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Excerpt: Preface By Way Of Criticism. These studies are collected from the monthly press. One appeared in the New Quarterly, one in MacMillan?s, and the rest in the Cornhill Magazine. To the Cornhill I owe a double debt of thanks; first, that I was received there in the very best society, and under the eye of the very best of editors; and second, that the proprietors have allowed me to republish so considerable an amount of copy....

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Contents PREFACE BY WAY OF CRITICISM. ........................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER I ? VICTOR HUGO?S ROMANCES ........................................................................ 15 CHAPTER II ? SOME ASPECTS OF ROBERT BURNS.......................................................... 34 CHAPTER III ? WALT WHITMAN............................................................................................. 63 CHAPTER IV ? HENRY DAVID THOREAU: HIS CHARACTER AND OPINIONS........... 84 CHAPTER V ? YOSHIDA-TORAJIRO..................................................................................... 107 CHAPTER VI ? FRANCOIS VILLON, STUDENT, POET, AND HOUSEBREAKER.........117 CHAPTER VII ? CHARLES OF ORLEANS ............................................................................ 141 CHAPTER VIII ? SAMUEL PEPYS .......................................................................................... 170 CHAPTER IX ? JOHN KNOX AND HIS RELATIONS TO WOMEN .................................. 190...

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Although heavily influenced by traditional Hindu scriptures, The Soma Tantra is a completely original retelling of an ancient story about a war against the moon. As a piece of literature it has few parallels since it sprawls across many genre boundaries including Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mythology, Epic Poem and Spiritual Text. Yet despite an overtly serious tone, The Soma Tantra is also filled with a light-hearted campiness running throughout its pages....

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A humongous metallic cylinder floated far above the site of the battle. It would have appeared as a bright star to those below except that their attention was drawn elsewhere. This state of distraction afforded Upaya Panther-Mask a bird’s-eye view of the ongoing havoc. He stood at the brink of a hatch on the vessel’s side, scanning that distant panorama through sensory augmentations ingrained in his helm. The fulmination that had dissipated a little earlier would have blinded him too were it not for said helm shading his eyes from any glare. “What do you see?” Priestess Kaitabh inquired next to him. “Berunni’s Danavas have found their way from the shadows and engaged the Devata’s infantry, which means that my Daityas shouldn’t be far behind.” “Excellent,” crooned the Raksha, “allocating our ground forces on the dark side of the moon was a superb idea wily prince.” “Not quite as superb as these vimanas. Your mages are exceptionally gifted to extract such artifice from the collective unconscious of Bhuloka. I always assumed that there was nothing left worth retrieving in the spatial-temporal sphere.” Kaitabh only gri...

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I – Three Planes of Existence II – Mythic Overview: The Denizens of Antarloka III – Prologue: The Nectar of Immortality Act One – Soma Chandra’s Hubris [ 1 ] A Gathering of Gods [ 2 ] Mutual Grievances [ 3 ] Heaven’s Orphans [ 4 ] Besieged ­- Interstice - Act Two – To Hell and Back [ 5 ] Avenues of Deceit [ 6 ] Curious Occurrences [ 7 ] Rescued by Old Enemies [ 8 ] Predestined Warpaths ­- Interstice - Act Three – Tremendous Upheavals [ 9 ] Surya Sets [ 10 ] A Duel Between Renegades [ 11 ] Fall of the Devatas [ 12 ] Deus Ex Machina Appendix: Glossary of Sanskrit Terms ...

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In the late 21st century on Earth, new technology allowed man to create machines merged with the body of their fallen comrades of war. These ?manchines? fought and won the war for the West. Discarded, the manchines learned of their worth and fought back for their own freedom, destroying half of the population of mankind. Now, Saron Bravewind rules the main Earth city of Orland built from ruin after the ban of technology that once was man?s downfall. With his heart set on discovering life beyond the stars, he finally gets his chance when tragedy strikes as his daughter falls into an incurable illness. Saron mans a flight into space with a faith in finding a higher life to help his daughter. What he finds will change the fate of the future mankind. (http://www.raelori.com)...

