"Laughable Lyrics" by Edward Lear. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.
This book is the definitive guide to Victorian poetry, which its author approaches in the light of modern critical concerns and contemporary contexts. Valentine Cunningham exhibits encyclopedic knowledge of the poetry produced in this period and offers dazzling close readings of a number of well-known poems Draws on the work of major Victorian poets and their works as well as many of the less well-known poets and poems Reads poems and poets in the light of both Victorian and modern critical concerns Places poetry in its personal, aesthetic, historical, and ideological context Organized in terms of the Victorian anxieties of self, body, and melancholy Argues that rhyming/repetition is the major formal feature of Victorian poetry Highlights the Victorian obsession with small subjects in small poems Shows how Victorian poetry attempts to engage with the modern subject and how its modernity segues into modernism and postmodernism
Edward Lear began his career as an ornithological illustrator, becoming one of the first major artists to draw birds from living models. During this period he was employed to paint the birds from the private menagerie owned by Edward Stanley, the 13th Earl of Derby and one of Lear’s closest friends. In 1837, Lear’s health started to decline. His deteriorating eyesight and failing lungs forced him to abandon the detailed painting required for depicting birds, and, with the help of the earl, he moved to Rome where he established himself as a poet of literary nonsense. While Lear was visiting the Earl of Derby, he wrote poems and drew silly sketches to entertain the earl’s children. In 1846, he collected together his pile of limericks and illustrations and published his first poetical book, titled A Book of Nonsense and dedicated to the Earl of Derby and his children. He decided to publish under the pseudonym Derry down Derry, but after he started making plans for more books, he republished under his real name. His next book, Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets wasn’t published until 24 years later, in 1870. Lear then released More Nonsense, which contains more limericks, in 1872, and Laughable Lyrics in 1877. This final book in the series contains many of Lear’s most famous fantastical creatures, such as the Quangle Wangle. The influence of Lear’s poetry in the twentieth-century can be seen in styles like the surrealism movement and the theater of the absurd. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.
Running the kingdom, winning the war, and making sure that her eleven younger sisters are cared for—and not chasing after the gentlemen—is all up to Ivy, now that her father, King Rupert, has remarried. Ivy has another problem: she's in love with Major Collin. He is patient, listens to every word Ivy says, and helps her build a strategy to end the war. Collin is also a man who has no business flirting with a princess in peacetime. Once a treaty has been signed, Ivy must never see him again. Meanwhile, a still sonless King Rupert announces a contest to choose his heir. Not only will the winner be the future king, but he will marry the princess of his choosing. Ivy must invent the game that will not only keep her sisters safe from hapless suitors, but will also ensure she didn’t fight a war and lose her heart for nothing. Because Ivy can’t be king and can’t be with the man she loves, the game will start with some impossible tasks. Challenges only an invisible man with the help of fairy godmothers, scheming sisters, and a little magic can solve. Smoke, Steel, & Ivy is a reimagining of the classic fairy tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Perfect for readers who enjoy a little adventure on their way to happily-ever-after and a smoldering romance without explicit content.
