Wanderings And Sojourns The Songs And Verses Book

This, the third book in the Wanderings and Sojourns series, was created in response to requests from people reading sections of the first two volumes: On Five Continents and Three Oceans and On Tropical Islands and Sparkling Seas. Those requests/suggestions were for a book comprised solely of the author's poetry and songs. Within these pages then are 80 such works including several found in the first two volumes but with many more favourites added. Here you will find the love songs that had no place in the previous books, some longer story-poems that themselves recount an entire tale, more parodies of popular songs, sketches of sea-folk, philosophies and insights born from the author's travels previously narrated. Here you will find a wanderer's reflections upon a life of unique experience. The poetic styles crafted are as varied as the themes; from the blunt language of the "lower decks" sailor to an ethereal abstract allowing the reader to add whatever interpretation they will to the meaning; from the nonsense child-like rhymes that carry an adult message to the wistful lament of the broken heart. Each reader will relate many of the poems to their own experiences and perhaps, for just a while, share with the author the spirit of what is written as it disturbs something from deep within their memory, their personal philosophy, their soul....

Book 2 in the Wanderings and Sojourns series focuses upon the author's time during two decades spent mostly among the islands that lazily stretch from the Eastern Caribbean to Florida. From his first ever game of golf on a waterlogged Montserrat course to a boarding by the Coastguard in the Gulf Stream, his appendectomy at a maternity clinic in Antigua to battling a monster hurricane or diving for treasure in the Virgin Islands, he recounts with wry wit and candour, and his typical not-quite-conformist attitude and insight, just some of the episodes that made his life in the islands so fascinating....

In this, the first of the Wanderings and Sojourns series, the reader is taken on a variety of journeys spanning all the continents of the world except Antarctica and Australasia. They'll travel by sea and land through Caribbean islands and sub-Saharan savannah, South American mountain ranges and rivers of Asia, North African markets and verdant English valleys, all the while living the adventures and experiences that gave rise to the unique philosophies shared within these pages. Interspersed between these true stories are works of lyrical verse; songs as varied as the wanderings and sojourns from which they were born. Themes vary from sharing of wisdom among travelers to respect for one's rifle during insurgent war, transition of a boy into manhood or the last portage two adventurers will ever share. The world beyond convention is the canvas upon which these unusual stories and songs are painted, the pallet comprises an entire spectra from shipwreck to war, spirituality to atavism, Aboriginals to ghosts, and the resulting pictures provide a fascinating view of the world as seen through unusual windows by someone who doesn't quite conform to the norms of society....

Popular American essayist, novelist, and journalist CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER (1829-1900) was renowned for the warmth and intimacy of his writing, which encompassed travelogue, biography and autobiography, fiction, and more, and influenced entire generations of his fellow writers. Here, the prolific writer turned editor for his final grand work, a splendid survey of global literature, classic and modern, and it's not too much to suggest that if his friend and colleague Mark Twain-who stole Warner's quip about how "everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it"-had assembled this set, it would still be hailed today as one of the great achievements of the book world. Highlights from Volume 5 include: . the letters of Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck . poems by Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson . excerpts from Richard Doddridge Blackmore's Lorna Doone . poems by William Blake . art criticism by Charles Blanc and Johann Jakob Bodmer . poems by Mathilde Blind . the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio . an essay by Saint Bonaventura . hymns by Sir John Bowring . and much, much more.