letters & poetry

Python apps that display random historic love letters and classic poetry from Project Gutenberg. Includes a web UI for both at hicalsoft.com/letters and hicalsoft.com/poetry.

Quick Start

# Love Letters
python3 love_letters.py              # Show a random love letter
python3 love_letters.py -n 3         # Show 3 random love letters
python3 love_letters.py --list       # List available collections
python3 love_letters.py --source keats_brawne   # Filter by source

The letters/ directory ships with 1,300+ pre-parsed letters and poetry/ with 3,100+ poems — no download needed.

Refreshing / Adding Sources

To re-download collections from Project Gutenberg:

# Letters
python3 download_letters.py           # Download all letter sources
python3 download_letters.py --list    # List available sources

# Poetry
python3 download_poetry.py            # Download all poetry sources
python3 download_poetry.py --list     # List available sources

Letter Sources

Collection	Author → Recipient	Period	Letters
Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn	Henry VIII → Anne Boleyn	c. 1527–1528	18
Mary Wollstonecraft to Gilbert Imlay	Mary Wollstonecraft → Gilbert Imlay	1793–1795	75
Letters of Abelard and Heloise	Abelard & Heloise	12th century	6
Napoleon's Letters to Josephine	Napoleon Bonaparte → Josephine	1796–1812	395
Letters of John Keats to Fanny Brawne	John Keats → Fanny Brawne	1819–1820	39
Robert Browning & Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1	Browning ↔ Barrett	1845–1846	281
Robert Browning & Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 2	Browning ↔ Barrett	1845–1846	292
Robert Burns to Clarinda	Robert Burns → Agnes McLehose	1787–1794	60
Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple	Dorothy Osborne → William Temple	1652–1654	51
Beethoven's Letters (love letters selected)	Ludwig van Beethoven	1790–1826	30
Mozart's Letters (love letters selected)	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	1769–1791	60

Poetry Sources

Collection	Poet	Period	Poems
Shakespeare's Sonnets	William Shakespeare	1609	154
Poems, Three Series	Emily Dickinson	1890–1896	439
Leaves of Grass	Walt Whitman	1891–1892	383
Songs of Innocence and of Experience	William Blake	1789–1794	43
Poems Published in 1820	John Keats	1820	10
Complete Poetical Works	Edgar Allan Poe	1827–1849	108
Sonnets from the Portuguese	Elizabeth Barrett Browning	1850	44
The Waste Land	T.S. Eliot	1922	5
Mountain Interval	Robert Frost	1916	35
Selected Poems	Robert Frost	1913–1916	47
The Wind Among the Reeds	W.B. Yeats	1899	48
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam	Omar Khayyam (trans. FitzGerald)	11th–12th c.	176
Poems and Songs	Robert Burns	1771–1796	563
Lyrical Ballads	William Wordsworth	1798	51
Complete Poetical Works	Percy Bysshe Shelley	1810–1822	1049

All texts are sourced from Project Gutenberg and are in the public domain.

Web UI

The hicalsoft.github.io/ directory contains a standalone web interface:

• /letters — Browse love letters by author, with random letter button
• /poetry — Browse poetry by poet, with random poem button

Requirements

Python 3.10+ (no external dependencies).