Harvard Classics - Reading Guide - June
Jun 1: Marlowe's DR. FAUSTUS
Thrilling Play by Tutor of Shakespeare
For the best blank verse in English, read "Dr. Faustus," the masterpiece
of Marlowe, who gave Shakespeare lessons in playwriting.
This genius knew the secret of gripping drama.
Read from Marlowe's DR. FAUSTUS ................... Vol. 19, pp. 241-250
Jun 2: Rousseau's A SAVOYARD VICAR
A "Back to Nature" movement in the seventeenth century was
headed by Rousseau, who believed that civilization was degrading.
To save money for his work, he entrusted each of his children
to the tender mercies of a foundling house.
Read from Rousseau's A SAVOYARD VICAR ..... Vol. 34, pp. 239-249
Jun 3: MOTION OF THE HEART AND BLOOD
Pulse Aids Epochal Discoveries
Galileo, by holding his pulse while watching a swinging cathedral
lamp, evolved a theory that made clocks possible. Harvey,
by feeling his pulse, educed that arteries carry blood.
Read from MOTION OF THE HEART AND BLOOD .... Vol. 38, pp. 75-86
Jun 4: Goethe's EGMONT
Spain sent the Duke of Alva to subdue the Netherlands. In
quelling disorder he killed the people's hero, Count Egmont.
From this story Goethe made a famous play.
Read from Goethe's EGMONT ............ Vol. 19, pp. 253-259
Jun 5: Adam Smith's WEALTH OF NATIONS
Even to-day rent is paid in terms of human food. It sounds
primitive, but it happens right at your door—here in the United
States, in compliance with a law as old as man.
Read from Adam Smith's WEALTH OF NATIONS .... Vol. 10, pp. 149-157
Jun 6: Dana's TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST
A crew faced the hazardous prospect of rounding the bleak Cape
Horn in midwinter. Imagine the terror when a sudden scream
pierced the misery-laden air. What was it? A man overboard
or a lost soul?
Read from Dana's Two YEARS BEFORE THE MAST .... Vol. 23, pp. 285-295
Jun 7: HAMLET
Do you know the rest of Ophelia's famous line? "Hamlet" is
the most popular play in the entire world. It has been quoted
so often that reading it is like meeting an old friend.
Read from HAMLET ........................ Vol. 46, pp. 176-183
Jun 8: WOOLMAN'S JOURNAL
The plain, homely appearance of Woolman impressed unfavorably
the orthodox Quakers in London whom he was sent to
meet. They told him his coming was not necessary. But
Woolman spoke with such simplicity and sincerity that even
those most opposed became his friends.
Read from WOOLMAN'S JOURNAL ............. Vol. 1, pp. 302-312
Jun 9: THE PSALMS
The songs of David pleased King Saul, but when David became
too popular with the people, the king feared for his throne and
banished him.
Read from THE PSALMS ..................... Vol. 44, pp. 168-179
Jun 10: Sophocles' OEDIPUS, KING OF THEBES
King OEdipus of Thebes as a babe was abandoned on Mount
Cithaeron to die. Years after he was thought dead he returns
to Thebes and unknowingly slays his father, marries his mother—
and thus fulfills the word of the oracle.
Read from Sophocles' OEDIPUS, KING OF THEBES ... Vol. 8, pp. 209-223
Jun 11: Spenser's THE EPITHALAMIUM
To commemorate his marriage to the beautiful Elizabeth, Spenser
wrote one of the most enchanting nuptial hymns.
Read: Spenser's THE EPITHALAMIUM ........... Vol. 40, pp. 234-245
Jun 12: THE BHAGAVAD-GITA
"Two armies of ancient India were about to engage in a momentous
battle. Arjuna, heroic leader of the Pandu hosts, foreseeing
great slaughter, hesitates. He implores the divine Vishnu to
intervene. The conversation of the warrior and the god is a
gem of Hindu literature.
Read from THE BHAGAVAD-GITA ................ Vol. 45, pp. 785-798
Jun 13: Plutarch's ARISTIDES
Athens Flouts Aristides
Athenians gave Aristides the title of "The Just." Later they
wanted to banish him. One voter wanted Aristides banished
merely because he was weary of hearing him called " The Just."
Read from Plutarch's ARISTIDES ............... Vol. 12, pp. 85-94
Jun 14: Plato's CRITO
"Socrates unceasingly strove for beauty, truth, and perfection.
Sentenced to death on a false charge, he refused to escape from
the death cell, even when opportunity was offered.
Read: Plato's CRITO ............................... Vol. 2, pp. 31-43
Jun 15: Froissart's WAT TYLER'S REBELLION
Led by Wat Tyler in 1381, great troops of villagers and rustics
marched on London—laid siege to the Tower—sacked the apartments
of the King and murdered his ministers. Froissart gives
first-hand information of this rebellion.
