"Every mother should be a true artist." - Frances Harper From her short story, The Two Offers. It was the first short story published by an African American author. In addition to being a teacher and prolific writer, Harper was a staunch abolitionist who...
"All things that pass are wisdom's looking glass." - Christina Rossetti It is often the most difficult lessons in life that shape us into the best version of ourselves. Rossetti's insightful poem "Passing and Glassing" muses on the nature of aging....
"Strive to know yourself, for it is the most difficult lesson in the world." - Cervantes From the extraordinary Don Quixote. The maxim "know thyself" dates back to ancient Greece, inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. In its...
"Imagination! Who can sing thy force?"- Phyllis Wheatley From her lyrical poem, On Imagination Phyllis Wheatley’s story is exceptional. As a young slave in colonial America, she defied every expectation by becoming a celebrated, published poet—the first African American!—and public intellectual. Despite countless...
"Even the iris bends when a butterfly lights upon it." - Amy Lowell Amy Lowell worked tirelessly to make poetry relevant again in America. She was profoundly inspired by Keats, who she credited as the unofficial, early forbearer of Imagism—an early...
