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Harvard Classics - Reading Guide - SeptemberSep 1: Penn's SOME FRUITS OF SOLITUDEExpelled from College, Founded a City While at Oxford, Penn rejected the student's gown and thereby created a furore. Later he founded a city where he sought to put his new ideas into practice. Read from Penn's SOME FRUITS OF SOLITUDE ........ Vol. 1, pp. 321-331 Sep 2: Dryden's ALL FOR LOVEToo Great a Price for Love While his soldiers fought the battle of Actium, Antony fled to the arms of Cleopatra. By his flight he forfeited his right to an empire. Dryden's story of Antony's love makes us realize the folly of his infatuation for the Nile siren. Read from Dryden's ALL FOR LOVE ........... Vol. 18, pp. 88-100 Sep 3: TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAINSeven Years to Reach England Until 1783 the British refused to believe that the Liberty Bell had rung. Then they signed a treaty formally recognizing the Colonies as free and independent states. Read: TREATY WITH GREAT BRITAIN (1783) ....... Vol. 43, pp. 174-179 Sep 4: Voltaire's LETTERS ON THE ENGLISHVoltaire's daring courage led him to publish a series of letters which contained unfavorable comparisons of French customs with the English. For this he was threatened with the Bastille. Read: Voltaire's LETTERS ON THE ENGLISH ...... Vol. 34, pp. 85-93 Sep 5: Darwin's ORIGIN OF SPECIESSurvival of the Fittest Just as the individual has a definite length of life, so have species a limited duration. The progress and transition of the world, Darwin declares, will see the extinction of certain variants of human life. Read from Darwin's ORIGIN OF SPECIES .......... Vol. 11 , pp. 353-357 Sep 6: Carlyle's SIR WALTER SCOTTThe Pride of All Scotchmen Many sons of Scotland have striven eagerly for the great place held by Sir Walter Scott. Carlyle describes the qualities that combined to make him the idol of his people and the master of historical romance. Read Carlyle's SIR WALTER SCOTT ..................... Vol. 25, pp. 393-403 Sep 7: DESTRUCTION OF DA DERGA'S HOSTELThe King's Love There she was undoing her hair—the loveliest woman the eyes of men ever beheld, the light of wooing in her regal eyes. A longing for her overwhelmed the warrior-king. Read from DESTRUCTION OF DA DERGA'S HOSTEL ..... Vol. 49, pp. 199-209 Sep 8: Helmholtz's ICE AND GLACIERSWhen Europe Lay Under Ice There was a time when the snow fell and did not melt in summer. Then from the frozen north there descended huge masses of ice that covered northern Europe and most of North America. Glaciers reveal a new world to us. Read from Helmholtz's ICE AND GLACIERS ...... Vol. 30, pp. 211-223 Sep 9: Emerson's NATUREWhen Nature Beckons "There are days during the year," says Emerson, "when the world of nature reaches perfection." Can anyone escape this call, especially in the glorious Indian Summer? Read: Emerson's NATURE ........................ Vol. 5, pp. 223-230 Sep 10: Holmes' POEMSFamous Poet-Physician One of America's famous New Englanders, Oliver Wendell Holmes, devoted his life principally to medicine. His name, however, was made famous through his poem, "Old Ironsides," by which he saved America's most famous battleship from destruction when her fighting days were ended. Read: Holmes' POEMS ............................. Vol. 42, pp. 1365-1370 Sep 11: Adam Smith's WEALTH OF NATIONSWages—Why and How Much? What regulates wages, on what do they depend? Adam Smith, world's authority on economic problems, advances his theories on these matters. Read from Adam Smith's WEALTH OF NATIONS ...... Vol. 10, pp. 66-74 Sep 12: SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESELove Letters of Elizabeth Browning In all literary history there is no happier love story than that of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. During their secret courtship Miss Barrett sent Browning many beautiful love letters written in verse. Read: SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE ...... Vol. 41, pp. 923-932 Sep 13: Bunyan's PILGRIM'S PROGRESSGood That Came from a Game Pit From cockfighting, bear baiting, and like sports, the wife of John Bunyan converted him to a life of humility and reverence. While imprisoned for preaching, he used his idle time in writing a fantastic story of a soul's salvation—probably the most famous allegory ever written. Read from Bunyan's PILGRIM'S PROGRESS ........... Vol. 15, pp. 13-23 Sep 14: Dante's DIVINE COMEDYDante and St. Peter Dante, having journeyed through Hell and Purgatory, comes at last to St. Peter on his throne. St. Peter calls for the aid of St. James and St. John before passing final judgment on Dante's righteousness. Read from Dante's DIVINE COMEDY ............ Vol. 20, pp. 387-395 Sep 15: Washington's FAREWELL ADDRESSRefused to Serve Three Terms George Washington retired to private life in 1796, entrusting "the preservation of the Union" to the "love of liberty." His last appeal is a vital message to American citizens, as pertinent today as when he penned it. Read: Washington's FAREWELL ADDRESS ......... Vol. 43, pp. 233-249 Sep 16: HOLINSHED'S CHRONICLESPenalty for Silence "Such felons as stand mute [do not confess] are pressed to death by huge weights laid upon a board that lieth over their breast and a sharp stone under their backs." Old English punishments, recorded by Holinshed, make startling reading. Read from HOLINSHED'S CHRONICLES .............. Vol. 35, pp. 363-370 Sep 17: WHITTIER'S POEMSRomance on a New England Farm "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been.' " On this theme Whittier based the story of a fair farmer girl and a rich judge. Read: WHITTIER'S POEMS .................... Vol. 42, pp. 1351-1364 Sep 18: Dana's TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MASTHome After Storms and Adventures "Every sight was full of beauty. We were coming back to our homes, and the signs of civilization from which we had been so long banished—" wrote Dana, as his ship entered Boston Harbor. Read from Dana's Two YEARS BEFORE THE MAST ....... Vol. 23, pp. 348-356 Sep 19: Cervantes' DON QUIXOTEHumor That Survived Slavery Held as a Moorish slave for five years, Cervantes was submitted to almost daily tortures. But even the horrors of slavery could not dull his sense of humor, as evinced by his most witty and amusing novel. Read from Cervantes' DON QUIXOTE .......... Vol. 14, pp. 48-54 Sep 20: THE KORANWomen's Rights in the Harem The Koran defines the powers of a husband over his wives. Thus a woman unfaithful to her lord may be walled up alive. Read from THE KORAN ........................ Vol. 45, pp. 967-974 Sep 21: Virgil's AENEIDAeneas and the Old Witch The Sybil, an old witch, personally conducts Aeneas through the gate and into the jaws of hell, where terrors abound on every hand and frightful mysterious forms rule. There he is told of the greatness and glory that was to come. Read from Virgil's AENEID ................... Vol. 13, pp. 207-218 Sep 22: FROISSART'S CHRONICLESA King for a Souvenir In the days when kings rode to battle leading their troops it was possible to make good the boast of the doughboy: "I'll bring you a king for a souvenir." Read from FROISSART'S CHRONICLES .............. Vol. 35, pp. 42-53 Sep 23: Montaigne's TO LEARN HOW TO DIEDying Concerns Every Man The Romans made an art of dying. The Egyptians looked on death with complacency. Moderns fear it. Montaigne argues that the purpose of philosophy is to teach men how to die. Read from Montaigne's To LEARN HOW TO DIE ...... Vol. 32, pp. 9-22 Sep 24: Plutarch's THEMISTOCLESCitizens Lured from Their Homes When the serpent of Minerva disappeared from her temple, the priests said that the goddess had left Athens for the sea. Moreover, the oracles urged the Athenians to seek safety in their ships. Themistocles prompted these deceits. Why? Read from Plutarch's THEMISTOCLES ................ Vol. 12, pp. 13-23 Sep 25: Mill's AUTOBIOGRAPHYA Courtship of Twenty Years John Stuart Mill in his autobiography boldly tells of his love for his friend's wife. After twenty years, she was freed from her first husband and was happily married to John Stuart Mill. Read the account of Mill's courtship. Read from Mill's AUTOBIOGRAPHY ......... Vol. 25, pp. 116-120, 149 Sep 26: Cervantes' DON QUIXOTEAnd the World Rocked with Laughter The gaunt lunatic, Don Quixote, saw the world through glasses colored with romanticism that had gone out of style hundreds of years before he was born. Cervantes made the world laugh at the exaggerated stories it had been devouring. Read from Cervantes' DON QUIXOTE ............... Vol. 14, pp. 29-35 Sep 27: PASCAL'S THOUGHTSPascal's Fundamentals of Religion To-day we have Fundamentalists and Modernists, each striving for the same goal. Pascal, two hundred and fifty years ago, gave his precepts of the fundamentals of religious thought. Read from PASCAL'S THOUGHTS ................ Vol. 48, pp. 181-192 Sep 28: Pasteur's THE GERM THEORYHe Introduced the Germ Proof that germs cause many contagious diseases was established by Louis Pasteur. His discoveries revolutionized modern science and lessened the ravages of every type of disease. Read: Pasteur's THE GERM THEORY ................ Vol. 38, pp. 364-370 Sep 29: SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUSProphet of 400 Million People Confucius was a Chinese magistrate in 500 B.C. He lost the favor of the Emperor and wandered from city to city, teaching and giving counsel. After his death, Emperor and people alike bowed before his shrine. Read from SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS .................. Vol. 44, pp. 5-14 Sep 30: Emerson's MANNERSA Gentleman According to Emerson An etiquette book and a good tailor do not always produce a gentleman—neither does the Social Register include only gentlemen. Emerson by quaint stories tells how fashion and manners combine to make that rare product—a gentleman. Read from Emerson's MANNERS ...................... Vol. 5, pp. 199-208 |