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The Magic Border: Poetry and Fragments from My Soft Machine
by Arlo ParksFrom Arlo Parks, Grammy Award-nominated recording artist and “voice of a generation”—a stunning debut book of poetry and a world-building companion to her sophomore album My Soft Machine.“Poetry was my place, my little clearing in the forest, where I could quietly put everything I was holding. I’m not sure what gave me the courage to open up that space to you but here I am, doing it. I am proud to show you this personal lens that life shimmers through. This book is no longer mine. It is yours.”—Arlo ParksThe Magic Border is the debut book from the Grammy-nominated, Mercury Prize winning musician and poet Arlo Parks. This remarkable collection features Arlo’s handpicked original poems alongside exclusive photographs by friend and collaborator Daniyel Lowden in addition to the complete lyrics to her critically lauded sophomore album My Soft Machine. A deeply personal literary tapestry, The Magic Border beautifully showcases the full breadth of Arlo’s singular artistry.
The Magic Cube of Ancient Chinese Poetry: A Linguistic Perspective (China Perspectives)
by Ge ZhaoguangThis book focuses on the linguistic perspective of classical Chinese poetry and its changes and development in diff erent historical periods. It off ers a combination of theoretical analysis and aesthetic appreciation of exemplary poems. The author discusses the following aspects of classical Chinese poetry: the relationships between background and meaning in the interpretation of a poem; how readers can deal with the tangle of linguistic approach and intuitive perception in interpreting poems; the engagement and disengagement of the poet’s thought fl ow with and from the word order of the verse; the tonal and metrical schemes; and the three special features of classical Chinese poetry: the signifi cance and role of allusions, “Xu Zi”, and “Shi Yan”. Last, the author analyses the development of Chinese poetry from the Vernacular Song Dynasty Style to the Vernacular Modern Style. It will be a great read for students and scholars of East Asian studies, Chinese studies, linguistics, and those interested in Chinese poetry in general. The book aims to lead readers to discover a fresh and amazing world of classical Chinese poetry, a fantastic panoramic picture of its beauty and charm, and a poetic feast that the reader may not otherwise be privileged to enjoy.
The Magic Hour: 100 Poems from the Tuesday Afternoon Poetry Club
by Charlotte Moore"Reading a poem gives us a glimpse of past and future possibilities, other worlds and other lives. It makes a gift of unfamiliar words, and refreshes parts of the mind that other art forms cannot reach..."Charlotte Moore, a writer and former English teacher, has loved poetry all her life. Keen to be able to read and talk about poems with others, she set up a weekly poetry club for anyone interested to join her round her fireplace. <P><P>This book brings together a selection of the Tuesday Afternoon Poetry Club's favourite poems, some well-known, some less so. The poems are grouped into themes - from home and lovers, to war and the planets - each framed with a little context from Charlotte and delightful insights from members of the group. <P><P>The Magic Hour offers a source of lifelong pleasure and nourishment, with words to delight and console, while reminding us of moments of personal significance. It demonstrates how we can all benefit from the refreshment of poetry in our daily lives.
The Magic Pocket: Selected Poems
by Michio Mado Empress MichikoHere is a selection of verses by Michio Mado, chosen and translated by the Empress Michiko of Japan. Winner of the 1994 Hans Christian Andersen Author Award, Mado is the much-loved author of poems and songs for children in Japan. The Empress introduced his work to the world outside of Japan in The Animals: Selected Poems, an earlier book. Her translations, like the originals, are playful and childlike in their imagery. For example: FINGERS Fingers Fingers Fingers, All in a row. No quarrels. Nails Nails Nails, Fingers' faces. Sweet! The poems are given in the original Japanese, facing their translations in English. For each poem, the internationally known Japanese artist Mitsumasa Anno, winner of the 1984 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration, has made enchanting pictures that catch the full flavor of the verses. A companion to their earlier collaboration, The Animals, this is a very special book for children of many cultures in the United States.
