in Translation of 2020. Named a Book of the Year by NPR, Vox, and The New Statesman. Picked for Loyalty Books’ Holiday List. A new, feminist translation of Be

The oldest long poem in Old English, written about 1000 A.D., Beowulf tells the story of a great warrior in Southern Scandinavia in both youth and maturity. The monster Grendel terrorises the Scyldings of Hrothgar’s Danish Kingdom until Beowulf defeats him. As a result he has to face her enraged mother. Beowulf dies after a battle against a fierce dragon. The tale is power

Beowulf is the longest surviving poem of Anglo-Saxon England. Beowulf, a young warrior of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, in his time of need. He first fights the hellish Grendel, then struggles with Grendel's no less fearsome mother in her hall beneath the cold waters of the mere. More than fifty years later Beowulf, now kin

The Inferno is by far the most popular and well-known of the books in the Divine Comedy trilogy because of its depiction and understanding of the moral and spiritual pitfalls which still plague us today. This edition is illustrated with astonishing artworks, from Hieronymus Bosch's depictions of a surreal, hellish landscapes and other Renaissance visions of the Last J

In his introduction, the translator says: "I suppose that a very great majority of English-speaking people, if they were asked to name the greatest epic poet of the Christian era in Western Europe, would answer Dante." THE DIVINE COMEDY continues to be widely read today, whether for its religious inspiration or for the sheer power of its verse. The first part of the epic,

When a group of pilgrims bound for Canterbury Cathedral meet on the road, they agree to tell stories to pass the time. Each story reflects a different segment of society, from the pious to the bawdy, and has given countless readers a look into fourteenth-century English life. The stories can be read on their own or as part of the entire work and have been translated from t

"The Screwtape Letters" is an epistolary satire by C.S. Lewis, wherein the whole plot of temptation and moral conflict in a series of letters is written between the senior demon Screwtape to his novice nephew Wormwood. In their correspondence, Lewis exposes not only the nature of human faith but even the subtleties of human sin and spiritual battles that besiege men. Hilar

Immerse yourself in the tranquility of nature with Henry David Thoreau's timeless classic, 'Walden,' in this serene edition. Join Thoreau as he retreats to the solitude of Walden Pond, seeking simplicity and spiritual renewal amidst the beauty of the natural world. Let our expert narrators transport you to the serene shores and lush forests of Concord, Massachusetts, wh

The Metamorphoses, by Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC–AD 17) has, over the centuries, been the most popular and influential work from our classical tradition. This extraordinary collection of some 250 Greek and Roman myths and folk tales has always been a popular favorite and has decisively shaped western art and literature from the moment it was completed in AD 8. The stories

English poet John Milton’s 17th century epic poem, “Paradise Lost,” is the work for which he is best known and which would solidify his reputation as one of the greatest poets of all time. A classic retelling of Biblical legend, the poem relates the stories of the war in heaven, the fall of man, and the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. First depicted in Re

The first volume of The Divine Comedy—Dante begins his downward journey through the seven circles of Hell. Considered to be one of the greatest literary works of all time, Dante's immortal drama of a journey through Hell is the first volume of his Divine Comedy. In the Inferno, Virgil guides Dante the pilgrim-poet through the depths of

National Book Award Finalist: The most widely read and enduring interpretation of this ancient Babylonian epic.   One of the oldest and most universal stories known in literature, the epic of Gilgamesh presents the grand, timeless themes of love and death, loss and reparations, within the stirring tale of a hero-king and his doomed friend.  

A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl are two poems by an unknown author written in about 1400. Sir Gawain is a romance, a fairy-tale for adults, full of life and colour; but it is also much m

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an epic Middle English poem written in the 14th century and set in Arthurian England. It tells the story of the Green Knight, a huge green man who interrupts the yuletide festivities at Camelot and makes this challenge to King Arthur and his knights: Strike me with my axe and receive a blow in kind one year from today. Sir Gawain accepts

Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime. The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson's writing, it was