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A new edition of the sonnets of William Shakespeare complete and unabridged. ISBN: 978-1-932023-43-5. https://www.facebook.com/williamralpheditions

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138: When My Love Swears That She Is Made of Truth When my love swears that she is made of truth, I do believe her, though I know she lies, That she might think me some untutored youth, Unlearned in the world’s false subtleties. Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, Although she knows my days are past the best, Simply I credit her false speaking tongue: On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed. But wherefore says she not she is unjust? And wherefore say not I that I am old? O love’s best habit is in seeming trust, And age in love loves not to have years told. Therefore I lie with her and she with me, And in our faults by lies we flattered be....

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By Way of Introduction 1: From Fairest Creatures We Desire Increase 2: When Forty Winters Shall Besiege Thy Brow 3: Look in Thy Glass and Tell the Face Thou Viewest 4: Unthrifty Loveliness Why Dost Thou Spend 5: Those Hours That with Gentle Work Did Frame 6: Then Let Not Winter's Ragged Hand Deface 7: Lo in the Orient When the Gracious Light 8: Music to Hear Why Hear'st Thou Music Sadly 9: Is It For Fear to Wet a Widow's Eye 10: For Shame Deny That Thou Bear'st Love to Any 11: As Fast As Thou Shalt Wane So Fast Thou Growest 12: When I Do Count the Clock That Tells the Time 13: O That You Were Yourself But Love You Are 14: Not from the Stars Do I My Judgment Pluck 15: When I Consider Every Thing That Grows 16: But Wherefore Do Not You a Mightier Way 17: Who Will Believe My Verse in Time to Come 18: Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day 19: Devouring Time Blunt Thou the Lion's Paws 20: A Woman's Face with Nature's Own Hand Painted 21: So Is It Not with Me As with That Muse 22: My Glass Shall Not Persuade Me I Am Old 23: As an Unperfect Actor on the Stage 24: Mine Eye Hath Play'd the Painter and hath Stelled 2...

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A complete collection of the poems of William Blake. Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, engraver, and painter. Early in his life, his unique and deceptively simple poems marked the beginning of Romanticism, particularly those from his volumes Songs of Innocence (1789) and Songs of Experience (1794). Later work evolved into long mythological pieces informed by visions Blake claimed to have throughout his life. This volume collects all his poetic output, including those unfinished fragments in manuscript form....

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The Tyger Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?   In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes! On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire?   And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet?   What the hammer? what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp?   When the stars threw down their spears And water’d heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?   Tyger, Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?...

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Introduction POETICAL SKETCHES To Spring To Summer To Autumn To Winter To the Evening Star To Morning Fair Elenor Song (How sweet I roam'd...) Song (My silks and fine array...) Song (Love and harmony combine...) Song (I love the jocund dance...) Song (Memory, hither come...) Mad Song Song (Fresh from the dewy hill...) Song (When early morn walks forth...) To the Muses Gwin, King of Norway An Imitation of Spenser Blind Man’s Buff King Edward the Third Prologue, Intended for a Dramatic Piece of King Edward the Fourth Prologue to King John A War Song to Englishmen The Couch of Death Contemplation Samson Song 1st by a Young Shepherd Song 2nd by a Young Shepherd Song by an Old Shepherd AN ISLAND IN THE MOON SONG OF INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE Songs of Innocence: Introduction The Shepherd The Ecchoing Green The Lamb The Little Black Boy The Blossom The Chimney Sweeper The Little Boy Lost The Little Boy Found Laughing Song A Cradle Song The Divine Image Holy Thursday Night Spring Nurse’s Song Infant Joy A Dream On Anothers Sorrow Songs of Experience: Introduction Earth’s Answer The Clod & ...

