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The Five-Foot Shelf of Books
EDITED BY CHARLES W. ELIOT, L.L.D.
The Reading Guide
[Introduction] [January] [February] [March] [April] [May] [June] [July] [August] [September] [October] [November] [December]
Also check out:
An older perspective on words in books.
An MIT Museum article on Charles Eliot.
48 FIFTEEN MINUTES A DAY
MAY
When the hounds of spring are on winter's traces,
The mother of months in meadow or plain
Fills the shadows and windy places
With lisp of leaves and ripple of rain. . .
SWINBURNE
(Vol. 42,
p. 1199)
1 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
2 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
3 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.
(Machiavelli born May 3, 1469.)
Read from Machiavelli's
THE
PRINCE Vol. 36, pp. 7-17
4 A Champion of Science
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.
(Huxley
born May 4, 1825.)
Read from SCIENCE AND
CULTURE Vol. 28,
pp. 209-219
5 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.
(Calderon, after a life of adventure, died May 5, 1681.)
Read from Calderon's
LIFE
IS A DREAM Vol. 26, pp.
7-21
FIFTEEN MINUTES A DAY 49
MAY Reading Guide
6 A Poor Artist Defies a Rich
Duke
"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
7 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.
(Robert Browning born May 7, 1812.)
Read from BROWNING'S
POEMS Vol. 42,
pp. 1074-1078
8 Behind the Screen in the
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.
("School for Scandal" produced at Drury Lane, May 8, 1777.)
Read from Sheridan's
SCHOOL
FOR SCANDAL Vol. 18, pp.
164-176
9 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.
(Friedrich von Schiller died May 9, 1805.)
Read: Schiller's
ON ÆSTHETIC EDUCATION Vol.
32,
pp. 209-217
10 A Knight Among Cannibals
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
11 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 [pp. 721-737 are in Philaster. => 821-837?]
50 FIFTEEN MINUTES A DAY
MAY Reading Guide
12 His Wife's Golden Hair
Enshrined His 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.
(Rossetti born May 12, 1828.)
Read: ROSSETTI'S
POEMS Vol. 42,
pp. 1149-1153,
1178-1181
13 What Does Your Dog Think of
You?
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
14 Jenner's Amazing Smallpox
Cure
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.
(Edward
Jenner makes his first
vaccination May 14, 1796.)
Read: VACCINATION
AGAINST SMALLPOX Vol. 38, pp. 145-154
15 Glimpses Into the Beyond
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.
(Dante born May 15, 1265.)
Read from Dante's
DIVINE
COMEDY Vol. 20, pp. 102-114
16 Favorite Superstitions of
Celtic Imagination
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
17 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
FIFTEEN MINUTES A DAY 51
MAY Reading Guide
18 The Night Life of Flowers
Flowers often tire of their stationary life and sometimes at night
frolic away to a ball in a beautiful castle. Thus a fanciful
story-teller accounts for their drooping condition in the morning.
Read: ANDERSEN'S
TALES Vol. 17, pp. 334-341
19 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
20 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.
(Sonnets
entered in the London Stationers' Register, May 20, 1609.)
Read from
Shakespeare's
SONNETS Vol. 40,
pp. 270-276
21 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.
(Alexander Pope born May
21, 1688.)
Read from Pope's
ESSAY ON MAN Vol. 40,
pp. 430-440
22 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.
(Manzoni died May 22, 1873.)
Read from Manzoni's
I PROMESSI SPOSI Vol. 21, pp. 7-24
23 A Plea for an Unfortunate
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.
(Thomas Hood born May 23, 1799.)
Read: HOOD'S
POEMS Vol. 41,
pp. 907-911
52 FIFTEEN MINUTES A DAY
MAY Reading Guide
24 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.27-33
25 Do What You Fear
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.
(Emerson born May 25, 1803.)
Read: Emerson's
HEROISM Vol. 5, pp. 121-131
26 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.
(Shakespeare's first daughter, Susanna, baptized May 26, 1583.)
Read
from Shakespeare's
KING LEAR Vol. 46, pp. 215-225
27 Lessing's Courageous Stand
for Toleration
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
28 Master of Melodious Lyrics
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.
(Thomas Moore born May 28, 1779.)
Read: MOORE'S
POEMS Vol. 41,
pp. 816-822
29 Adventures in Bagdad
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
FIFTEEN MINUTES A DAY 53
MAY Reading Guide
3O When the Throb of the War
Drum Is Stifl'd
(Memorial Day.)
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
31 America's Most Surprising
Poet
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.
(Walt Whitman born May 31, 1819.)
Read: Whitman's
PREFACE TO LEAVES OF GRASS
Vol. 39, pp. 388-398
Edward Jenner laid the foundation for the making of modern smallpox
vaccine. He made his first experiment in 1796
by inoculating a boy of eight. (See Reading Assignment for May 14th.)
THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ANY STUDY YOU MAY LEARN BY BOOKS AT HOME. - NEWMAN.
[Introduction] [January] [February] [March] [April] [May] [June] [July] [August] [September] [October] [November] [December]
Also check out:
An older perspective on words in books.
An MIT Museum article on Charles Eliot.
| Quote of the moment |
| Whoever harms the harmless or oppresses the innocent and just is like a fool tossing dust into the wind - his wrongdoing will fly back in his face. |
| ~Evil
~ |
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