Book Description
1854. With life, critical dissertation, and explanatory notes by the Rev. George Gilfillan. The works of the Scottish poet. His most famous poem, Seasons, is included in this volume. Due to the age and scarcity of the original we reproduced, some pages may be spotty or faded. ... Read more

Product Description
James Thomson’s epic poem “The City Of Dreadful Night” first appeared in 1874 and achieved some fame in its day, as it was read by many.In the decades that followed, however, the poem and the poet sank into obscurity, becoming known only to a few.Thomson’s poem is a deeply questioning and extremely dark vision of the City that we inhabit. But more than that, it challenges the illusions that inhabit us. Thomson - atheist, alcoholic, anarchist and insomniac - speaks to us all from the place where we live.
This new edition is illustrated with eight drawings by Clifford Harper, and will hopefully help give the poem a new audience, and a new fame. Includes a critical biography of Thomson and his work by Dr. Philip Tew.Agraphia is Harper’s own publishing imprint, and as you’d expect, the books are exquisitely designed, illustrated and printed. IDownload Description
A demon warder clutched me, Not so fast; First leave your hopes behind!--But years have passed Since I left all behind me, to the last: You cannot count for hope, with all your wit, This bleak despair that drives me to the Pit: How could I seek to enter void of it? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Beware of the Kessinger edition
This review refers to the Kessinger edition only.The Kessinger edition provides only the text of the poem - no introduction, not even any cover art.In other words you can get the same thing legally & for free by downloading it from a site like the Guttenburg Project.I prefer the Cannongate Classics edition, which has a good introduction and some nice artwork, although you may need to find a used copy.

The spheres eternal are a grand illusion
I read this masterpiece years ago and was quite blown away by it.I have had plenty of time to recover from the overwhelming mood and philosophy of it.I do not feel that life is as the poet portrays it, but he lived a tragic life which included the death of the woman he loved ("the lady of the images"), and there was no way that he was going to see life differently.I recommend this poem to all poetry lovers, regardless of their attitude about life, simply because it is wonderfully written.

Melancholia At Last!
"You think I am weak and must submit
Yet I but scratch you with this poisoned blade,
And you are dead as if I clove with it
That false fierce greedy heart.Betrayed!Betrayed!"

As I think of those bone chilling lines they ring ripples of fright and despair through my still salivating soul, because there's a part of me that longs for more.I remember the first time I encounted Mr. Thomson's masterpiece.It was only a few lines, but it left me starving for more.It soon became a small obsession.I had to have it!I read Thomson's "The City of Dreadful Night" and he became an instant favorite for me as far as poets are concerned.I have read Dickinson and Whitman and Poe, but none of them compare in my opinion to Thomson's morbid metaphors and detrimental descriptions of pain and suffering.I could almost feel the words literally penetrate the deepest recesses of my darkest heart of hearts.Emotions are impossible to put into words exactly, but I believe Thomson damn near succeeded in his "melancholia" as he would put it.You almost have to take breaks in the middle of reading in order to gather your now shattered positive emotions and regain a stronger than steel composure to take in just a little bit more.I feel like Thomson is one of my best friends now because I can relate to everything that he's feeling through his darkest times.He totally discouraged me as a poet myself and crushed whatever confidence I had in my own writing abilities.But it's okay, I'll recover and resume my own confidences denial about actually having skills...I think.For all of you who haven't read this masterpiece to mankind, I strongly suggest that you sink your teeth in and experience first hand how words can be daggers in your consciousness by the absolute best there is.For everyone with insomnia, scream loudly with me the words that should be echoed to the edges of the universe...

"A NIGHT SEEMS TERMLESS HELL!"

Lovely was the grave to me; holy its darkness. . .
James "B.V" (stands for Bysshe Vanolis, a pseudonym he sometimes adopted) Thomson composed this long poem while wandering the streets of London, tormented by insomnia and what he called "melencholia," what we would probably call clinical depression.