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This sci-fi smorgasbord serves up 9 retro tales inspired by the pulp magazines of the 1920s - 1940s. It drops you into the deco chiseled cities of alternate Americana, airlifts you to exotic locales, then rockets you to the farthest reaches of yesterday’s tomorrows! Witness the otherworldly genesis of Wild Marjoram in a Chicagoland speakeasy as the violence of the all-female Killdeer Gang reaches vigilante-inspired fever pitch in "The Birth." Flying taxis fight for space over New York as Johnny Grant, Private Eye, sifts streets rife with murder and corruption in "The Maltese Spectrum." It's class-warfare in Citadel City as Pandora Driver and her Car of Tomorrow cruise the shadowy streets in search of one good cop in "Ready Fire Aim." Resources dwindle as aqua farming Region 5 Spaceport Terminus pushes maximum population density, and the balance between man and machine collapses in "Bloom." The fractured politics of the fractured 1920s Aether Age leaves a sheriff struggling to find the truth in "The More Things Change." Would Ace Rango rather be locked in battle with snarling space lizards or a temperamental, little...

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Genre: Paranormal romance and fantasy adventure *** BOOK TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_w-eZwPJbA *** Never marry a stranger...even if he is a drop-dead gorgeous immortal king. Never pretend to be a princess. And most importantly...never slip on an ancient wedding ring you know nothing about. Sarah Larker returns to a cave where her sister disappeared ten years earlier. She walks through a portal and is mistaken for a runaway princess on the run by a dangerous immortal king in medieval times. Her plan is bold as well as daring—become this princess, wed the king, and slip on an ancient wedding ring that will unlock the portal back home. Then find her sister and run as fast as she can out of Dodge. But taking on the identity of Princess Gloria comes along with dangerous consequences; and slipping on the ruby ring comes with an even higher price....

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Chapter 1 A soft growl echoed in the darkness. Sarah snatched the thermal imaging camera from the row of equipment by the fire. Turning in a slow circle, she scanned the dark trees beyond. Nothing moved. Just as she was taking a few tentative steps through the ferns and thick brush, a branch snapped, making her jump. Another growl pierced the silence. She clutched her chest, as if that might calm her racing heart. Five years as a Bigfoot researcher, and she was still not used to the occasional howl. Then again, no animal she had ever encountered before had made such an ominous and menacing sound. She stopped for a moment and listened, her heart thumping hard in her eardrums. “Show yourself!” Her voice echoed from the trees with a courage she couldn’t feel. A shiver slid down her spine as she pulled her radio off her belt. “Base camp to Adam. Computer screen’s flashing like crazy. Something broke the perimeter line.” The radio crackled and a voice answered. “Adam to base camp. What zone?” “Zone 3. All cameras up and running, but I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. I’m getting sounds over here—some movement too. I’m gonna...

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Dome of Death is a slightly shocking and occasionally thought provoking romantic thriller about two young men who’d love to be as cool as James Bond in the face of extreme danger, but discover reality is not like fiction. When Max, the director of an Art Gallery in Queensland, falls to his death, Peter, the exhibiting artist who is also Max's ex-lover, unwillingly accepts the widow’s pleas to take over the job. After rescuing a strange young man from a raging sea, Peter’s suspicions about the accident and an investigation into what he thinks is an art swindle, puts him in great danger. He is raped and left for dead, but escapes, only to discover that he and his new friend Jon are wanted for murder. What follows is a hair-raising chase to clear their names. Murder, torture, cyclones, tidal surges, and snuff porn shows are but a few of the complications to be navigated in their search for justice, happiness and love....