The Magicians of Scotland
by Ron Butlin&“A lively collection of poems that will entertain, move and frequently amuse.&” —Alexander McCall Smith The author of The Magicians of Edinburgh returns with a new volume that celebrates and interrogates Scotland and its people at a crucial turning point in their history. Themes explored include the country&’s past, present, and future, its landscape and its people, its myths and its politics—from Bannockburn, Flodden to Faslane, the Loch Ness Monster, wind farms, Hutton to Higgs, Bonnie Prince Charlie to Donald Trump. Accessible, serious yet entertaining, it reminds us that &“Butlin is the best, the most productive Scottish poet of his generation&” (Douglas Dunn).
The Magnetic Fields: The Magnetic Fields And The Immaculate Conception (Atlas Anti-classics Ser. #Vol. 6)
by Andre Breton Philippe SoupaultAn indispensible classic of French poetry, this is a new translation of Breton and Soupault's experiment with automatic writing, and also the first known work of literary surrealism. This edition includes the original French text.In the spring of 1919, two young men, André Breton and Philippe Soupault, both in a state of shock after World War I, embarked on an experiment. Sick of the literary cultivation of &“voice,&” sick of the &“well-written,&” they wanted to unleash the power of the word and to create &“a new morality&” to replace &“the prevailing morality, the source of all our trials and tribulations.&” They had a plan. They would write for a week on every day of the week and they would write fast, as fast as possible, in complete secrecy. When the week was over, the writing would be done. No touching up. This was how The Magnetic Fields, the first sustained exercise in automatic writing, came to be. Charlotte Mandell&’s brilliant new translation reveals a key work of twentieth-century literature.
The Magpie at Night: The Complete Poems of Li Qingzhao (1084–1151)
by Li QingzhaoA luminous new translation of the greatest woman poet in Chinese history, highlighting Li Qingzhao's iconoclastic verse and showcasing her visionary portrait of the inner workings of the artist’s mind.The Magpie at Night is a lyrical and searching portrait of the inner life of Li Qingzhao, one of the greatest poets in Chinese literary history. These spare and arresting poems evoke with rare immediacy the quiet and haunting beauty of country life during the Song dynasty; the unseen, restive labor of the poet; and Li Qingzhao’s bracing and complex take on what it means to create art as a woman in the shadow of exile, war, imprisonment, and an unwelcoming literary establishment.In Wendy Chen’s splendid new translation, each of Li Qingzhao’s ci—lyrics that were originally set to music—is as sharp and fresh as the edge of a new spring leaf. These richly textured bolts of melody tell a story that will resonate with scholars eager to restore this iconic figure to the canon of classical Chinese poetry, as well as with contemporary readers who will relate to the strikingly modern mode in which she delivers her wry, unsentimental, and bracing thoughts on art and posterity.
The Mahabharata: An English Version Based on Selected Verses
by Chakravarthi V. NarasimhanIntended to be a treatise on life itself, this epic poem embraces religion and ethics, polity and government, philosophy and the pursuit of salvation. This collection of more than 4,000 verses is supplemented by a glossary, genealogical tables, and an index correlating the verses with the original Sanskrit text.
