Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774) was an Irish novelist, playwright, and poet, renowned for his wit and elegant prose. He is best known for his novel "The Vicar of Wakefield" (1766), a sentimental tale that became a classic of 18th-century literature. Goldsmith also wrote the popular comedy "She Stoops to Conquer" (1773) and the long poem "The Deserted Village" (1770), which lamented the depopulation of rural England. His works display a keen social awareness, often blending humor with poignant reflections on human nature and society.

Author's Books:


Excuse me, sirs, I pray—I can't yet speak—I'm crying now—and have been all the week."'Tis not alone this mourning suit," good masters:"I've that within"—for which there are no plasters!Pray, would you know the reason why I'm crying?The Comic Muse, long sick, is now a-dying!And if she goes, my tears will never stop;For as a player, I can't squeeze... more...

CHAPTER 1 The description of the family of Wakefield; in which a kindred likeness prevails as well of minds as of persons I was ever of opinion, that the honest man who married and brought up a large family, did more service than he who continued single, and only talked of population. From this motive, I had scarce taken orders a year before I began to think seriously of matrimony, and chose my wife as... more...

CHAPTER I. GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE OF ITALY. Italia! oh, Italia! thou who hastThe fatal gift of beauty, which becameA funeral dower of present woes and past,On thy sweet brow is sorrow plough'd by shame,And annals traced in characters of flame.—Byron. 1. The outline of Italy presents a geographical unity and completeness which naturally would lead us to believe that it was regarded as a whole, and... more...