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
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
"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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