The Maidens: The instant Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Silent Patient
by Alex MichaelidesWe all keep secrets. Even from ourselves. 'A thrilling, heart-in-throat ride' STEPHEN FRY 'An absolute jaw-dropper' LUCY FOLEY 'Elegant, sinister, stylish' CHRIS WHITAKER 'Grips from start to finish' HARRIET TYCE * * * * * From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together Greek mythology, murder, and obsession...Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike - particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana's niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge.Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld?When another body is found, Mariana's obsession with proving Fosca's guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything - including her own life. * * * * *'There's definitely a flavour of The Secret History to Alex Michaelides's second novel ... The Maidens is a compelling read, and delivers its Hellenic thrills in style.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'A book which screams 'make me into a TV series' ... his writing, especially his characterisation, possesses a unique sparkle and more promise than most other writers.' DAILY MAIL 'Nothing short of genius.' WOMAN & HOME 'Elegant, sinister, stylish and thrilling, The Maidens answers the weighty question, how do you go about following one of the biggest thrillers of the past decade? You write something even better.' CHRIS WHITAKER, bestselling author of WE BEGIN AT THE END 'Grips from intriguing start to horrifying finish ... A brilliant achievement.' HARRIET TYCE 'A page-turner of the first order' DAVID BALDACCI 'The greatest campus novel since The Secret History by Donna Tartt ... with a climatic twist that you will NEVER see coming.' TONY PARSONS 'A stunning psychological thriller ... Michaelides is on a roll.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Maidens: The instant Sunday Times bestseller from the author of The Silent Patient
by Alex MichaelidesWe all keep secrets. Even from ourselves.'A thrilling, heart-in-throat ride' STEPHEN FRY'An absolute jaw-dropper' LUCY FOLEY'Elegant, sinister, stylish' CHRIS WHITAKER'Grips from start to finish' HARRIET TYCE* * * * *YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE MAIDENS.The Maidens are Cambridge University's most exclusive society, whose members are selected by the charismatic professor of Greek tragedy, Edward Fosca.A SECRETIVE SET OF THE BRIGHTEST, MOST CAPTIVATING STUDENTS.When one of the Maidens is murdered, grieving young therapist Mariana Andros is drawn back to the idyllic campus where she was once herself a student.THE GROUP FROM WHICH EACH VICTIM WILL BE CHOSEN.Because beneath the university's ancient traditions and beauty is a web of secrets, jealousy and lies. And when the killer threatens the person she loves most, Mariana will give anything to stop them - even her own life... From the #1 global bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together Greek mythology, murder, and obsession...* * * * *'There's definitely a flavour of The Secret History to Alex Michaelides's second novel ... The Maidens is a compelling read, and delivers its Hellenic thrills in style.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'A book which screams 'make me into a TV series' ... his writing, especially his characterisation, possesses a unique sparkle and more promise than most other writers.' DAILY MAIL'Nothing short of genius.' WOMAN & HOME'How do you go about following one of the biggest thrillers of the past decade? You write something even better.' CHRIS WHITAKER, bestselling author of WE BEGIN AT THE END'Grips from intriguing start to horrifying finish ... A brilliant achievement.'HARRIET TYCE'A page-turner of the first order'DAVID BALDACCI'The greatest campus novel since The Secret History by Donna Tartt ... with a climatic twist that you will NEVER see coming.'TONY PARSONS'A stunning psychological thriller ... Michaelides is on a roll.'PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Mainstream Companion to Scottish Literature
by Trevor RoyleThe Mainstream Companion to Scottish Literature is the most comprehensive reference guide to Scotland's literature, covering a period from the earliest times to the early 1990s. It includes over 600 essays on the lives and works of the principal poets, novelists, dramatists critics and men and women of letters who have written in English, Scots or Gaelic. Thus, as well as such major writers as Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, Gavin Douglas, Allan Ramsay, Robert Fergusson, Robert Burns, Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and Hugh MacDiarmid, the Companion also lists many minor writers whose work might otherwise have been overlooked in any survey of Scottish literature.Also included here are entries on the lives of other more peripheral writers such as historians, philosophers, diarists and divines whose work has made a contribution to Scottish letters.Other essays range over such general subjects as the principal work of major writers, literary movements, historical events, the world of printing and publishing, folklore, journalism, drama and Gaelic. A feature of the book is the inclusion of the bibliography of each writer and reference to the major critical works. This comprehensive guide is an essential tool for the serious student of Scottish literature as well as being an ideal guide and companion for the general reader.
The Major Victorian Poets: Reconsiderations (Routledge Revivals)
by Isobel ArmstrongFirst published in 1969, this edition collection brings together a series of essays offering a re-evaluation of Victorian poetry in the light of early 20th Century criticism. The essays in this collection concentrate upon the poets whose reputations suffered from the great redirection of energy in English criticism initiated in this century by Eliot, Richards and Leavis. What theses poets wrote about, the values they expressed, the form of the poems, the language they used, all these were examined and found wanting in some radical way. One of the results of this criticism was the renewal of interest in metaphysical and eighteenth-century poetry and corresponding ebb of enthusiasm for Romantic poetry and for Victorian poetry in particular. Most of the essays in this book take as their starting point questions raised by the debate on Victorian poetry, both earlier in this century and in the more recent past. There are essays on the poetry of Tennyson, Browning and Arnold, on that of Clough, who until recently has been neglected, and Hopkins, because of, rather than in spite of, the fact that he is usually considered to be a modern poet. The volume is especially valuable in that it will give a clearer understanding of the nature of Victorian poetry, concentrating as it does on those areas of a poet’s work where critical discussion seems most necessary.
