Classic Poetry

Even though the poet Allen Tate called our era "[T]he age of Eliot", Eliot's poetry has been little assimilated by the 20th and early 21st century as was Dante's by the 14th and 15th. In this presentation, Gil Bailie explores what many believe to be Eliot's poetic masterpiece.

"The Theogony" (“Birth of the Gods”) is a poem by Hesiod which describes the origin, position and relationships of the gods of the Greek pantheon. Hesiod created a synthesis of the diverse Greek traditions concerning the gods, in the form of a hymn invoking Zeus and the Muses. The Theogony is the first known Greek mythical cosmogony. However, it should not be considered as the authoritative source of Greek mythology, but rather as a portrait of a dynamic tradition that was recorded around 700 BCE.

The Satires comprises a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the second century CE. Juvenal wrote in the Roman tradition of “satura”, a formal literary genre composed in dactylic hexameter rather than just witty criticism in any format. In a tone and manner that ranges from irony to rage, Juvenal criticizes the actions and beliefs of his contemporaries.

Robert Browning (1812-1889), playright and poet, is known and admired for his dramatic monologues in blank verse, of which he is a recognized master. He was not always popular in his own time but is now considered one of the foremost poets of Victorian England.

Most of the great Greek stories and epic tales are initiated over women, which is exactly what happens in the very beginning of The Iliad by Homer. The Trojan War has been waging for nearly a decade, and really erupted when Helen, the wife to Menelaos, was kidnapped and thus launched the "thousand ships" in pursuit of her. This is the reason that the Achaians and the Trojans have been fighting each other for so long. Achilles, who has become hero to the Greeks, is given the present of a slave girl for his excellence in battle.

A collection of Christina Rossetti's finest poetry including Goblin Market.

This novel in verse, said to be the parent of all Russian novels, is a tragic story of innocence, love, and friendship. Eugene Onegin, an aristocrat, much like Pushkin and his peers in his attitude and habits, is bored. He visits the countryside where the young and passionate Tatyana falls in love with him. In a touching letter she confesses her love but is cruelly rejected. Years later, it is Onegin's turn to be rejected by Tatyana. Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.

The Gruffalo said that no gruffalo should ever set foot in the deep dark wood. But one wild and windy night the Gruffalo's child disobeys her father's warnings and ventures out into the snow. After all, the Big Bad Mouse doesn't really exist...does he? Perfect for listening to at home, in the car, at bedtime - or any time at all!

Included in this collection, along with Longfellow's classic "The Song of Hiawatha", are "An April Day", "Autumn", "Woods in Winter", "The Wreck of the Hesperus", "The Village Blacksmith", "Endymion", "Voices of the Night", "Hymn to the Night", "A Psalm of Life", "The Reaper and the Flowers", "The Light of Stars", "Footsteps of Angels", "Flowers", "The Beleaguered City", "Midnight Mass for the Dying Year" and "The Day Is Done".

Primo capolavoro della letteratura occidentale, scritto probabilmente intorno all'VIII secolo a.C., l'Iliade è, insieme con l'Odissea, uno dei pilastri di tutta la cultura occidentale. Nel poema si narrano i 51 giorni della guerra di Troia, dall'ira di Achille ai funerali di Ettore, densi di battaglie ed imprese nelle quali si intrecciano continuamente i destini di dèi ed eroi.

The poem "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman first appeared in his 1855 volume Leaves of Grass. "Song of Myself" is written in Whitman’s signature free verse style. The "I" of the narrator should not be confused with the person of the historical Walt Whitman, as the first-person persona is portrayed as having transcended the conventional boundaries of self. Most critics consider "Song of Myself" as the core of Whitman’s poetic vision, and it remains one of the most acclaimed of all American poems.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is a poetic marvel, a work that has survived translation into many languages, while losing little of its force and its wry character. As a source of literary imagery and memorable quotations it ranks with the Bible and the works of Shakespeare. While Edward Fitzgerald was neither the first nor the most scholarly of the English translators of the Rubaiyat, his translation has been largely responsible for the world-wide popularity of this monument of classic Persian poetry.

This collection of Japanese poetry was compiled and translated into English from an anthology known as The Collection of Myriad Leaves, and from a number of other anthologies made by imperial decree between the tenth and fifteenth centuries. This period has come to be considered the golden age of Japanese literature. These examples of Japanese poetry exhibit the most exquisite polish, allied with an avoidance of every shocking or perturbing theme; they combine the enduring luster of a precious metal with the tenuity of gold-leaf.

Versión en prosa de uno de los clásicos absolutos de la literatura universal: "La Ilíada" de Homero, que narra el rapto de Helena de Troya a manos de Paris y la posterior guerra entre aqueos y troyanos por recuperarla, con la intervención de las diferentes fuerzas de la naturaleza encarnadas por dioses y semidioses. Una lectura capital para todos aquellos aficionados a la Grecia clásica y a la buena literatura.

In this audiobook, I read 33 classical French poems. The majority are read twice: once slowly - so you can repeat after me - and once faster, with my personal interpretation of the poem. I will also sometimes tell you about the author, or explain the vocabulary or the meaning of the poem, all in easy everyday French. Musset, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, La Fontaine, Labbé, Valéry... A collection of 33 of the most famous French poems.

The story of the adventures of the mythical hero Gilgamesh is the most considerable literary production that has come down to us from ancient Babylonia. Unfortunately, it was not preserved in complete form. This recording is of the fullest translation which had yet been issued in English when it was first published in 1917.

'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' is a haunting ballad describing a young knight whose very lifeblood and vitality have been drained by a beautiful but parasitic, fairylike vampire. This knight has now been left as an undead shell of his former self, alone on a barren hillside.

The origins, history and authorship of Beowulf are shrouded in uncertainty. This heroic epic probably began, as most do, with a wandering troubadour strumming a stringed instrument, sitting before a hearth-fire, and singing the verses to a spellbound audience arrayed before him. Beowulf is a rousing adventure story, filled with intrepid heroes, monsters and fire-breathing dragons, which can be listened to for the sheer enjoyment of the tale.

What starts with young Jim Hawkins meeting a beggar and ends in a climactic battle between him and one of the most infamous villains in literature — Long John Silver — has long been revered as the ultimate pirate adventure story. This non - dramatized classic will sweep you off to a world of sly and savvy seafarers as the young Hawkins navigates treachery, assassination and the ominous prophecy of the black spot in the greatest treasure hunt known to literature.

For students of Middle English, Andrew and Waldron's The Poems of the Pearl Manuscript has been the key edition of the four Pearl poems for over 30 years. With the changing needs of today's students in mind, the editors produced a complete prose translation of the four poems - the best known of which is "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". The near-literal translations are intended to facilitate understanding of the four poems - to lead readers to, rather than away from, the original texts.