Excerpt from The Queen of Sheba: Opera in Four Acts, From a d104 by Mosenthal Kano awaits thecoming of the Queen of Sheba. He has dispatched his favorite courtier, Assad, to escort the royal guest to Jerusalem. Assad, the betrothed of Sulamith, the High Priest's daughter, was to celebrate his nuptials during the Queen' s sojourn in the Jewish capital; but at the foot of the Lebanon he has surprised the beautiful queen in a bath, and, inflamed by her charms, has become deeply enam ored with her, as she with him. On his return to Jerusalem he 18 met by his betrothed and her father, but conscious of his guilty passion he shrinks from their welcomes. Solomon who half divines the truth, questions him closely, whereupon Assad confesses the truth so far as it is known to himself, for he is not yet aware of the fact that it was the Queen herself whom he had espied in the bath. Solomon exhorts himto remain faithful to Sulamith; Assad promises obedience, but finds his resolution shaken when, at the Queen's reception of the royal court, she raises her veil and gazes at him. Dining the night the Queen has a secret meeting with Assad in the royal gardens and urges him to abandon Sulamith and to return with her (the Queen) to Arabia. The day set for his nuptials with Sulamith arrives Solomon himself appears in the temple to witness the celebration Assad seems inclined to return to his faith, but on seeing the Queen enter the sacred edifice, his unhahowed passxon revives, and be publicly spurns his devoted bride. Solomon, suspecting the truth, conjures the Queen to solve this mystery, but she declares that she does not know Assad and has never seen him. The latter is condemned to death by the priests, but the execution of judgment is stayed by the Ling. The Queen pleads for him, but Solomon remains deaf to her prayers, where upon the Queen departs from Jerusalem. Sulamith declares her intention to retire from the world and to devote her remaining days to God. Assad, whose life has been spared, but who is condemned by the King to perpetual banishment, strays repent nully in the Syrian desert. Once more he meets the false Queen who exhausts her seductive eloquence, but m vain. Assad remains deaf to her pleadings and is resolved to atone his guilt by sincere repentance. He expires in the arms of Sulamith who, accompanied by her maidens, is traversing the desert on her way to her cloistral seclusion and has found her faithless lover fainting and dying. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This is a collection of poems that reflects the author's experiences as a traveler and a lover of nature. The poems are characterized by a lyrical and introspective tone, and reveal a deep appreciation for the beauty and mystery of the natural world. Philip Max Raskin's work is sure to resonate with readers who share his sense of wonder and awe. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

"One might think of Alan Sondheim as the Joyce of our time. Too big while he?s here among us, or while we?re here among him, to get our heads around what he?s done and is doingEOn the other hand, it?s clear he doesn?t want to be our Joyce at all, in deliberate, un-scrolling process as he is of immolating himself, incinerating any last trace of canonical identity in a stupendous bonfire of poetry, code, and secret philosophy. What OJoyceO shall be left? What OSondheimO? A monk burns in full view and the blaze refuses to go out. We?re here watching, startled and baffled, contemptuous and titillated. That we don?t quite know what fuels the seemingly mystical act renders the transfiguration all the more unsettling and marvelous. -- Kent JohnsonSondheim's writing refreshes. Narrative or persistent personality the reader constructs will resist. It's funny output, coded, destabilizing. It projects, expands and redirects personal need, hunger amidst insubstantial plenty, where the real material is imaginary.Writing without purpose; purposeful writing; not delivery of contentment or white space infill. Writing as individuation of multipliers where what is familiar is parodic as it is manifested, cyborgian tenacity creating its selves in process awareness, sans merci.I is mindful of being confederated awareness. Peripheral desiring bodies remain animal, alone and palely loitering during downtime, mammals with machines, sensuous making intellects. -- Lawrence UptonAlan Sondheim is a force of nature: a Category 5 mindstorm blowing in from all points of the compass at once. Coded and plain-speaking, philosophical and emotional, artistic and banal: to read Sondheim is to fall through a wormhole into a full world. And why shouldn't a work of art be a world? His art is writing as a performance act even more direct than Allen Ginsberg speaking into his tape recorder. A storming virtuosity of ideas. Be shelled. (ksh to be specific.) Complex and simple, digital and just plain talking, Jeremiah and the static. At this time of continuing doom, the storm we need to blow us clean. -- Jim Rosenberg"

Poetry. Alison Stone's sixth collection deals with the myths, both classic and contemporary, that shape our psyches and our world. From Caligula and Medusa to Gabby Douglas and Ivanka Trump, these speakers illuminate the timeless struggles for power and love that play a central role in literature and art. Stone's speakers tell their stories in poems that both transcend culture and time and illuminate this particular historical moment.