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Chapter One Exposing oneself in public is not for the faint-hearted. En masse and expertly illuminated the paintings gave viewers rather more insight into the private spaces of my mind than I’d bargained for. The fact that the gallery’s patrons were also baring their souls with every critical utterance and every painting bought was scant consolation – especially as no one was buying! After an hour of eavesdropping among the usual crush of wine-sipping social scramblers, I wished I hadn’t. Stepping back, I collided with an elderly, shapeless little woman loosely wrapped in a sari decorated with mirrors. ‘Young man!’ she demanded as though I’d been caught spraying graffiti, ‘Are you the artist?’ How to respond? People who call themselves artists remind me of Napoleon seizing the jewelled cap, crowning himself and living to rue the day. Such accolades are for others to bestow. If, as frequently happens, a painter’s efforts delight no one but himself, then the labour has been little but therapy. Only those whose works impose order on the chaos of existence and reinvigorate flagging spirits by giving the viewer a glimpse of a le...

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Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six ChapterSeven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-one Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-three Chapter Twenty-Four...

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Etymologically, aphorism + floral = aph(L)orism, which is a short reflection written on a floral design, or a short poetry accompanied by an artistic background. They are colorful contemplations. Maximus in minimis (Lat.) means very much in very little [max in min], or condensed thought, or ideating essence. They are actually maxims, adages, sayings mostly in one line (uni-stich) with a title, as a metaphoric statement, a breathing momentum that oils our soul....

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Nonchalantly : The wind with its mantle steps lightly. Skin Condition : The Sun has spots too. At what time? When it rains, God cries. Atmosphere : Blue, as the sky dirtied by clouds. Bright : A balcony full of Sun. Natural disaster : The swans look drunk on the fetid lake. Surprisingly : The crow is a beautiful black. Elegant woman : A bird high on her legs. Most powerful chess piece : You are a queen but only in the dark. Medicinal plant : You’re a flower but amongst weeds. Force that attracts food : The stomach’s gravitation pulls me to food....

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Passion.......................................................................23 Worthless.....................................................................23 Tired of you....................................................................23 Tittle-tattle....................................................................23 Talk is cheep...................................................................24 Give the man what he doesn’t have.................................................24 Novel for (non) writers...........................................................24 Desolate......................................................................24 Did I have the pleasure...........................................................24 Sloppy work....................................................................25 Despicable.....................................................................25 Wanted.......................................................................25 Talking in vain..................................................................25 Use caplets.....................................................

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Space Force Grunts is a Science Fiction novel playing several generations into the future. After the human race has invented hyperspace flight, thousands of planets are colonised. Those new societies maintain their independence until the human race encounters an alien civilisation that also masters space flight and hyperspace travel. Being so very different from the human race, those aliens are at first not even recognised as an eminent civilisation commanding over impressive, seemingly sheer unlimited means and a proficient use of advanced technologies. When the mistake is discovered, it is too late already for avoiding a clash of civilisations and a violent conflict has already started. The worlds settled by the human race gradually unite ever more under the leadership of a political movement. Conscription is introduced to provide for the military forces’ need for soldiers. People with sufficient means can purchase freedom from conscription and escape the draft. The funds obtained by the administration via that purchase of freedom are used to supply the military with materials means like weapons and to pay the soldiers who get dra...

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Base 18 on Planet DN-DU-144/5 was a place that could only be found on detailed military maps. This planet was circling a sun situated at the border between our Local Bubble of stars in the Milky Way and the much bigger Loop 1 Bubble, another assembly of suns and planets. DN-DU-144/5 was the fifth planet in outward direction, when counted from the local star as centre. Base 18 now consisted of a dozen bunkers, a few deep wells and a couple of cisterns appendant to them, a makeshift front-line spa, and most importantly a maintenance station for fighter robots and combat drones. Base 18 on planet DN-DU-144/5 was in principle a bleak place. Though at that moment it was officially day-time at the location of base 18, there was actually just a little twilight. The far sun, going by the less-than-poetic name of DN-DU-144, illuminated only the abundant clouds enfolding the planet decently. Little light ever made it through to the surface. ‘I just love it’ Master Sergeant Koon had sarcastically said when arriving at this place, together with all the other soldiers of the 5th company. They had taken this base over from a unit that had suffe...

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