Read from Froissart's WAT TYLER'S REBELLION ....... Vol. 35, pp. 60-72
Jun 16: Byron's MANFRED
The inaccessible mountain tops were ever venerated as the haunts
of all mysteries. Manfred, hero of Byron's play, seeks upon the
high Alps the aid of spirits, specters, and goblins. What unearthly
adventures await him!
Read from Byron's MANFRED .................... Vol. 18, pp. 415-428
Jun 17: Eliot's BRIEF NARRATIVE
Risked His Scalp in Prayer
John Eliot put his life at the mercy of the redmen to get them
to listen to his preachings. He wrote vividly about his settlements
of Christian Indians. Now villages and Indians have disappeared.
Only his story remains.
Read: Eliot's BRIEF NARRATIVE ................ Vol. 43, pp. 138-146
Jun 18: GRIMM'S TALES
Cinderella inspires all alike—the artist's brush, the author's pen,
the child's fancy. To-day she is a living, vital character to be seen
on stage and screen. No one ever forgets her lightning change.
Read from GRIMM'S TALES ....................... Vol. 17, pp. 98-104
Jun 19: Holinshed's OUR ENGLISH DOGS
Freaks of the Dog Fad in England
A writer of Elizabethan times said that no other country had as
many dogs as England. Once Henry VII ordered all mastiffs
to be hung because they "durst presume to fight against the
lion," England's regal beast.
Read: Holinshed's OUR ENGLISH DOGS ....... Vol. 35, pp. 350-356
Jun 20: Darwin's VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE
Galapagos Islands are the home of fearless birds, to which horses,
cows, and men are only roosting places. Darwin saw the South
Pacific when few travelers knew that wonderland.
Read from Darwin's VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE .... Vol. 29, pp. 403-413
Jun 21: Ruskin's SESAME
Why gossip with lesser persons when you might be talking to
queens and kings? Just how we may get to talk to queens
and kings, Ruskin delightfully points out and escorts us to the
very doors of the audience chamber.
Read from Ruskin's SESAME .................. Vol. 28, pp. 99-110
Jun 22: Pliny's LETTERS
Pliny, who lived in the first century after Christ, tells of a ghost
who dragged his jangling chains through a house in Athens and
so terrified the inmates that they fled panic-stricken. But the
ghost met his equal.
Read from Pliny's LETTERS .................... Vol. 9, pp. 311-314
Jun 23: Mill's AUTOBIOGRAPHY
John Stuart Mill—one of the greatest intellects in England—tells
how his father educated him. At the early age of three years
he began the study of Greek, and at twelve started writing a
book of his own .
Read from Mill's AUTOBIOGRAPHY ............. Vol. 25, pp. 9-20
Jun 24: THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS
A handsome young man was seen to eat only with his left hand,
which was contrary to the customs of Arabia. The youth, when
urged, told why he used only his left hand, and revealed a
story of love and adventure and the lover's need for gold—all
happening in ancient Cairo.
Read from THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS .... Vol. 16, pp. 120-133
Jun 25: HERRICK'S POEMS
Advice to Virgins from a Wise Man
"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today, to-morrow will be
dying? "Herrick was only a humble country minister with a
wealth of wisdom and a keen appreciation of life, which he
expressed in lyrics of wonderful beauty and melody.
Read: HERRICK'S POEMS .................. Vol. 40, pp. 334-340
Jun 26: BEOWULF
In the Lair of the Green-Eyed Monster
At the bottom of the ocean was the home of the monster who
had desolated the king's halls. Beowulf, bravest of warriors,
descended beneath the waves to fight the beast. The king's
men, waiting above, saw the waves become colored with blood.
Hero or monster—who had won?
Read from BEOWULF ............................ Vol. 49, pp. 45-50
Jun 27: BACON'S ESSAYS
There is a human trait most poisonous to a man's blood. Man
seeks to avoid it because he knows that it lies like a curse upon
him. Just what is the poisonous human failing? Who are most
subject to it? Bacon tells you in one of his best essays.
Read from BACON'S ESSAYS ..................... Vol. 3, pp. 22-26
Jun 28: Darwin's VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE
A very definite etiquette is followed by a stranger on the vast
plains of South America. "Ave Maria" is the common salutation.
If the stranger is on horseback, he does not alight until
invited to do so by his host. Once in the house, the stranger must
converse a while before asking shelter for the night.
Read from Darwin's VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE ...... Vol. 29, pp. 51-60
Jun 29: Shakespeare's MACBETH
Macbeth, spurred on by the ambitious and crafty Lady Macbeth,
committed murder to secure the crown of Scotland. But he
paid dearly for his gain. Ghostly guests appeared at his banquet
and threatened him with dire threats.
Read from Shakespeare's MACBETH .......... Vol. 46, pp. 357-365
Jun 30: Mill's ON LIBERTY
"Democracy" has not always been the choice of oppressed people.
The tyranny of the majority is a recognized evil as harmful as the
misrule of a king. And rather than exchange a lesser evil for a
greater, a rule by king has often been preferred to a republic.
Read: Mill's ON LIBERTY ..................... Vol. 25, pp. 195-203
