Search

Harvard Classics - Reading Guide - May


May 1: PERSONS ONE WOULD WISH TO HAVE SEEN

What Would You Ask Judas Iscariot?

Once Hazlitt and his friends took to discussing the famous people
they would like to meet—Guy Fawkes, Sir Isaac Newton,
Chaucer, Boccaccio, Cromwell, Garrick, and Judas.

Read: PERSONS ONE WOULD WISH TO HAVE SEEN .....  Vol. 27, pp. 270-283



May 2: Faraday's MAGNETISM—ELECTRICITY

First Sparks of Electricity

Everything has to have a beginning, so too with the science of
electricity. Here we learn the very rudiments, the inceptions
of science that have revolutionized the world. Faraday explains
in a simple way the truths of electricity.

Read: Faraday's MAGNETISM—ELECTRICITY ......  Vol. 30, pp. 61-72



May 3: Machiavelli's THE PRINCE

Why "Machiavellian"?

Traveling from court to court in the stirring days of the Renaissance,
Machiavelli studied the intrigues of princes. His writings
have affected the destiny of mighty dynasties.

Read from Machiavelli's THE PRINCE .................   Vol. 36, pp. 7-17



May 4: SCIENCE AND CULTURE

A Champion of Science

When science was struggling for a place in popular education,
Huxley distinguished himself as its champion. While the arts
were to beautify life and increase pleasure, Huxley saw science
as a means of benefiting man's prosperity.

Read from SCIENCE AND CULTURE ..........   Vol. 28, pp. 209-319




May 5: Calderon's LIFE IS A DREAM

Strange Adventures in Man's Clothes

Disguised as a man, a Russian noblewoman exploring the mountains
of Poland came upon a secret prison. Fate linked the
lives of this woman and the unknown prisoner.

Read from Calderon's LIFE IS A DREAM .............   Vol. 26, pp. 7-21



May 6: CELLINI'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

A Poor Artist Defies a Rich Duke

"Benvenuto, the figure cannot succeed in bronze," so spoke the
patron Duke. Cellini, stung to fury, passionately burst out:
"You do not understand art." Feverishly he began the casting
of the statue—but read his own account of the tilt with the Duke.

Read from CELLINI'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY ........   Vol. 31, pp. 373-384




May 7: BROWNING'S POEMS

A Bishop Bargains

A haughty aristocrat, who murdered his wife for enjoying life
more than he, now bargaining for a new bride; a crafty bishop
begging and bullying his heirs for a tomb richer than that of
his rival; these are subjects of Browning's pen.

Read from BROWNING'S POEMS .........   Vol. 42, pp. 1074-1078



May 8: Sheridan's SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL

Behind the Screen in t h e School for Scandal

Lady Teazle hides in haste when her husband is unexpectedly
announced. Situations which set many tongues wagging and
fed the fire of gossip in Scandal-land, startle the reader.

Read from Sheridan's SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL .....  Vol. 18, pp. 164-176




May 9: Schiller's ON AESTHETIC EDUCATION

Relation of Art to Freedom

Who has ever thought the arts had anything to do with freedom?
Schiller did. Forced by a German noble to enter a military
school, he escaped. Struggling to achieve freedom, he wrote
a series of letters on the relation of art to freedom.

Read: Schiller's ON AESTHETIC EDUCATION .....   Vol. 32, pp. 209-217



May 10: Raleigh's DISCOVERY OF GUIANA

A Knight Among Cannibals

Savages who drink the powdered bones of their dead mixed with
wine, Amazons who hold riotous festivals, the worship of golden
statues, all the primitive wonders of Guiana are described by
the famous Elizabethan gallant, Sir Walter Raleigh.

Read from Raleigh's DISCOVERY OF GUIANA ....  Vol. 33, pp. 326-341




May 11: Webster's THE DUCHESS OF MALFI

Latest Gossip in Malfi

Latest news abroad in Malfi: The Duchess has run off with her
butler. But this happened before the days of newspapers or
radio, so Webster made from it an exciting play.

Read from Webster's THE DUCHESS OF MALFI ....  Vol. 47, pp. 721-737



May 12: ROSSETTI'S POEMS

His Wife's Golden Hair Enshrined His Poems

The manuscripts of many of the best poems of Rossetti were
buried with his wife. Friends prevailed upon him to allow
them to be exhumed—and these poems, once buried with the
dead, are now a treasure of the living.

Read: ROSSETTI'S POEMS ....   Vol. 42, pp. 1149-1153, 1178-1181



May 13: Burns' THE TWA DOGS

What Does Your Dog Think of You?

Two dogs fell a-gossiping about their masters and about a dog's
life among the humble Scotch folk. Each "rejoic'd they werena
men but dogs; an' each took aff his several way."

Read: Burns' THE TWA DOGS ................   Vol. 6, pp. 151-157



May 14: VACCINATION AGAINST SMALLPOX

Jenner's Amazing Smallpox Cure

Edward Jenner found that disease in the heel of a horse, transmitted
through a cow to the dairy attendants, was an agent in
making human beings immune from smallpox. His amazing
experiments inaugurated a new epoch.

Read: VACCINATION AGAINST SMALLPOX .........   Vol. 38, pp. 145-154




May 15: Dante's DIVINE COMEDY

Glimpses Into the Beyond

The best part of the Divine Comedy for a few minutes' 
reading is the "Inferno." There the reader finds the most vivid
descriptions, the most startling and unforgettable pictures.

