The Nine Muses Minus One

Name: The Nine Muses Minus One
Author: Barry Pain

The poem explores the idea of the nine muses minus one, representing the absence of creativity and inspiration. The speaker reflects on the role of the muses in ancient Greek culture and how their absence affects the world.

By Barry Pain · First published 1917 · Genre: Short Stories, Humor, Fiction · 8 chapters · 19,870 words

First lines

On a beautiful summer night of last long vacation a cloud sailed slowly out of the west. The sun was going down; the honest worker had fallen asleep over his books, and in his dream was standing before a booking office in the Bay of Tarentum and asking for a second aorist return to Clapham; the jubilant whist player, holding the situation in his hand, had exhausted the trumps, and was bringing in the rest of a long suit; the mere conversationalist had worked in that epigram again, and the mere athlete, who did not believe in that fancy kind of talk, had gone away to drink a little good beer; the fiery bedmaker had just gone round to the kitchens, to tell the men precisely what she thought about them: in fact, everything -- except the cloud -- was much as usual. But the cloud was extraordinary.

What this Textopian page supports

The Nine Muses Minus One is listed on Textopian as a novel by Barry Pain, dated 1917 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Work type: Novel
Author: Barry Pain
Date: 1917 CE
Language: English
Genres: Short Stories, Humor, Fiction, Satire
Length: 19,870 words
Structure: 8 chapters, 377 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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Discussion starters

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Similar titles

Genres

Short Stories — This book is a collection of short stories, making it belong primarily to the Short Stories genre.
Humor — The narrative tone and style of the book include elements of humor and witticism making it part of the Humor genre.
Fiction — As the stories are creations of the author's imagination and not based on true events, the book falls under the Fiction genre.
Satire — Given instances of critique and sarcasm towards society and its norms present in the stories, the book also belongs to the Satire genre.