Selected Poems and Verse Fables, 1784-1793.
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Authors
Brown, William Hill
Walser, Richard
Issue Date
1982
Type
Book, Whole
Language
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Abstract
Brown wrote the first American novel, The Power of Sympathy, in 1789. He also wrote twenty-six verse fables, thirteen of which are printed here. He seems to have written particularly for young women. Brown put himself in the tradition of Gay; some of the fables refer to and parallel Gay's. The fables are really sermons, heavy on talk. Most seem to work off of the formula What would the x and the y say to each other? Reading them is something of a chore. For me the best are The Sailor and the Brahmin (59), The Two Hares and the Monkey (77), and The Lion and the Tarapen (81) because something happens. Try The Educated Indians (75) for both racism and sexism! There is one drawing (81) reproduced from the Baltimore Evening Post. This book went overseas, was sold by Skoob Books, and came back again.
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Citation
Publisher
University of Delaware Press