Festus

Name: Festus
Rating: 4 (1 reviews)

Philip James Bailey

Standard Ebooks

1 review

Ebook

402

Pages

Tools

Eligible

Switch to the audiobook

About this ebook

Festus is a dramatic narrative poem written by Philip James Bailey, first published in 1839. Instead of adhering to a traditional linear plot structure, the work presents a series of loosely connected episodes, dialogues, and encounters that collectively form the spiritual and philosophical journey of its central character, Festus. Festus embarks on a metaphysical journey through various realms and encounters a wide array of allegorical and mythological figures, representing different facets of human experience, morality, and the eternal struggle between good and evil. Through his interactions with these characters, Festus engages in discussions on topics such as love, death, faith, and the nature of reality.

Lucifer is a constant presence on the protagonist’s journey. His interactions with Festus serve as a means of exploring the conflict between good and evil, as well as the challenges and choices that individuals face in their pursuit of enlightenment; he represents the adversarial force that seeks to divert Festus from his path, tempting him with worldly pleasures, doubts, and distractions.

Festus was extremely popular in its day, and greatly admired by contemporary poets like Tennyson and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It went through various editions over the years as Bailey continued appending verbatim extracts from his later, less popular poems, until the final edition of 1889 ran over 40,000 lines. This Standard Ebooks edition is based on the 1845 first American edition, which is the last edition to contain material wholly original to Festus.

This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

Festus is a dramatic narrative poem written by Philip James Bailey, first published in 1839. Instead of adhering to a traditional linear plot structure, the work presents a series of loosely connected episodes, dialogues, and encounters that collectively form the spiritual and philosophical journ...

Discover more

Ratings and reviews

1 review

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets

Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.

Laptops and computers

You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.

eReaders and other devices

To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.

Flag as inappropriate