Intro from your Editor Henry James was an artist. If you have ever read his work, you know that he was so dedicated to the craft of writing that his fiction rises to the level of art. I think Henry James is fantastic. I love a lot of his work. If you haven't read him, you should. In this essay James defines, in someways, what art is. He says in the beginning that maybe the … [Read more...] about The Art of Fiction by Henry James
Historic Articles by Authors
When I Met Oscar Oscar Wilde by W. B. Yeats
When I Met Oscar Oscar Wilde by W. B. Yeats These are wonderful pieces. This is Yeats meeting Wilde is probably one of the biggest literary meetings in history, but we forget. Writers today don't know what it means to read the greats sometimes. They don't know what it is to honor the past. When we look at our past as writers, we find similar experiences that help … [Read more...] about When I Met Oscar Oscar Wilde by W. B. Yeats
MY PASSION FOR FERRIES by Walt Whitman
This is a wonderfully short piece written by Walt Whitman. Honestly the more you know about Whitman the more interesting this subject becomes. The essay was written in 1892. Living in Brooklyn or New York city from this time forward, my life, then, and still more the following years, was curiously identified with Fulton ferry, already becoming the greatest of its sort in … [Read more...] about MY PASSION FOR FERRIES by Walt Whitman
Twain’s Letter About Edgar Allan Poe
To W. D. Howells, in New York: STORMFIELD, REDDING, CONN., Jan. 18, '09. Dear Howells, I have to write a line, lazy as I am, to say how your Poe article delighted me; and to say that I am in agreement with substantially all you say about his literature. To me his prose is unreadable—like Jane Austin's. No, there is a difference. I could read his prose on salary, … [Read more...] about Twain’s Letter About Edgar Allan Poe
Of Beauty by Francis Bacon
VIRTUE is like a rich stone, best plain set; and surely virtue is best, in a body that is comely, though not of delicate features; and that hath rather dignity of presence, than beauty of aspect. Neither is it almost seen, that very beautiful persons are otherwise of great virtue; as if nature were rather busy, not to err, than in labor to produce excellency. And therefore they … [Read more...] about Of Beauty by Francis Bacon
The Poetry of Ezra Pound by T. S. Eliot
Here are some quick notes on this introduction T.S. Eliot wrote about Ezra Pound's poetry. This intro is from Ezra Pound: and His Metric Poetry. Pound, may not have become very significant in his writing, but he was very significant in his influence. He wrote a lot about poetry, and he simply, got around. He played a role in the works of many major poets in the modernist … [Read more...] about The Poetry of Ezra Pound by T. S. Eliot
My Visit with Ralph Waldo Emerson by Walt Whitman
Most literary historians know that Emerson saved Whitman's career by sending him a glowing letter. Many critic had panned Whitman's self-published Leave's of Grass. One critic went so far as to say Whitman should have burned the work when he was finished with it. Emerson was the inspiration to Whitman writing Leave's of Grass, and in the end, it was his letter that saved and … [Read more...] about My Visit with Ralph Waldo Emerson by Walt Whitman
Mark Twain Plagiarized Oliver Wendell Holmes
The truth here is that Mark Twain Plagiarized Oliver Wendell Holmes. Once again we have found a quip from Twain that we feel needs to be highlighted in the pages of history. Twain is one of our favorite writers, especially when it comes to writing about writing. If he did everything he says he wanted to do in those times, most writers, peers of Twain's, would be dead. Twain … [Read more...] about Mark Twain Plagiarized Oliver Wendell Holmes
Art and Nature in Poetry by Lord Byron
The beautiful but barren Hymettus—the whole coast of Attica, her hills and mountains, Pentelicus, Anchesmus, Philopappus, etc., etc.—are in themselves poetical, and would be so if the name of Athens, of Athenians, and her very ruins, were swept from the earth. But am I to be told that the "nature" of Attica would be more poetical without the "art" of the Acropolis? of the … [Read more...] about Art and Nature in Poetry by Lord Byron
The Late Great Edgar Allan Poe by Willa Cather
The Shakespeare society of New York, which is really about the only useful literary organization in this country, is making vigorous efforts to redress an old wrong and atone for a long neglect. Sunday, Sept. 22, it held a meeting at the Poe cottage on Kingsbridge road near Fordham, for the purpose of starting an organized movement to buy back the cottage, restore it to its … [Read more...] about The Late Great Edgar Allan Poe by Willa Cather
