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Selection from the Sonnets of William Wordsworth

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Single Author, Sonnets
Chapter: 88 | Listen:

This is a very impressive collection of some of the best sonnets from the pen of the incomparable William Wordsworth. The appreciation that Wordsworth had for the beauty of his surroundings is vibrantly exhibited in these selections, as are his feelings on love, friendship, society, conflict, history, the supernatural and indeed the art of poetry itself. And what better vehicle for the elegant articulation of a master poet’s thoughts and inspirations than the sonnet, an art form ideally suited to assertion, verbalization and contemplation. In these sonnets, we witness Wordsworth’s poetic expertise at its best in superb descriptions of nature’s splendor which he astutely juxtaposes with his reflections on a world that is “too much with us,” a world in which, “man for brother man has ceased to feel.” The sanctuary that Wordsworth found and which forms the basis for the inspiration displayed in many of these sonnets was the magnificent Lake District of England, which he depicted as, “At happy distance from Earth’s groaning field, / Where ruthless mortals wage incessant wars.” Such a sanctuary the poet would have wished for us all, and indeed provided the means for at least our vicarious enjoyment in the form of these enduring and timeless works of art. – Summary by Bruce Kachuk [chương_files]

Canada and Other Poems

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Single Author
Chapter: 69 | Listen: 1

From the author’s preface: I wished to do something for my country, and chose this method of doing it. The literature of this country is in its infancy. It must not always remain so, or the expectations we have in regard to making it a great nation, will never be fulfilled. Literature gives life to a nation, or rather it is the reflection of a nation’s life and thought, in a mirror, which cheers, strengthens and ennobles those who look into it, and study what is there displayed. Literature must grow with our nation, and, when growing, it will aid the latter’s progress in no small degree…I dedicate this little book of mine to the Canadian public. – Summary by T. F. Young [chương_files]

Pomes Penyeach

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Chapter: 3 | Listen: 2

James Joyce published three volumes of poetry during his lifetime including Pomes Penyeach. This simple booklet was published in 1927 in Paris. The poems were written over a twenty-year period beginning in 1904 and are arranged chronologically in the booklet. This thin collection reveals some of Joyce’s humor. “Pomes Penyeach” plays with the French word for apples—pommes. The booklet was sold for a shilling, that is 12 pennies. (12 francs.) That the collection of poems is actually 13 in number mirrors the Irish tradition of the “tilly,” something like the well-known baker’s dozen. In fact, the first poem’s title is “Tilly.” The wrap of the booklet was printed on apple green colored paper. These details must be credited to Richard Ellmann. (Summary by KevinS) [chương_files]

Astrophel and Stella

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Single Author, Sonnets
Chapter: 4 | Listen:

Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.’ In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the […]

Wayside Gleams

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Chapter: 78 | Listen: 1

Laura Goodman Salverson was a Canadian author of Icelandic descent. Her poems pay tribute to both aspects of her heritage, with offerings like “For Canada”, “Iceland” and “Childhood’s Friend” in this collection. (Summary by Krista Zaleski) [chương_files]

Enough Rope

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Chapter: 90 | Listen:

A collection of poems by Dorothy Parker that previously appeared in Life, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and The New York World. Included here is the famous short poem “News Item”: Men seldom make passes – At girls who wear glasses. – Summary by mleigh [chương_files]

Poems by a Slave

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Single Author
Chapter: 22 | Listen:

This book of poems, published originally in 1829 and reprinted in 1837, was the second book written by George M. Horton. It addresses themes of love, Christianity, slavery, death, and nature. Horton was remarkable for several reasons: he was the first Black person and the first enslaved person to publish a book in the United States. He was the first enslaved person to protest their bondage through poetry. He is also the author of the first book of literature published in North Carolina. Horton attempted to gain enough money from publishing his poetry to buy his freedom. Unfortunately, this did not work, and Horton remained enslaved until 1865 when he was 67 years old. He traveled to Philadelphia but, disappointed with the racial discrimination even in the North, he emigrated to Liberia in 1867. (Summary by Elsie Selwyn) – Summary by Elsie Selwyn [chương_files]

Valley and Mesa

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Chapter: 11 | Listen: 2

Lucy Eddy was an American poet. These poems were published in Poetry in February 1918 and celebrate the Californian landscape and the joys of childhood. – Summary by Newgatenovelist [chương_files]

Poems of Puncture

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Chapter: 29 | Listen: 1

Amanda McKittrick Ros’s poetry and prose have earned notoriety for their highly individual syntax, creative punctuation, unique diction, and particular use of alliteration. Listen to this verse – if you dare… This reading of this rare book was read from a copy held in the Belfast Public Library. This recording was originally published on Legamus.eu and was later released on Librivox when US copyright permitted. – Summary by Newgatenovelist [chương_files]

Sea-Fairies and Other Poems

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Chapter: 6 | Listen:

This amazing collection of some of Tennyson’s best and most capricious poems takes us on a whimsical voyage, an allegorical voyage like no other – and we will be in good hands for at the tiller is Lord Tennyson himself. We will be guided by this master poet through a fantastic imaginary world of things that may exist, things that are, and those that may lie ahead. Our explorations will be wide-ranging as we consider with the poet, other life forms and existences and go on to explore diverse reactions to the events and pathos of lives extended to their fullest and the passion involved when the weight of lives lived as victims are realized to be wanting, melancholy and dismal. And as we, all of us, continue our individual voyages through this phenomenon we collectively call life and as we face the tribulations intrinsic to daily existence, we can’t help but pose questions similar to those Tennyson addresses in this selection of superlative and prescient poems. And as we age and more cogently realize, “The night comes on that knows not morn,” the poet attempts to provide solace in his assertion that, “Nothing was born; / Nothing will die; / All things will change.” Change, it could be said, is the common thread that unites this superb collection of works created by a master poet – change, with an underlying current of the continuity that unites us all as we each proceed toward the time when we shall, “cease […]