Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog Project Gutenberg 2007-12-24 Public domain in the USA. 124 Harte, Bret 1836 1902 Harte, Francis Bret "Excelsior" Verses advertising Sapolio soap. Produced by Anne Storer and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) "Excelsior" by Bret Harte is a light-hearted poem written in the late 19th century. This poem captures a whimsical and satirical examination of advertising and ambition, presenting a humorous take on societal values surrounding cleanliness and commercialism. The work is characterized by its playful tone and reflects the era's fascination with consumer goods. The poem narrates the journey of a young man carrying a stencil-plate advertising "SAPOLIO," a cleaning product. As he travels through an Eastern village, he encounters various characters who express both annoyance and curiosity about his relentless promotion of the product. Despite their protests and the challenges he faces, the young man remains undeterred, highlighting an absurd dedication to the notion of cleanliness through incessant advertising. The poem cleverly critiques the commercialization of society, as the young man's commitment to his task symbolizes larger themes of ambition and consumer culture. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 73.8 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Humorous poetry Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882 -- Parodies, imitations, etc. Advertising -- Poetry Advertising -- Soap PS Text Category: Poetry Category: Humour Category: American Literature 32582 2025-08-10T05:52:08.591678 text/html 28972 2007-12-24T07:31:50 text/html 881256 2025-08-10T05:52:10.326641 application/epub+zip 879902 2025-08-10T05:52:08.996632 application/epub+zip 76858 2025-08-10T05:52:08.792632 application/epub+zip 905245 2025-08-10T05:52:11.441614 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 898278 2025-08-10T05:52:10.117679 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 96990 2022-09-11T08:04:45.409544 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 22887 2025-08-10T05:52:08.437667 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 22759 2007-12-24T07:31:50 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 19187 2025-08-10T05:52:11.571657 application/rdf+xml 12895 2025-08-10T05:52:08.857642 image/jpeg 2010 2025-08-10T05:52:08.824706 image/jpeg 1026878 2007-12-24T07:34:46 application/octet-stream application/zip 8274 2007-12-24T07:34:46 application/octet-stream application/zip 1410780 2025-08-10T05:52:08.639697 application/octet-stream application/zip en.wikipedia