The Making of Poetry: Coleridge, the Wordsworths, and Their Year of Marvels
by Adam NicolsonBrimming with poetry, art, and nature writing—Wordsworth and Coleridge as you've never seen them beforeJune 1797 to September 1798 is the most famous year in English poetry. Out of it came Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and “Kubla Khan,” as well as his unmatched hymns to friendship and fatherhood, and William Wordsworth’s revolutionary songs in Lyrical Ballads along with “Tintern Abbey,” Wordsworth's paean to the unity of soul and cosmos, love and understanding.In The Making of Poetry, Adam Nicolson embeds himself in the reality of this unique moment, exploring the idea that these poems came from this particular place and time, and that only by experiencing the physical circumstances of the year, in all weathers and all seasons, at night and at dawn, in sunlit reverie and moonlit walks, can the genesis of the poetry start to be understood.The poetry Wordsworth and Coleridge made was not from settled conclusions but from the adventure on which they embarked, thinking of poetry as a challenge to all received ideas, stripping away the dead matter, looking to shed consciousness and so change the world. What emerges is a portrait of these great figures seen not as literary monuments but as young men, troubled, ambitious, dreaming of a vision of wholeness, knowing they had greatness in them but still in urgent search of the paths toward it.The artist Tom Hammick accompanied Nicolson for much of the year, making woodcuts from the fallen timber in the park at Alfoxden where the Wordsworths lived. Interspersed throughout the book, his images bridge the centuries, depicting lives at the source of our modern sensibility: a psychic landscape of doubt and possibility, full of beauty and thick with desire for a kind of connectedness that seems permanently at hand and yet always out of reach.
The Making of Sir Philip Sidney
by Edward DerryDoes a poet make himself, or do his culture and his fiction make him? Sir Philip Sidney is one of the most popular and enduring of Elizabethan authors, and one of those most preoccupied with the relationship between self, society, and art. Edward Berry's The Making of Sir Philip Sidney explores how Sidney 'made' or created himself as a poet by 'making' representations of himself in the roles of some of his most literary creations: Philisides, Astrophil, and the intrusive persona of the Defence of Poetry. Focusing on the significance of these and other self-representations throughout Sidney's career, Berry combines biography, social history, and literary criticism to achieve a carefully balanced portrayal of the poet's life and work. This is a book that makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Sidney, and is likely to appeal to both students and scholars of Sidney, as well as to those wishing to understand the cultural events that shaped this central figure of the English Renaissance.
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms
by Mark Strand Eavan BolandThis anthology illuminates the history, practice, and wonder of our most elusive art. Intended for all those who love poetry, the anthology draws the reader into the excitement and entertainment of various poetic forms
The Mama Poems
by Maurice Kenny"The world [Maurice] Kenny opens for us is personal, yet never sentimental. It is a world in which long-dead relatives can appear when they are needed; in which the drum sounds in rituals of curing; a world vibrant with the natural landscape."-Joseph Bruchac, Small Press Review In conjunction with the publication of Connotations, we are pleased to release a new edition of American Book Award winner Maurice Kenny's The Mama Poems, a cycle of poems centered on the life of Kenny's late mother. Maurice Kenny is one of the major voices of Native American letters. His books of poetry include Tekonwatonti: Molly Brant and Carving Hawk.
