Portal:Literature
Introduction
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed. Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment. It can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or political role.
The term is sometimes used synonymously with literary fiction, which encompasses fiction written with the goal of literary merit.Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction genres, such as biography, diaries, memoirs, letters, and essays. Within its broad definition, literature includes non-fictional books, articles, or other written information on a particular subject. (Full article...)
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"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. Its publication made Poe widely popular in his lifetime. Although it did not bring him much financial success it was soon reprinted, parodied, and it nevertheless remains one of the most famous poems ever written.
First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow fall into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word "Nevermore". The poem makes use of a number of folk and classical references.
Poe claimed to have written the poem very logically and methodically, intending to create a poem that would appeal to both critical and popular tastes, as he explained in his 1846 follow-up essay "The Philosophy of Composition". The poem was inspired in part by a talking raven in the novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty by Charles Dickens. Poe borrows the complex rhythm and meter of Elizabeth Barrett's poem "Lady Geraldine's Courtship", and makes use of internal rhyme as well as alliteration throughout.
Selected excerpt
“ | It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain, but, once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture—a pale blue eye with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood ran cold, and so by degrees, very gradually, I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever. | ” |
— Edgar Allan Poe, "The Tell-Tale Heart" |
More Did you know
- ... that the reality television poetry competition Prince of Poets is more popular than football in countries of the Arab world, where it airs?
- ... that The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time won a record-tying seven Olivier Awards at the 2013 Laurence Olivier Awards on April 28, 2013?
- ... that Berit Brænne's first children's book, from 1958, is a story about a sailor's family who adopted children from different parts of the world?
- ... that the 1934 Jeanne Galzy novel Jeunes filles en serre chaude, with its seductive title, was deemed to contain "dangerous aberrations" and "strong emotional reaction[s] of an undesirable nature"?
- ... that Fu Sheng was credited with saving the Confucian classic Book of Documents from the book burning of the First Emperor of China?
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that the cultural scholar Hermann Bausinger wrote a book about the history of literature from Swabia from the 18th century to the present, published for his 90th birthday?
- ... that Hammersmith by Gustav Holst was acclaimed by Frederick Fennell for having "some of the most treacherous stretches of music making" in band literature?
- ... that the literary movement of créolie tries to integrate the identity of Réunion with France?
- ... that Soviet German literary critic Richard Knorre was injured in an explosion during the siege of Leningrad?
- ... that a teacher of medieval literature and comic books writes the blog Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle?
- ... that Charles Larson became one of the first Americans to teach African literature, after working in Nigeria for the Peace Corps to avoid the Vietnam draft?
Today in literature
- 1540 - Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet died
- 1606 - Philippe Desportes, French poet died
- 1713 - Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encyclopedist born
- 1889 - Teresa de la Parra, Venezuelan writer born
- 1911 - Flann O'Brien, Irish humorist born
- 1928 - Louise Fitzhugh, American author born
- 1936 - Václav Havel, playwright and President of the Czech Republic born
- 1936 - J. Slauerhoff, Dutch poet and novelist died
- 1939 - Marie-Claire Blais, French Canadian author and playwright born
- 1946 - Zahida Hina, Pakistani columnist and story writer born
- 1948 - Zoran Živković, Serbian writer born
- 1952 - Clive Barker, English writer born
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