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Cathay

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Poetry
Chapter: 17 | Listen: 4

The Cathay poems appeared in a slim volume in 1915. They are, in effect, Ezra Pound’s English translations/interpretations from notebooks written by the Japanese scholar Ernest Fenollosa. Pound, not knowing any Chinese or Japanese at all, promptly created a new and somewhat complex style of translation, as he had done with words from several other languages. The Cathay poems are primarily written by the Chinese poet Li Po, referred to throughout these translations as Rihaku, the Japanese form of his name. These poems came to have a profound influence on 20th Century poetry, spawning, among other things, the Imagist movement, and helped in the generation of widespread interest in Asian literature and thought. Also included in this collection are two poems from Pound’s 1912 collection Ripostes. “The Seafarer” is another of Pound’s experiments in translation, this one from the Anglo-Saxon. (Summary by Alan Davis-Drake) [chương_files]

13/07/2024

Shelley: Selected Poems and Prose

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Poetry
Chapter: 50 | Listen: 2

The English Romantic Period in literature featured a towering group of excellent poets: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats. If we add in forerunners Burns and Blake, we have perhaps an unmatchable collection of writers for any era. Of these, Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the brightest and best, coupling a giant intellect with a highly emotional and impetuous nature. He was always a champion of liberty, but was largely ignored when he tried to promote political and social reform. He was wise enough, however, to realize that his efforts were ineffective, and he chose instead, not to attempt to reshape society, but to transform the individual, to inspire his readers to a greater love of beauty, of nature, and especially of each other. To this end, he poured forth a profusion of gorgeous verse overflowing with brilliant imagery, all aimed at uplifting the good and the beautiful, the free and the loving, while denouncing the social forces that tended to suppress them. Unfortunately, it was Shelley’s fate to be misunderstood by the people of his own time. He was vilified as an evil influence, a free thinker and free lover whose ideas should be abhorred. He pictured himself in his poetic tribute to Keats, “Adonais,” as an outcast or a martyr, a “phantom among men, companionless,” bearing a brand upon his brow like that of Cain or of Christ. His life was unorthodox, but his nature was highly sympathetic and filled with devotion to those who were ground […]

Essays of Francis Bacon

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Essays
Chapter: 14 | Listen: 11

Voltaire was an atheist. Diderot was Enlightened. But trite titles seldom encompass completely the beliefs of any individual. And this one fact is certainly true when dealing with Sir Francis Bacon.The youngest son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Francis was born in Strand, London, on Jan. 22, 1561. He went to Trinity College at Cambridge. He was elected to Parliament; he was Queen’s Counsel; he even became Attorney General before finally gaining the position of Lord Chancellor.But as do the careers of so many politicians, in 1621 his political career ended in disgrace.And yet, for all of this, both Diderot and Voltaire considered him “the father of modern science.” Others consider him only the father of the “scientific method.” (That process of collecting and organizing data.) Bacon’s “The Essays,” to which we now turn our attention, are–if they are nothing else–a delightful collection in decided disarray. That is, they seem to take no true progression. But an essay is not meant to be a treatise. And for all that, these essays are still a pleasure to read.Encompassing a broad field of interest, their largesse denotes the broad learning of this brilliant philosopher. It is therefore our sincere hope that the reader will, themselves, encompass these Essays. More importantly, we hope you enjoy them. (Summary by Carl Vonnoh, III) [chương_files]

Henry Dunbar

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Published 1800 - 1900
Chapter: 47 | Listen: 3

In this novel by Victorian sensationalist Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Henry Dunbar returns to England after a 30-year exile to India for committing forgery. What follows is an adventure involving murder, deception, the ethical quandaries of guilt and responsibility, and the struggle against the gender and social barriers of the Victorian era. (Summary by Rosie) [chương_files]

Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 095

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Essays & Short Works
Chapter: 20 | Listen: 5

“A legendary island in the Atlantic Ocean, first mentioned by Plato”, is how the 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica described Atlantis. Lands and peoples were the focus of several nonfiction readings chosen by the readers for vol. 095: Amerigo Vespucci’s Voyages; Franz Josef Land; Country and People of the Kurds; The South Country, Sussex; Poland, First Impressions; Helena Modjeska; Civilization of Japan; the United States and China; The Isthmus of Panama; and Obi in the Caribbean. Political life received attention in the Sherman Anti-Trust Act; The Exiled Lottery; Tonkin Gulf Resolution; and Bill Clinton’s Inaugural Addresses. Scholarship and books were the focus of Roget’s Thesaurus; Thick Paper and Thin; and The Excised “My’s.” Summary by Sue Anderson [chương_files]

Fabian Essays in Socialism

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Essays & Short Works, Political Science
Chapter: 16 | Listen: 8

The Fabian Society is a British institution, which, though radical, advocated social reform through legislative rather than revolutionary means. It pre-dates the British Labour Party, which it influences to this day. The Fabian Society founded the London School of Economics in 1895. Here we have a collection of essays by great thinkers of the early 20th century and edited by George Bernard Shaw. – Summary by LynneT [chương_files]

A Treatise of Religion

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Poetry, Religion
Chapter: 2 | Listen: 3

Part diatribe, part discourse, part sermon and part stand-up comedy, this is Fulke Greville’s 114 stanza, verse-poem about religious hypocrisy. [chương_files]

Mikado, Or The Town Of Titipu

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Published 1800 - 1900, Satire
Chapter: 2 | Listen: 4

In this recording, one person reads the entire play, all parts, including the stage directions. Even without the support of Arthur Sullivan’s music and the interpretation of actors, the consummate silliness of Gilbert’s libretto entertains. The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, where it ran at the Savoy Theatre for 672 performances, which was the second longest run for any work of musical theatre and one of the longest runs of any theatre piece up to that time. Before the end of 1885, it was estimated that, in Europe and America, at least 150 companies were producing the opera. The Mikado remains the most frequently performed Savoy Opera, and it is especially popular with amateur and school productions. The work has been translated into numerous languages and is one of the most frequently played musical theatre pieces in history. Setting the opera in Japan, an exotic locale far away from Britain, allowed Gilbert to satirise British politics and institutions more freely by disguising them as Japanese – Summary by Wikipedia and david wales [chương_files]

13/07/2024

Where the Pelican Builds

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Poetry
Chapter: 17 | Listen: 5

Mary Hannay Foott was an Australian poet and editor who is best remembered for the poem Where the pelican builds. [chương_files]

Macdermots of Ballycloran

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Published 1800 - 1900
Chapter: 44 | Listen: 3

This is the story of the Macdermots of Ballycloran the story is about the tragic demise of a landowning family. Larry Macdermot lives in a dilapidated mansion in Co. Leitrim, whose mortgage to Joe Flannelly he cannot keep up. Enmity between the Macdermot and Flannelly families is sharpened by son Thady’s having declined to marry Joe Flannelly’s daughter, Sally. Macdermot’s daughter, Feemy, is herself seduced by the locally hated English police officer, Captain Myles Ussher. This was Trollope’s first published novel, which he began in September 1843 and completed by June 1845. However, it was not published until 1847. (Summary by Michele Eaton) [chương_files]