A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson

Amazon | Project Gutenberg
A charming collection of Stevenson's poems for children, on subjects such as bedtime, play, imagination, and the outdoors. The "with images" version of the Project Gutenberg edition includes illustrations by Jessie Wilcox Smith.

Beechenbrook by Margaret Junkin Preston

Amazon | Project Gutenberg
Margaret Junkin Preston, the wife of Virginia Military Institute founder Colonel J.T.L. Preston and sister-in-law of Stonewall Jackson, was known as the "Poetess of the Confederacy" for her epic poem Beechenbrook and other war-related poems (some of which are included in this volume). Beechenbrook follows the fortunes of a Virginia soldier's wife and her family through the hardships and heartaches of the Civil War—a moving, poignant story in verse.

My review.

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Lord Byron

Amazon | Project Gutenberg

In the deep umbrage of a green hill's shade,

Which shows a distant prospect far away

Of busy cities, now in vain displayed,

For they can lure no further; and the ray

Of a bright sun can make sufficient holiday.

A long narrative poem, in which the travels of its protagonist give the poet the opportunity to describe and muse upon the landscape of the countries he travels through and historical events that took place there.

Wild Card Wednesday: The Complete Works of Shakespeare

Amazon | Project Gutenberg
Time out from our usual schedule for a Wild Card Wednesday special feature! Looking to load the Bard's complete works on your e-reader? Project Gutenberg has a complete-works file (note: it will probably take a long time to download!), and if you're willing to spend $1.99, the edition from Amazon that I've linked to is well worth it. I have this version myself and have found the formatting clean and the navigation easy.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Amazon | Project Gutenberg

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free:
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
The longest and one of the most famous poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in which a sailor relates the story of a voyage, and the horrors that befell on it as punishment for his shooting the albatross that had served as a guide to the ship. If you've read much English literature, you'll probably recognize many lines, phrases and references you've seen other authors make to this famous ballad.