Showing titles in Themes & Styles

Come Back Home to Life’s Essential Harmony There is harmony at the heart of everything in existence. Yet so many of us live from day to day with a lingering feeling of inner discord—a sense that something is not quite right that we may not even be able to explain. How do we return to the...

In his writings, Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran weaves Christian, Moslem, and Buddhist ideals into a spiritual tapestry that transcends cultural barriers. This collection of his lesser-known writings reveals the author's insights on youth, love, marriage, and truth, and delves into nationalism, religion, and spiritual growth.

Rumi's Spiritual Verses is the greatest mystical poem in Islamic culture - and of all time. Rumi examines our human separation from reality, love, and truth. He shows how love - neither erotic nor sentimental but divine, by which the universe is held together - enlightens ignorance and dissolves suffering. The first book of the Masnavi is the key to the whole work: It takes off from simple, amusing tales into realms unimaginable, but wholly familiar to the human heart.

This remarkable poem, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, was Spenser's finest achievement. The first epic poem in modern English, The Faerie Queene combines dramatic narratives of chivalrous adventure with exquisite and picturesque episodes of pageantry. At the same time, Spenser is expounding a deeply-felt allegory of the eternal struggle between Truth and Error....

Hafiz's Little Book of Life is a lush collection of more than 250 selections from his lifework (his divan). Alongside a Quran, a copy of his divan can be found in average homes in Iran—where stars can be heard singing his poetry on the radio, and lines from his poems are quoted on the street. His poetry is sure to strike a chord in the hearts of readers everywhere. This vital collection of mystical poetry focuses on the issues we encounter in everyday life. Each brief poem may be savored as an oasis of clarity in the hurried literacy of our time, or the entire book enjoyed in one sitting. 

Cleo Wade is that friend you dream of having - the one you could phone in your darkest hours, confident she'd say the perfect thing, because no matter what you're going through, she's going to meet you with warmth and understanding. She's never shied away from her own setbacks and heartbreaks; she's embraced them and distilled them into pearls of essential truth and sincere advice which can help get you through, can make you see that tomorrow still lies straight ahead. If only you had such a friend. And now you do.

Discover the timeless classic that has inspired millions of people worldwide. Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet is a collection of 26 fables that explore the depths of the human experience. From love and marriage to work and pleasure, this prose poetry masterpiece speaks to the soul of humanity. Gibran's inspiring and thought-provoking messages will stay with you long after you finish reading, providing you with an experience of profound insight.

The Divine Comedy (Italian: Divina Commedia) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c. 1308 and completed in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval worldview as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language. It is divided into three parts.

Drawing upon everyday incidents, common situations, and rural imagery, Robert Frost fashioned poetry of great lyrical beauty and potent symbolism. His language is simple, clear, and colloquial, yet dense with meaning and wider significance. This brilliant collection features some of Frost's greatest works, including "The Road Not Taken," "Asking for Roses," "The Death of the Hired Man," "In the Home Stretch," "Into My Own," "Meeting and Passing," "Mending Wall," and more.

A curated compendium of poetry and prose from the award-winning poet Mary Oliver, including the book-length masterpiece The Leaf and the Cloud, the collection What Do We Know, andessays from Long Life—with a foreword by fellow Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Postcolonial Love Poem Natalie...

Read by the author. Find hope and purpose as you discover that you’re right where you’re supposed to be. Maybe you thought you’d be further along by now. Or have a different kind of life. Maybe you thought that relationship would have happened, that dream would have come true, that path...

A tragic epic love story before Romeo and Juliet, by one of the greatest medieval Persian romance poets, in a modern-verse English translation by Dick Davis A Penguin Classic Based on historical characters of the seventh-century Iranian court and written 850 years ago, the narrative poem about...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER An exquisite poetry collection from the creator of The Daily Victorian that celebrates the hidden versions of ourselves, and unveils the healing power of nostalgia, imagination, and hope “This is for anyone who doesn’t see deep feeling as a bad thing but would...

Brought to you by Penguin. From independence movements in Sri Lanka to train stations in contemporary Ontario, an intimate and witty selection of Michael Ondaatje’s most widely loved poems taken across fifty years Through poems that grow out of his profound understanding of the subtle...

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout. It is considered by critics to be Milton's major work, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time.

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, COMING JULY 2026—WITNESS THE LEGEND REBORN The original adventure story, The Odyssey continues to captivate and inspire nearly three millennia after it was written. A towering epic of adventure, cunning, and the longing for home, The Odyssey follows the perilous...

A Poet's Guidance for the Practice of True Self-Expression All spiritual traditions affirm that fully participating in our own life is what allows us to find our place in the fullness and beauty of the world. As such, holding nothing back is less a forceful act of will and more a surrender into...

Essential Skills for a Full and Courageous Life When you think about personal transformation, do you have a picture of who you want to become? Many of us unconsciously create an idealized image of our “awakened” selves—and in doing so, reveals David Whyte, we undermine both the work and...

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s ‘novel in verse’ is an epic poem that voices with enchanting beauty and literary courage the perspective of Victorian women. Aurora Leigh forges her own path to become a poet, successfully proving her worth, defying the ideals of her era, and rescuing her spirit from the suppression of a routine domestic life. Infusing the work with her own experience and passion, Browning produced a true masterpiece.

The Iliad by Homer is an epic poem central to ancient Greek literature, narrating the siege of Troy. It explores themes of heroism, the wrath of Achilles, the nature of fate, and the quest for glory. Homer, a semi-legendary figure, is credited with composing both "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," foundational works of Western literature.