Philosophy professor Dante awakens in a dream he cannot escape. An angel engages him regarding the things of God, his abandonment of the faith, his griefs, his hopes, his aspirations—all against the backdrop of the darkening of Western civilization. It is evening in the West, but even so, the angel is named Happy (Felix). Why? Felix confronts Dante: Who is Jesus Christ? What is the purpose of your life? Dante doesn’t care. He just wants out. Will he find the way? Moment by moment, Dante’s dream is all chaotic experience. But gradually, patterns emerge. Scene by scene, the Westminster Larger Catechism’s teachings on salvation (questions 1–90) shape a story much larger than one man’s prodigal flight. Is it too late for the rebel against God? What if a whole civilization embraces the darkness? Can these bones live? O Lord, you know.

The New York Times–bestselling author of H is for Hawk explores the human relationship to the natural world in this “dazzling” essay collection (Wall Street Journal). In Vesper Flights, Helen Macdonald brings together a collection of her best loved essays, along with new pieces on topics ranging from nostalgia for a vanishing countryside to the tribulations of farming ostriches to her own private vespers while trying to fall asleep. Meditating on notions of captivity and freedom, immigration and flight, Helen invites us into her most intimate experiences: observing the massive migration of songbirds from the top of the Empire State Building, watching tens of thousands of cranes in Hungary, seeking the last golden orioles in Suffolk’s poplar forests. She writes with heart-tugging clarity about wild boar, swifts, mushroom hunting, migraines, the strangeness of birds’ nests, and the unexpected guidance and comfort we find when watching wildlife.

A collection of essays by the author of "The White Goddess," linked together by some common assumptions regarding the nature of poetry. The title of the book, according to the writer, "is shorthand for saying that the popular view of what poetry is, or ought to be, has for centuries been based on sentimental misapprehensions."

Containing original essays; historical narratives, biographical memoirs, sketches of society, topographical descriptions, novels and tales, anecdotes, select extracts from new and expensive works, the spirit of the public journals, discoveries in the arts and sciences, useful domestic hints, etc. etc. etc.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1841.