His portrait of his mental state also became a portrait of an industrial society, and the vanity and pointlessness of its various sorts of activity and effort.His City of Dreadful Night, a true city of despair, held up a dark mirror to the urban England of his day, filled with faithless churches, empty and ultimately unrewarding activity, and the despair of grinding poverty.

In an age so filled with self-improvement twaddle and the cult of positive thinking, such a poem actually seems like a breath of fresh air.It ends with a splendid portrait of Dürer's Melencolia.

Light-years past any rational concept of despair...
Thomson's "Dreadful Night" is the most pessimistic rendering of post-mortal existance I have ever encountered.The imagery of the city goes past the typical Victorian concept of hell.Thomson's tortured psyche creates a world where all hopes, heavenly aspirations, and chances for redemption are dead.Thomson depicts very little malevolence, zero benevolence, only complete emptiness in "Dreadful Night."The only redemption is for the soul to cease to exist - a final release from anguish.The suffering of the soul, as shown by Thomson, is private, all-consuming, and eternal.One reads Thomson as one reads Poe - the strength of the work lies with the imagery.In this sense, Thomson's vision of life after death is stark and terrifying.After reading "Dreadful Night" straight through, I recommend reading Whitman's "Song of Myself" several times to fully recover.Seriously... ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program. ... Read more

Book Description
In their classic, unparalled work, The Natural History of Bumblebees, biologists Carol A. Kearns and James D. Thomson give amateurs and professionals alike the basic knowledge to pursue the joys of observing and investigating these attractive and amenable subjects.

Packed with information on bumblebee colonies, bee honeypots, bee development, foraging behavior, as well as instructions for maintaining bumblebees in captivity, this lively and colorful book also includes an easy-to-use photographic field guide to aid in the identification of over fifty species of North American bumblebee-virtually every known species on this continent. Until now, even the basic identification of North American bumblebees has been through the use of highly technical regional keys. The Natural History of Bumblebees fills a gap in the literature and provides amateur enthusiasts, educators, and scholars the information to develop their own projects in bumblebee biology.

Kearns and Thomson also provide detailed instructions for constructing simple equipment that facilitates bee wrangling: the handling, tagging, studying, and raising of bumblebees. They present suggestions for research projects and identify areas of incomplete knowledge requiring further research. This book is an invaluable reference for students and scholars of native pollinators and an indispensable resource for naturalists, gardeners, and anyone who has ever been fascinated by the flight of the bumblebee. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

must have
What a wonderful book! The authors begin with two stories of two bees they were personally fond of then go on to give a very good outline bumblebee behavior and biology. This is followed by advice on how to collect and study these bees, if you should wish to (a few years ago I tried to rescue a nest mowed up: failed, but with this book I would have succeeded and learned a lot - not to mention the kids). This information is not readily available in accessable format elsewhere. But the most wonderful feature is the photographic field guide to the American species in the back. I've been waiting for a field guide to North American bumblebees for forty years, I don't think there's another.Other books are more exhaustive on the general biology and ecology of bumblebees and these are all described by the authors in the text but backyard naturalist, country gentleman or beekeeper (like me)...you gotta have this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1777 edition by the Apollo Press, Edinburgh. ... Read more

Book Description

West's Encyclopedia of American Law is 13 volumes and 5,000 entries of comprehensive information on the fascinating American Legal System and its components. Covering historical and current terms, concepts, events, movements, cases, and persons significant to U.S law, Wests has been written, updated, and reviewed by lawyers and professors with the everyday user in mind.Everyone from the layperson hooked on the weekly TV courtroom procedural to the serious student can find such valuable information as brief definitions of legal jargon, exhaustive examinations of courtroom procedure, explanations of complex topics such as civil rights, biographies of standout attorneys, analyses of controversial issues, and transcripts of crucial Supreme Court decisions.

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Modern Language Review, published by Thomson Gale on October 1, 2004. The length of the article is 6784 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Love, honour, and duty in James Thomson's Tancred and Sigismunda (1745).(Book Review)
Author: Sandro Jung
Publication: The Modern Language Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 99Issue: 4Page: 889(15)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more