The Sonnet
Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s poem, “The Sonnet,” is the first poem in the sonnet sequence House of Life. This COVE edition will bring together a handful of editors to explore the prosodic brilliance of the poem.
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, first published serially in 1899 and then in book form in 1902, explores with unparalleled intensity the enormity of European imperialism in Africa. A prescient instance of what would become the literary movement known as modernism, the novella also experiments with frame narration and features a complex, highly figurative style.
Goblin Market
The title poem of Christina Rossetti’s first commercially published collection of poetry, Goblin Market and Other Poems (Macmillan, 1862), “Goblin Market” has always delighted, perplexed, and inspired readers. A poetic fairytale expressed in deceptively simple form, and imbued with Pre-Raphaelite sensuality and spiritual symbolism, “Goblin Market” met its first public with two introductory illustrations designed by Rossetti’s brother, the artist Dante Gabriel.
The Harlot's House
"The Harlot's House" (1885; 1904) suggests why Oscar Wilde came to embody Victorian decadence and aestheticism, not just for his time and place but globally and ever since. This relatively early poem contains many of the aesthetic, political, and philosophical complexities that have come to characterize Wilde and the fin de siècle. This edition of "The Harlot's House" brings together some of the most influential Wilde scholars of the day, offering a rich current annotation of the work and the evolution of scholarship that has accrued to it.