Read from Dante's DIVINE COMEDY ........   Vol. 20, pp. 102-114




May 16: THE POETRY OF THE CELTIC RACES

Favorite Superstitions of Celtic Imagination

Chessboards on which, of their own accord, black pieces played
against white; chariots that swiftly turned hither and yon without
a driver; pots in which a coward's meat would not cook—
all these are woven into bewitching stories.

Read from THE POETRY OF THE CELTIC RACES ....  Vol. 32, pp. 145-155




May 17: Plato's APOLOGY OF SOCRATES

An Honest Life's Reward

Condemned for impiety, Socrates felt so justified in the virtue
of his past action that instead of receiving a death sentence, he
told the judges he should be maintained at public expense as a
public benefactor.

Read: Plato's APOLOGY OF SOCRATES ..........   Vol. 2, pp. 24-30



May 18: ANDERSEN'S TALES

The Night Life of Flowers

Flowers often tire of their stationary life and sometimes at night
frolic away to a ball in a beautiful castle. Thus a fanciful storyteller
accounts for their drooping condition in the morning.

Read: ANDERSEN'S TALES ........................    Vol. 17, pp. 334-341




May 19: Epictetus' GOLDEN SAYINGS

Golden Advice on Manners

When a man is invited to a banquet he must be satisfied with
the dishes put before him. Epictetus reasoned that man should
be content with what life offers, and in serenity find happiness.

Read: Epictetus' GOLDEN SAYINGS ............   Vol. 2, pp. 128-138



May 20: Shakespeare's SONNETS

Shakespeare's Finest Work

The most concentrated beauty of Shakespeare's unbounded creative
genius is found in his sonnets. Written as personal messages
to friends and not intended for publication, they reveal the
inner Shakespeare more truly than do any of his great plays.

Read from Shakespeare's SONNETS ...............  Vol. 40, pp. 270-276



May 21: Pope's ESSAY ON MAN

An Honest Man Defined

The sharp tongue of Alexander Pope made him celebrated, yet
widely feared. In a representative product of his versatile pen,
he gracefully combines his flashing wit with sage advice.

Read from Pope's ESSAY ON MAN ...........   Vol. 40, pp. 430-440



May 22: Manzoni's I PROMESSI SPOSI

True Love in Difficulty

Because of a fancy for a peasant girl, the tyrannical lord of an
Italian village sent desperadoes to threaten the priest if he married
the girl to her village lover.

Read from Manzoni's I PROMESSI SPOSI .............  Vol. 21, pp. 7-24



May 23: HOOD'S POEMS

A Plea for an Unfortunate

From the river her body was tenderly lifted—the girl who could
find no place in the vast city. Thomas Hood pleads for her—
eloquently and justly. Read this gem of pathos.

Read: HOOD'S POEMS ........................   Vol. 41, pp. 907-911




May 24: Adam Smith's WEALTH OF NATIONS

They Had No Money—Yet Bought and Sold

Debts were not always paid in money. Not so long ago the
butcher paid for his keg of beer with a slab of beef, and oxen
were exchanged for land and wives. Adam Smith tells the interesting
story of the origin and use of money.

Read from Adam Smith's WEALTH OF NATIONS ......  Vol. 10, pp. 22-33



May 25: Emerson's HEROISM

Do What You Fear

Emerson startled the world by fearlessly declaring his beliefs.
Such apparent paradoxes as we find in his inspirational essay,
"Heroism," makes him the most stimulating yet profound thinker
America has produced.

Read: Emerson's HEROISM ....................  Vol. 5, pp. 121-131




May 26: Shakespeare's KING LEAR

Daughter Declares Her Love

Goneril and Regan falsely swore they loved their father, King
Lear, more than life itself. Cordelia could find no words to express
her sincere devotion. Then King Lear made the decision
that started a series of exciting events.

Read from Shakespeare's KING LEAR ...........  Vol. 46, pp. 215-225



May 27: THE EDUCATION OF THE HUMAN RACE

Lessing's Courageous Stand for Toleration

To advance freedom of thought, Lessing published an essay of
one hundred paragraphs outlining the history of religion. The
wrath of orthodox churchmen was hurled at his head, and Lessing
was left alone to defend his daring theories.

Read from THE EDUCATION OF THE HUMAN RACE .....  Vol. 32, pp. 185-195



May 28: MOORE'S POEMS

Master of Melodious Lyrics

Any one of these poems, " The Harp That Once Through Tara's
Halls," "The Last Rose of Summer," "The Light of Other
Days," would alone have made Moore immortal.

Read: MOORE'S POEMS .....................   Vol. 41, pp. 816-822



May 29: THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS

Adventures in Bagdad

A Bagdad merchant dreamed of the money he would make from
the sale of a tray of glassware, and of marrying the king's daughter.
But, daydreaming, he kicked over the tray.

Read from THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS .....  Vol. 16, pp. 177-184




May 30: Longfellow's THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP

When the Throb of the War Drum Is Stifl'd

At the close of the war, a torn and bleeding nation set about to
rebuild its shattered frame. The result was a stronger nation
rising from an almost disrupted union.

Read: Longfellow's THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP ....   Vol. 42, pp. 1280-1290




May 31: Whitman's PREFACE TO LEAVES OF GRASS

America's Most Surprising Poet

Walt Whitman is the most original and startling of modern poets.
An irony of his life is that while he wrote for the contemporary
masses, only a limited number of followers appreciated his
genius, now universally recognized.

Read: Whitman's PREFACE TO LEAVES OF GRASS ....   Vol. 39, pp. 388-398