There are a number of databases and websites you can visit to find literary texts such as poetry, plays, essays and letters, novels and short stories, reviews and other cultural writing.
Literature Online focuses on the study and teaching of literature in English. It includes poetry, prose and drama as well as criticism and reference resources.
English Poetry, Second Edition contains poems, essentially comprising the complete canon of English poetry of the British Isles and the British Empire from the 8th century to the early 20th. It redefines the English poetic canon for the 21st century, building on the achievement of the original English Poetry collection with the addition of more poems from several new categories.
Oxford Scholarly Editions Online (OSEO) provides access to material written between 1485 and 1837, plus Classical Latin poetry, including all of Shakespeare's plays, the complete works of Jane Austen, Ovid, and Virgil, the poetry of John Donne, and works by Adam Smith and Jeremy Bentham.
Includes the full-text of English, French and German titles. The Corvey collection is sourced from the library of Victor Amadeus and comprises collections of Romantic era writing - including fiction, short prose, dramatic works, poetry and more - with a focus on especially difficult-to-find works by lesser-known, historically neglected writers.
An AM Open Source Collection that allows you to compare and access digitized copies of Shakespeare's Folios from across libraries and institutions around the world.
Australian cultural and literary magazines and journals
Australasian Literature: Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands includes in-copyright fictional and poetry works, biographies and interviews. Australasian Literature is a resource for researchers in the fields of Literature, Creative Writing, Post-Colonial Studies, Immigration Studies, Social Studies and Anthropology.
The Literature & Culture Collection provides access to a range of publications covering Australia's literary and cultural heritage. The database includes a number of publications relevant to emerging and established writers to develop their craft and to engage with central ideas and debates around Australian literary, culture and social life.
Children's Literature and Childhood provides a wide range of primary sources related to the experience of childhood in the nineteenth century. Included in the archive are books and periodicals for children, primers and other material related to education, pamphlets produced by child welfare groups, documents and photos related to children and crime, newspapers produced by youths.
19th Century UK Periodicals provides an in-depth view of British life in the Victorian age through a collection of British magazines, journals and specialty newspapers.