The Certain Hour

By James Branch Cabell

Book Overview

The Certain Hour is a collection of short stories written by James Branch Cabell. The stories are set in the fictional land of Poictesme and explore themes of love, death, and the human condition. The book is divided into two parts, the first containing stories that take place in the past, and the second containing stories set in the present. The stories are interconnected, with recurring characters and themes. The writing style is rich and lyrical, with a focus on character development and psychological depth. The Certain Hour is considered a classic of American literature, and has been praised for its originality and literary merit.He was hoping, while his fingers drummed in unison with the beat of his verse, that this last play at least would rouse enthusiasm in the pit. The welcome given its immediate predecessors had undeniably been tepid. A memorandum at his elbow of the receipts at the Globe for the last quarter showed this with disastrous bluntness; and, after all, in 1609 a shareholder in a theater, when writing dramas for production there, was ordinarily subject to more claims than those of his ideals.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1162690577
• ISBN13: 9781162690575
• Release Date: September 2010
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing
• Length: 146 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 7.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

"Figures of Earth?"

Tales of the "spiritual" descendants of Dom Manuel the Reedemer, carefully annotated by expert commentary. Figures of earth have feet of clay.

Poets Provide Time and the Commonplace with immortality

. . . "They of Poictesme narrate that Queene Freydis thereafter did giue Lyfe to these muddie Ymages, eche at a certayne Houre, and that her sotyll scyaunce of Ergomancy sett these x to liue among Mans Kind," . . .Poets and bottles come in different shapes and sizes, but both should be judged by their contents not their labels. The poets in these ten stories range in time from the early 13th century to that of the 20th.In 1210, the chivalrous Raimbault de Vaquieras, a 30 year veteran of the Crusades, returned to France and made peace with a long time enemy. When he was told by Dona Biatritz, his long time friend and lover, that his enemy was planning his murder, Raimbault refused to negate his oath and take action. However, Dona B.was not restrained by any such an oath. In 1533, the beautiful Graciosa Balthazar not yet 16, attracted the attention of Duke Alessandro de Medici and Count Eglamore,the duke's hatchet man, and found herself forced to make a choice between two evils. In 1609, William Shakespeare found his talents waning, but found new inspiration in the creed of Judith, his unlettered daughter. In 1674, Robert Herrick, the eccentric clergyman and poet, disappeared. His friends Sir Thomas Browne and Philip Borsdale learned that RH had dabbled in magic with tragic consequences. In May of 1680, Robert Wycherley, poet, fop and social gadfly, failed to make a remunerative marriage and was saved from drowning by an unexpected turn of events. In 1718, Alexander Pope, the small, disfigured poet and satirist, tried to bestow a generous gift on a young couple, but failed to do so. In 1681, Robert Calverley resigned an important state position to save the life of his wife Honoria who he had literally stolen from the Marquis of Umfraville before their expected marriage. He returned to England despite warnings from friends that his actions had outraged many in high places and now,they wanted revenge. He was saved from ruin by an unselfish act of a scheming relative. In 1795, Richard Sheridan, poet-politician, married Miss Esther Jane Ogle known as "the irresistible Ogle," after being rebuffed by her many, many times. On Sheridan's turf, Miss Ogle proved to be no match for the wily politician. In 1803, Crown Prince Hilary of Saxe-Kesselberg, staged his funeral, changed his name to Paul Vanderhoffen and fled to England to become a poet and writer. After a series of events, one of which almost ended in his death, he married Mildred Claridge and became a writer on Grub Street. John Charteris, a distinguised writer and lecturer, gave a Commencement Speech at his alma mater and thought he had a chance to rekindle a relationship with Pauline Romeyne, a former lover, until his friend Rudolph Musgrave ruined his plan with a dose of reality. The 21 page "Auctorial Induction" should be read both before and after reading the ten tales. In it, JBC makes a number of penetrating observations about the 1916 literary s