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# letters & poetry
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Python apps that display random historic love letters and classic poetry from [Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/). Includes a web UI for both at [hicalsoft.com/letters](https://hicalsoft.com/letters) and [hicalsoft.com/poetry](https://hicalsoft.com/poetry).
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## Quick Start
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```bash
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# Love Letters
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python3 love_letters.py # Show a random love letter
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python3 love_letters.py -n 3 # Show 3 random love letters
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python3 love_letters.py --list # List available collections
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python3 love_letters.py --source keats_brawne # Filter by source
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```
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The `letters/` directory ships with 1,300+ pre-parsed letters and `poetry/` with 3,100+ poems — no download needed.
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## Refreshing / Adding Sources
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To re-download collections from Project Gutenberg:
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```bash
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# Letters
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python3 download_letters.py # Download all letter sources
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python3 download_letters.py --list # List available sources
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# Poetry
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python3 download_poetry.py # Download all poetry sources
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python3 download_poetry.py --list # List available sources
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```
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## Letter Sources
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| Collection | Author → Recipient | Period | Letters |
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|---|---|---|---|
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| Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn | Henry VIII → Anne Boleyn | c. 1527–1528 | 18 |
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| Mary Wollstonecraft to Gilbert Imlay | Mary Wollstonecraft → Gilbert Imlay | 1793–1795 | 75 |
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| Letters of Abelard and Heloise | Abelard & Heloise | 12th century | 6 |
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| Napoleon's Letters to Josephine | Napoleon Bonaparte → Josephine | 1796–1812 | 395 |
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| Letters of John Keats to Fanny Brawne | John Keats → Fanny Brawne | 1819–1820 | 39 |
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| Robert Browning & Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1 | Browning ↔ Barrett | 1845–1846 | 281 |
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| Robert Browning & Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 2 | Browning ↔ Barrett | 1845–1846 | 292 |
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| Robert Burns to Clarinda | Robert Burns → Agnes McLehose | 1787–1794 | 60 |
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| Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple | Dorothy Osborne → William Temple | 1652–1654 | 51 |
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| Beethoven's Letters (love letters selected) | Ludwig van Beethoven | 1790–1826 | 30 |
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| Mozart's Letters (love letters selected) | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | 1769–1791 | 60 |
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## Poetry Sources
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| Collection | Poet | Period | Poems |
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|---|---|---|---|
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| Shakespeare's Sonnets | William Shakespeare | 1609 | 154 |
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| Poems, Three Series | Emily Dickinson | 1890–1896 | 439 |
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| Leaves of Grass | Walt Whitman | 1891–1892 | 383 |
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| Songs of Innocence and of Experience | William Blake | 1789–1794 | 43 |
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| Poems Published in 1820 | John Keats | 1820 | 10 |
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| Complete Poetical Works | Edgar Allan Poe | 1827–1849 | 108 |
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| Sonnets from the Portuguese | Elizabeth Barrett Browning | 1850 | 44 |
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| The Waste Land | T.S. Eliot | 1922 | 5 |
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| Mountain Interval | Robert Frost | 1916 | 35 |
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| Selected Poems | Robert Frost | 1913–1916 | 47 |
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| The Wind Among the Reeds | W.B. Yeats | 1899 | 48 |
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| The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam | Omar Khayyam (trans. FitzGerald) | 11th–12th c. | 176 |
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| Poems and Songs | Robert Burns | 1771–1796 | 563 |
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| Lyrical Ballads | William Wordsworth | 1798 | 51 |
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| Complete Poetical Works | Percy Bysshe Shelley | 1810–1822 | 1049 |
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All texts are sourced from [Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/) and are in the public domain.
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## Web UI
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The `hicalsoft.github.io/` directory contains a standalone web interface:
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- **[/letters](https://hicalsoft.com/letters)** — Browse love letters by author, with random letter button
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- **[/poetry](https://hicalsoft.com/poetry)** — Browse poetry by poet, with random poem button
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## Requirements
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Python 3.10+ (no external dependencies). |