Ancient Poetry

Marie de France visse nel XII secolo, e di lei si sa pochissimo, solo quello che scrive di se stessa: "Il mio nome è Maria e sono di Francia. Visse probabilmente alla corte di Enrico II d'Inghilterra e di Eleonora d'Aquitania, ed è la più antica narratrice nelle letterature volgari d’Occidente. Questa è una collezione di storie cortesi (originalmente in lingua d’oïl ) – famose novelle d’amore tutte tramandate da canzoni bretoni.

When sleep was at its deepest, night at its blackest, up from the mist-filled marsh came Grendel stalking. Thus begins the battle between good and evil, for lying in wait and anxious to challenge the ogre Grendel is a young man, strong-willed and fire-hearted. This man is Beowulf, whose heroic dragon-slaying deeds were sung in the courts of Anglo-Saxon England more than a thousand years ago.

Homer's Odyssey is the thrilling and moving tale of the wanderings of the hero Odysseus after the end of the Trojan war. For ten years he experiences storms, shipwrecks, and seductions as he tries to find a way home to Ithaca, contending with the wrath of Poseidon but protected by Pallas Athena. Meanwhile, his wife Penelope is beset by suitors who believe him dead.

The words of Kahlil Gibran give his book The Prophet a broad range of inspiration and philosophy. They provide exceptional insight into human desires and understanding. The vivid observations are vibrant with feeling and acceptance of life’s many questions and hopes. One review saluted the story as being untouched by the harshness of life. Gibran’s other two books, The Forerunner and The Madman, are of deep assistance in the same manner.

This audio study guide for Paradise Lost by John Milton includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as individual freedom and self-determination, the paradox of the pursuit of knowledge, and having the humility to ask for forgiveness. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

Der Dichter selbst verspricht: "Wir werden sicheren Liebesgenuss und erlaubte Heimlichkeiten besingen, und in meinem Gedicht wird kein Verbrechen gelehrt." Ob das 2000 Jahre alte Lehrgedicht über die Liebe heutzutage noch praktisch hilfreich ist, müssen Jüngere beurteilen. Die ältere Generation mag jedenfalls ihr ästhetisches Vergnügen daran haben. Oder wird man mich schelten, weil ich ein Frauenbild verbreiten helfe, das so gar nicht in unsere Zeit passt (und das ja auch gar nicht meines ist)?

In Denmark, a very prosperous and popular ruler, King Hrothgar, has built a large mead hall and encouraged all of his soldiers to be jubilant and merry. The commotion from the festivities has greatly upset a horrible demon, Grendel, who lives in the swamp. Every night the demon terrorizes the community forcing the Danes to suffer at the hand of the beast for many years until a young Geatish warrior, Beowulf, hears of the plight King Hrothgar has endured.

Acerbic wit and stinging satire are contrasted with delicate sensibility and passionate desire in the work of the Latin poet Catullus. Armed with an urbane sophistication and an aristocratic circle of friends, Catullus moved about easily in the upper ranks of Roman society and was acquainted with Cicero, Caesar, and Pompey among others.

Sappho is widely recognized as one of the great poets of world literature, an author whose works have caused her readers to repeat in many different forms Strabo's amazed epithet when he wrote that she could only be called "a marvel." The reception of Sappho's poetry even through the twentieth century offers a case study of the conflicts induced by the sexual preferences she seemingly alludes to in her verse. Little is known with certainty about the life of Sappho, or Psappha in her native Aeolic dialect. She was born probably about 620 B.C. to an aristocratic family on the island of Lesbos during a great cultural flowering in the area.

La nuit, les lames de son envie ne rasent plus que l'ennui... Les alcoolos sont gris. (Je ne crois pas faire ici quelconque prophétie.) J'avais, à cette occasion, dévié des nymphes de vent, contre marées et vendredi, dimanche, confins de cet océan. Maintenant que vous savez cela, tous les espoirs restent permis.

Perhaps the most famous epic poems ever written, the Iliad and the Odyssey have been read for nearly 3,000 years, making them the oldest written works in the Western world. The poems made characters like Paris, Helen, Odysseus, Achilles, Hector, and Ajax instantly recognizable, and they also influenced other ancient poets like Virgil, whose Aeneid is clearly modeled after them.

This anthology of Kipling's most famous poems - including "If", "Mandalay", "Gunga Din" - is taken from Naxos AudioBooks' Great Poets series. Though sometimes still regarded as a product of the colonial era, Kipling touches a very popular nerve in Britain's literary tradition and is regarded more generously now as a master of popular verse. It is often forgotten that he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1907.

Cet audio est constitué de 19 poèmes...

"Les fleurs du mal", in english "The Flowers of Evil", is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. The poems deal with themes relating to decadence and eroticism. The author and the publisher were prosecuted in France under the regime of the Second Empire as an "outrage aux bonnes mœurs" ("an insult to public decency"). Because of this prosecution, Baudelaire was fined 300 francs. Victor Hugo announced that Baudelaire had created "un nouveau frisson" (a new shudder, a new thrill) in literature.

El profeta da a todos los hombres, de acuerdo con las leyes de Dios, impulsos para reflexionar y respuesta sobre los sucesos y anomalías que tienen lugar en este mundo. Además habla también sobre su tarea y así también sobre sí mismo.

Cet audio est constitué de 30 poésies lues par Jean-Marc Tennberg.

I secoli XV° e XVI° in Italia videro il sorgere di una nuova concezione del mondo che si espresse in quei movimenti intellettuali che gli storici hanno chiamato Umanesimo e Rinascimento. Poeti, pittori, scultori e architetti dettero contributi importanti al pensiero morale, didattico, estetico e filosofico.

Cet audio est constitué de 10 histoires.

Quelques-unes des plus grandes réussites de la poésie et de la littérature française. Il ne s'agit pas d'une approche exhaustive mais bien d'une approche sensible de ces grands textes et de leur mise en abîme. Au-delà des mots, il y a l'amour, la solitude, le bonheur et parfois, l'humour.

François Mauriac est né à Bordeaux en 1845. Il fit ses études chez les jésuites puis à la faculté de Bordeaux. À Paris, il s'inscrivit à l'école des Chartes, mais se consacra bientôt uniquement aux lettres. Dès 1906, il collaborait à la "Revue du Temps Présent" et publia en 1909 son premier livre, un recueil de poésie "Les Mains jointes". Il reçoit en 1925 le grand Prix du roman pour "Désert de l'amour". Président de la Société des Gens de Lettres en 1932, il est appelé à l'Académie française en 1933.