Product Description: The Earthly Paradise by William Morris is an epic poem. It is a lengthy collection of retellings of various myths and legends from Greece and Scandinavia. It was begun in 1868 and several later volumes followed until 1870. The Earthly Paradise was generally well received by reviewers: according to one study it ”established Morris’s reputation as one of the foremost poets of his day”...read more

Product Description: Florence S. Boos’s History and Poetics in the Early Writings of William Morris, 1855–1870 examines Morris’s literary development in the context of his Victorian contemporaries, probing the cross-influences of temperament, cultural ambiance, early reader reactions, and his restless search for an authentic poetic voice...read more

Product Description: This text examines "The Earthly Paradise" as the first mature poetic expression of William Morris' view that a poet is also a historian who bears the immense responsibility of creation and narration. It details one of the longest and most complex single poetic narratives in the English language along several lines: systematic use of multiple narrators and audiences which deepen the poem's sense of shared experience and impose a coherent structure on its temporal and other discontinuities; the alterations of confession, description, and retrospection in the frame and inner tales that enabled Morris to complete one of the fullest Victorian meditations on the creation of identity through frustrated love and sorrow; the flexibility and subtlety of the poem's various allegorical resonances and narrative levels; and the "stoic", aesthetic, and political implications of Morris' evolving ideal of friendship...read more

Product Description: Representing a spectrum of critical approaches and topics, these essays explore the interconnections between Morris' political thought and his later writings. They consider a variety of works, from socialist songs to theories of art.