03/08/2024
Song of Roland
The Song of Roland is an epic poem, originally sung in Old French. It tells the story of the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778. This is an English translation. (Introduction by Joy Chan) [chương_files]
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03/08/2024
Song of Hiawatha
I sing the Song of Hiawatha, Brave of heart and strong of arm. Daughter’s son of old Nokomis, Fathered by the harsh West Wind. With its regular, beating rhythm, the Song of Hiawatha has often been parodied, but in truth, it is a powerful, emotional epic; a hero’s life, his loves and suffering. The legends and traditions of the North American Indian swirl together through the tale like a mountain stream, tumbling white over the rocks, and caressing the mossy tree roots. (Summary by Peter Yearsley) [introduction by Woodrow Morris] [chương_files]
03/08/2024
Paradise Regained
Paradise Regained is a poem by the 17th century English poet John Milton, published in 1671. It is connected by name to his earlier and more famous epic poem Paradise Lost, with which it shares similar theological themes. Based on the Gospel of Luke’s version of the Temptation of Christ, Paradise Regained is more thoughtful in writing style, and thrives upon the imagery of Jesus’ perfection in contrast to the shame of Satan. (Summary from Wikipedia) The Librivox recording of Paradise Lost can be found here. [chương_files]
03/08/2024
Don Juan, Cantos 13 – 16
These are the last four Cantos of his mock epic that Byron completed in the year before his death at the age of 36 in Messolonghi, Greece, where he had gone to fight for the nationalists against the Ottoman Empire. Juan, now in England, is invited to spend the autumn with a hunting party at the ancient country seat of Lord Henry and Lady Adeline Amundeville. There, he meets the most intriguing of the Byronic heroines, Aurora Raby, and is visited by a ghost with ample breasts (!). That is the narrative outline but hardly the focus of the last Cantos. Byron is more interested satirizing the frailty of faith, the fecklessness of the English aristocracy, the futility of English pastimes and the fawning of elected Members of Parliament over their middle-class constituents. Booze, banquets, belles and bishops are given the Byronic treatment, while his spleen is reserved for his critics and for “tyranny”. (Summary by Peter Gallagher) [chương_files]
03/08/2024
Milton: a Poem
Milton: a Poem is an epic poem by William Blake, written and illustrated between 1804 and 1810. Its hero is John Milton, who returns from heaven and unites with Blake to explore the relationship between living writers and their predecessors. While on earth, Milton also unites with his feminine aspect, Ololon. The poem describes progress toward the apocalyptic union of living and dead, internal and external reality, and male and female. (Summary from Wikipedia). [chương_files]
03/08/2024
Eirik the Red’s Saga
In this saga, the events that led to Eirik the Red’s banishment to Greenland are chronicled, as well as Leif Eirikson’s discovery of Vinland the Good (a place where wheat and grapes grew naturally), after his longboat was blown off-course. By geographical details, this place is surmised to be present-day Newfoundland, and is likely the first European discovery of the American mainland, some five centuries before Christopher Columbus’s journey. (Summary from Wikipedia.) [chương_files]
03/08/2024
Mahabharata by Vyasa: The epic of ancient India condensed into English verse
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. Traditionally, the authorship of the Mahabharata is attributed to Vyasa. With more than 74,000 verses, Mahabharata is said to be the longest poem. Mahabharata tells the story of the epic Kurukshetra War and the fates of the cousin brothers Kauravas and the Pandavas. But more than that the Mahabharata contains much philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four “goals of life” or ‘purusharthas’. The latter are enumerated as dharma (right action), artha (purpose), kama (pleasure), and moksha (liberation). (Introduction by om123) [chương_files]
03/08/2024
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is the first epic of English literature written in the classical style. John Milton saw himself as the intellectual heir of Homer, Virgil, and Dante, and sought to create a work of art which fully represented the most basic tenets of the Protestant faith. His work, which was dictated from memory and transcribed by his daughter, remains as one of the most powerful English poems. (Summary by Caeristhiona) This is a recording of the text of Milton’s first edition of 1667, which had ten books, unlike the second edition (1674) which was redivided into twelve books in the manner of Virgil’s Aeneid. See Wikipedia entry. [chương_files]
03/08/2024
Iliad
The Iliad, together with the Odyssey, is one of two ancient Greek epic poems traditionally attributed to Homer. The poem is commonly dated to the 8th or 7th century BC, and many scholars believe it is the oldest extant work of literature in the Greek language, making it the first work of European literature. The existence of a single author for the poems is disputed as the poems themselves show evidence of a long oral tradition and hence, multiple authors. The poem concerns events during the tenth and final year in the siege of the city of Iliun, or Troy, by the Greeks. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Karen Merline.) [chương_files]
03/08/2024
Letters to a Daughter
Letters to a Daughter is a collection of essays proffering ‘fatherly advice’ in the form of a one-sided correspondence. Each of these takes the form of a response to a question that a young woman who is about to enter adult society might pose. The fictional daughter in Letters to a Daughter is named ‘Alexa.’ The author, Hubert Bland, a columnist and political activist, dedicated the book to his daughter, Rosamund Edith Nesbit Bland. While married to the author Edith Nesbit, Mr. Bland had a lifelong extramarital relationship with Alice Hoatson, the birth mother of Rosamund – Edith, Alice and Hubert lived together ‘openly’. Rosamund wrote The Man in the Stone House, a novel about a young woman’s relationship with her parents, and the children’s book Moo Cow Tales; she also wrote the children’s book Cat Tales with her adoptive mother, Edith Nesbit – Summary by Brian Fullen [chương_files]