Spring Phantoms: Short Prose by 19th Century British & American Authors(22 Marie Alexander Series)

A diverse anthology of prose shorts by both canonized and under appreciated writers, Spring Phantoms traces the little-known history of this form in Britain and America throughout the 19th century. This volume is the 22nd in the Marie Alexander Poetry Series.

Table of Contents:
Contents Robert Alexander Spring Phantoms: A Brief Introduction William Blake, 1757–1827 from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Leigh Hunt, 1784–1859 A “Now,” Descriptive of a Hot Day Henry R. Schoolcraft, 1793–1864, and Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, 1800–1842 [trans.] Peeta Kway, The Foam-Woman: An Ottawa Legend Leelinau: A Chippewa Tale Richard H. Horne, 1802–1884 The Old Churchyard Tree: A Prose Poem Ralph W. Emerson, 1803–1882 Woods: A Prose Sonnet Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804–1864 from Sketches from Memory from The American Notebooks Edgar A. Poe, 1809–1849 Shadow—A Parable Harriet Jacobs, 1813–1897 from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Henry David Thoreau, 1817–1862 from The Journal from Walking Walt Whitman, 1819–1892 from Specimen Days Jourdon Anderson, 1825–1907 Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1828–1882 The Cup of Water Michael Scott’s Wooing Mary Mapes Dodge, 1831–1905 Our Vegetables Migratory Husbands Ada Clare [Jane McElhenney], 1834–1874 The Slave of the House Celia Thaxter, 1835–1894 from An Island Garden Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, 1844–1911 How Shall Women Dress? Mary P. Thacher [Higginson], 1844–1941 Passenger Pigeons Emma Lazarus, 1849–1887 By the Waters of Babylon: Little Poems in Prose Kate Chopin, 1850–1904 Ripe Figs An Idle Fellow The Story of an Hour The Night Came Slowly Lafacadio Hearn, 1850–1904 The Stranger Spring Phantoms Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850–1894 from Fables Grace King, 1852–1932 The Balcony Mary E. Wilkins [Freeman], 1852–1930 Pastels in Prose Oscar Wilde, 1854–1900 The Artist The Doer of Good The Disciple Olive Schreiner, 1855–1920 from Dreams Fiona Macleod [William Sharp], 1855–1905 from The Silence of Amor Alcée Fortier, 1856–1914 [trans.] The Tortoise The Devil’s Marriage James G. Huneker, 1857–1921 Nuptials Royal Mary Alicia Owen, 1858–1935 [compiler] How the Skunk Became the Terror of All Living Creatures Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1860–1935 An Extinct Angel Deserted Prisons for Animals Edith Wharton, 1862–1937 The Valley of Childish Things, and Other Emblems Florence A. Merriam [Bailey], 1863–1948 from Birds through an Opera Glass Robert W. Chambers, 1865–1933 from The Prophets’ Paradise Bruce Porter, 1865–1953 The Return of Spring Gelett Burgess, 1866–1951 The Adjective Family The Mutual Advice Association The Confessions of a Yellster Ernest Dowson, 1867–1900 from Decorations in Prose Stephen Crane, 1871–1900 The Judgment of the Sage The Seaside Hotel Hop How the Donkey Lifted the Hills J. M. Synge, 1871–1909 from Translations from Petrarch: Sonnets from “Laura in Death” Harrison G. Rhodes, 1871–1929 Sketches Dora Greenwell McChesney, 1871–1912 At Old Italian Casements Max Beerbohm, 1872–1956 A Good Prince Samuel P. Carrick, 1873–1930 A Geological Parable Yone Noguchi, 1875–1947 from The Summer Cloud: Prose Poems Zitkála-Šá (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin), 1876–1938 from Impressions of an Indian Childhood Lord Dunsany [Edward Plunkett], 1878–1957 from Time and the Gods Holly Iglesias Biographical Sketches Bibliographic Notes

About the Author :
From 1993-2001, Robert Alexander was a contributing editor at New Rivers, where he founded the Marie Alexander Poetry Series. He has published three books of prose shorts and two of creative nonfiction. This is the sixth literary anthology he has edited.

Review :
“Short prose—whether it takes the various forms of the prose poem, flash fiction, parable, or fable—has been well chronicled in recent anthologies, but Spring Phantoms offers a necessary and new historical take on the subject. In choosing his examples Robert Alexander has been guided more by the “narrative possibilities” of short prose than by what a modern author might call his or her version of it. More important, with this anthology, once and for all, readers come upon a vibrant short prose tradition in 19th century English and American letters that was not beholden to the French or Russian traditions. We might call it an exploratory prose driven by a strong narrative impulse—that is, the desire to tell a little story. There are so many gems in this anthology by both well-known and underappreciated writers that readers will want to have Spring Phantoms close by, to randomly dip into its pages as they would a fine, and very large, box of chocolates.” —Peter Johnson, editor of The Prose Poem: An International Journal “If you want to understand why flash fiction has become such a popular literary form, read Spring Phantoms, an eclectic anthology of 19th-century short prose by British and American writers, which reveals that the art of compression is part of our literary DNA. From William Blake to Walt Whitman, Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton, Stephen Crane, and many lesser-known writers rescued from oblivion, we see why less is indeed more. All praise to Robert Alexander for his careful excavation of these treasures.”                                                 —Christopher Merrill, author of Self-Portrait with Dogwood “Robert Alexander has done all aficionados of the short form a great service by collecting in one volume prose poems, sketches, and brief musings of some of Britain’s and America’s finest writers and strongest voices. These “little tastings” from the nineteenth century give us a look not just into literary history but into some of our collective historical concerns. With illuminating bio sketches providing context to the prose selections, this is a welcome contribution to the study of the roots of short prose.” —Tara Lynn Masih, editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction and Founding Series Editor of The Best Small Fictions