After the dim purple bloom of a suspended spring, a green rhythm ran from larch to thorn, from lime to sycamore; spread from meadow to meadow, from copse to copse, from hedgerow to hedgerow. The blackthorn had already snowed upon the nettle-garths. In the obvious nests among the bare boughs of ash and beech the eggs of the blackbird were blue-green as the sky that March had bequeathed to April. For days past, when the breath of the equinox had surged out of the west, the missel-thrushes ha...

Quietly reflective, the beautifully written poems in this slim volume offer a welcome respite from the noisy insistence of modern life. The language, now simple and direct, now rich in associations, double-meanings, and imagery, has its own natural rhythm and appeal regardless of subject and rhyme. Intriguing, absorbing, thought-provoking, the poems are innovative and fresh and the intensity of the verses in places will undoubtedly strike a chord with readers of all kinds - both establishe...

Life of Robert Browning presents an insightful blend of biography and literary critique, tracing the journey of a poet whose work became a defining voice of the Victorian era. The narrative opens with depictions of his childhood in London, shaped by a supportive family environment and early immersion in literature and the arts. His youthful curiosity and precocious talent are highlighted alongside encounters with varied cultural influences that expanded his poetic vision. As the account pr...

Lovers of poetry! You are going to love William Sharp!A Scottish writer of poetry, the tone of Sharp's poems is what you'd describe as soulful, tender, nostalgic and just a little tragic. This anthology is a collection of Sharp's greatest poems, including the ones written under his (almost secret), pseudonym Fiona Macleod.William was not just a poet, he also edited the works of other greats like Walter Scott, Matthew Arnold and Ossian. A neo-pagan, and part of the secret so...

In Investors and Markets, Nobel Prize-winning financial economist William Sharpe shows that investment professionals cannot make good portfolio choices unless they understand the determinants of asset prices. But until now asset-price analysis has largely been inaccessible to everyone except PhDs in financial economics. In this book, Sharpe changes that by setting out his state-of-the-art approach to asset pricing in a nonmathematical form that will be comprehensible to a broad ra...

What's in a shadow? Menace, seduction, or salvation? Immaterial but profound, shadows lurk everywhere in literature and the visual arts, signifying everything from the treachery of appearances to the unfathomable power of God. From Plato to Picasso, from Rembrandt to Welles and Warhol, from Lord of the Rings to the latest video game, shadows act as central players in the drama of Western culture. Yet because they work silently, artistic shadows often slip unnoticed past audiences ...

Travis Walker, the oldest of the seven Walker brothers, has been referred to as moody and mysterious, and for the most part, he would agree. Until recently he spent his days helping his brothers run the family business. Now he dedicates his time and energy to building a resort, Alluring Indulgence, that caters to fetishes and fantasies. And despite his attempt to work himself into the ground, Travis has never denied—at least not to himself—that something is missing.Ten years ago, T...

"When Vampire Hunter D entered the town of Sedoc it was in search of answers to the meaning of a dying vampire's last words: ""Find Muma."" But when he meets Mia, the daughter of the local fortuneteller, he learns the mists emanating from a smoking crater on the outskirts of Sedoc have reanimated thousands of corpses, compelling them to crawl from their graves and hurl themselves into the smoking chasm. When D goes to investigate, he finds himself split in two: a second Vampire Hunter D, f...

In "The Washer of the Ford: Legendary Moralities and Barbaric Tales," William Sharp masterfully weaves a tapestry of folklore and myth that intricately explores the human condition through legends infused with moral complexity. Sharp's literary style amalgamates vivid imagery and lyrical prose, creating a rich, immersive experience for the reader. Set against a backdrop steeped in Celtic mythology, the narratives delve into the interplay of fate, honor, and the often harsh realities of exi...

The biography of Browning, English poet, noted for his mastery of dramatic monologue. He was married to the poet Elizabeth Barrett and settled with her in Florence. Elizabeth inspired his collection of poems Men and Women, which is now regarded as one of Browning's best works.

The collection features a series of legendary and mythological tales that draw on various cultural traditions, often focusing on themes of morality and the supernatural. The title story, The Washer of the Ford, is a retelling of an ancient Celtic legend about a mysterious and prophetic washerwoman who appears by a river, foretelling the fate of those who encounter her.The tales within the collection are characterized by their rich, atmospheric prose and their exploration of mythic themes. ...

On the day of the poet's funeral in Westminster Abbey, one of the most eminent of his peers remarked to me that Browning came to us as one coming into his own. This is profoundly true. There was in good sooth a mansion prepared against his advent. Long ago, we should have surrendered as to a conqueror: now, however, we know that princes of the mind, though they must be valorous and potent as of yore, can enter upon no heritance save that which naturally awaits them, and has been made their...