To a Skull on My Bookshelf: Poetry Guide and Free Edition
To a Skull on My Bookshelf: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.

To a Skull on My Bookshelf is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Raplee, Elizabeth Virginia (1900–1982).
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
"To a Skull on My Bookshelf" by Elizabeth Virginia Raplee is a poem published in 1937, likely during the 20th century's early modern literary period. The poem explores themes of mortality and the macabre, reflecting on the nature of life, death, and the mysteries of human existence as symbolized by a skull resting on the speaker’s bookshelf. In this reflective piece, the speaker personifies the skull, imagining its potential insights into the secrets of life and death. The poem contemplates the origins of the skull, pondering who once possessed it and how it came to be removed from its resting place. The speaker's musings underscore an existential curiosity about the fate awaiting all humans, contemplating the possibility that they too may become curiosities for future generations, much like the skull itself. Through rich imagery and a tone that oscillates between eerie and introspective, the poem invites readers to consider their relationship with mortality and the legacies they leave behind.
Book and edition facts
- Title: To a Skull on My Bookshelf
- Author credits: Raplee, Elizabeth Virginia (1900–1982)
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- Poetry
Gutenberg collections
- Category: Poetry
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View the complete Gutenberg catalogue record. Project Gutenberg identifies this edition as public domain in the United States; that designation does not establish its copyright status in every country.
Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.