The Man Who Dropped the Le Creuset on His Toe and Other Bourgeois Mishaps
by Christopher MatthewThe path trodden by the middle-aged middle classes in Britain, smooth though it may appear to the less privileged, is in reality a peculiarly dangerous one, dogged by its own set of terrors, pitfalls and opportunities for social humiliation. In The Man Who Dropped the Le Creuset on his ToeChristopher Matthew follows up the huge success of Now We Are Sixty with a collection of mordant, witty, cautionary verses on the subject of the British bourgeoisie and its foibles and failings.Not only can expensive, enamelled, cast-iron cookware be very dangerous in the wrong hands, but so too can Pilates, open-air opera in evening dress, weekending in Wales with a pug, gastro-tourism in Tuscany, the mid-life parachute jump as an alternative to physiotherapy, and pushing a trolley in Waitrose.As for the middle-aged Lothario's quest for a younger, Mark Two model, this can all too often end in ignominy rather than fun and games and feather boas in Cap Ferrat.Sharply observed and gloriously mischievous, The Man Who Dropped the Le Creuset on his Toe gently punctures the pride and sense of entitlement enjoyed by the pesto-loving middle classes.
The Man Who Dropped the Le Creuset on His Toe and Other Bourgeois Mishaps
by Christopher MatthewThe path trodden by the middle-aged middle classes in Britain, smooth though it may appear to the less privileged, is in reality a peculiarly dangerous one, dogged by its own set of terrors, pitfalls and opportunities for social humiliation. In The Man Who Dropped the Le Creuset on his ToeChristopher Matthew follows up the huge success of Now We Are Sixty with a collection of mordant, witty, cautionary verses on the subject of the British bourgeoisie and its foibles and failings.Not only can expensive, enamelled, cast-iron cookware be very dangerous in the wrong hands, but so too can Pilates, open-air opera in evening dress, weekending in Wales with a pug, gastro-tourism in Tuscany, the mid-life parachute jump as an alternative to physiotherapy, and pushing a trolley in Waitrose.As for the middle-aged Lothario's quest for a younger, Mark Two model, this can all too often end in ignominy rather than fun and games and feather boas in Cap Ferrat.Sharply observed and gloriously mischievous, The Man Who Dropped the Le Creuset on his Toe gently punctures the pride and sense of entitlement enjoyed by the pesto-loving middle classes.
The Man Who Saws Us in Half: Poems (Southern Messenger Poets)
by Ron HouchinThrough silence and song, death and rebirth, a sense of wonder pervades every minute of our lives. In The Man Who Saws Us in Half, Ron Houchin explores this idea from the first curiosities of childhood to the gradual skepticism that comes with age and the weight of practical concerns. In the whimsical poem "The Lion That Finds You Asleep in His Dream," the sleeping figure relives the magical allure of youth, offered both gratuitously and ubiquitously: "The moon's still high in its arc, / and you know / you spilled from this lion's heart." With his unique and colloquial voice, Houchin allows the reader to experience familiar subjects anew, to admire the surrounding world with rekindled appreciation and awe.
The Man of the Crowd: Edgar Allan Poe and the City
by Scott PeeplesHow four American cities shaped Poe's life and writingsEdgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) changed residences about once a year throughout his life. Driven by a desire for literary success and the pressures of supporting his family, Poe sought work in American magazines, living in the cities that produced them. Scott Peeples chronicles Poe's rootless life in the cities, neighborhoods, and rooms where he lived and worked, exploring how each new place left its enduring mark on the writer and his craft.Poe wrote short stories, poems, journalism, and editorials with urban readers in mind. He witnessed urban slavery up close, living and working within a few blocks of slave jails and auction houses in Richmond and among enslaved workers in Baltimore. In Philadelphia, he saw an expanding city struggling to contain its own violent propensities. At a time when suburbs were just beginning to offer an alternative to crowded city dwellings, he tried living cheaply on the then-rural Upper West Side of Manhattan, and later in what is now the Bronx. Poe's urban mysteries and claustrophobic tales of troubled minds and abused bodies reflect his experiences living among the soldiers, slaves, and immigrants of the American city.Featuring evocative photographs by Michelle Van Parys, The Man of the Crowd challenges the popular conception of Poe as an isolated artist living in a world of his own imagination, detached from his physical surroundings. The Poe who emerges here is a man whose outlook and career were shaped by the cities where he lived, longing for a stable home.
The Many Days: Selected Poems of Norman McCaig
by Norman MacCaigA centennial celebration of the Scottish poet. &“[A] testament to his apperception and skill in crafting verse on the impulse of things seen and thought.&” —PN Review By the time of his death in January 1996, Norman MacCaig was known widely as the grand old man of Scottish poetry, honored by an Order of the British Empire (OBE) and the Queen&’s Medal for Poetry. This book is a celebration of MacCaig&’s life—published in 2010, the hundredth anniversary of his birth—and it features 100 of his best poems, edited by his son Ewen.Praise for Norman MacCaig &“I have always loved the mixture of strictness and susceptibility in Norman MacCaig&’s work. It is an ongoing education in the marvelous possibilities of lyric poetry.&” —Seamus Heaney &“I have read or re-read every poem (in the Collected Poems), and I think it one of the greatest literary experiences of my life.&” —Sorley MacLean &“Whenever I read his poems, I&’m always struck by their undated freshness; everything about them is alive, as new and essential, as ever.&” —Ted Hughes
The Many Hundreds of the Scent
by Shane McCraeShane McCrae, one of the most powerful voices in contemporary poetry, returns with The Many Hundreds of the Scent, an urgent new collection that brims with lyric force. He expands both the poetic and the personal mythologies that he has been constructing over the course of his career; in addition to introducing his readers to 'the thin king / who eats the world,' McCrae invites them to bear witness to his tangle of childhood memories. In brutal, sorrowful lines, he recounts being kidnapped by his white supremacist maternal grandparents from his Black father as a boy. 'O reader, listener, stay,' McCrae writes. 'You are now evidence.'In The Many Hundreds of the Scent, Homeric figures mingle with those that populate the poet's world. Helen weighs Paris's spear in her hand and bloodies a raging Achilles; Penelope burns her loom each night; Dido watches Aeneas's ship burn on the horizon. A strikingly original and engaging poet, McCrae continually surprises - the collection includes a series of poems about the advent of post-rock and Hex, the debut album of the band Bark Psychosis. With this collection, he has once more crafted an extraordinarily affecting book of poetry. As Kate Kellaway writes in the Guardian, 'In McCrae's hands, poetry is reclamation. It is also transport: writing a way out and through.'
The Many Hundreds of the Scent: Poems
by Shane McCraeA stunning new collection of poetry from Shane McCrae, winner of the Whiting Writers' Award.Shane McCrae, one of the most powerful voices in contemporary poetry, returns with The Many Hundreds of the Scent, an urgent new collection that brims with lyric force. He expands both the poetic and the personal mythologies that he has been constructing over the course of his career. In addition to introducing his readers to “the thin king / who eats the world,” McCrae invites them to bear witness to his tangle of childhood memories. In brutal, sorrowful lines, he recounts being kidnapped by his white supremacist maternal grandparents from his Black father as a boy. “O reader, listener, stay,” McCrae writes. “You are now evidence.”In The Many Hundreds of the Scent, Homeric figures mingle with those who populate the poet’s world. Helen weighs Paris’s spear in her hand and bloodies a raging Achilles; Penelope burns her loom each night; Dido watches Aeneas’s ship burn on the horizon. A strikingly original and engaging poet, McCrae continually surprises—the collection includes a series of poems about the advent of post-rock and Hex, the debut album of the English band Bark Psychosis. With this collection, he has once more crafted an extraordinarily affecting book of poetry. As Kate Kellaway writes in The Guardian, “In McCrae’s hands, poetry is reclamation. It is also transport: writing a way out and through.”
The Many-Headed Muse
by Pauline A. LevenThis is the first monograph entirely devoted to the corpus of late-classical Greek lyric poetry. Not only have the dithyrambs and kitharodic nomes of the New Musicians Timotheus and Philoxenus, the hymns of Aristotle and Ariphron, and the epigraphic paeans of Philodamus of Scarpheia and Isyllus of Epidaurus never been studied side by side, they have also remained hidden behind a series of critical prejudices - political, literary and aesthetic. Professor LeVen's book provides readings of these little-known poems and combines engagement with the style, narrative technique, poetics and reception of the texts with attention to the socio-cultural forces that shaped them. In examining the protean notions of tradition and innovation, the book contributes to the current reevaluation of the landscape of Greek poetry and performance in the late classical period and bridges a gap in our understanding of Greek literary history between the early classical and the Hellenistic periods.