English Poetry Literature

Lucretius was born in 99 BC, and On the Nature of Things is his only surviving work. His aim was to free the Roman world from its two great terrors - the gods and death. Lucretius argues that the gods are not actively involved in life, so need not be appeased; and that death is the end of everything human - body and soul - and therefore should not be feared. But On the Nature of Things is also a poem of striking imagery, intimate natural observation and touching pathos.

The Argonautica, also known as Jason and the Golden Fleece or Jason and the Argonauts, is the only surviving epic poem from Hellenistic Greece. It is a masterpiece whose story was well known to the audiences of the time. Virgil and other later poets were greatly influenced by it. Its author, Apollonius, was a well-known third century BC scholar living in Alexandria during the great age of Ptolomaic scholarship, and his bold attempt at writing a Homeric epic about Jason and his quest for the Golden Fleece faced a daunting audience of knowledgeable contemporaries.

After living in the city of Orphalese for 12 years, a prophet is about to board a ship which will carry him home. He is stopped by a seeress and the people of the city, who ask him for his insights into life. The book is divided into chapters dealing with love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, houses, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death.

Festus Claudius McKay was born in Sunny Ville, Jamaica on the 15th September 1890, He was the youngest son to parents who had gathered enough assets to secure them the right to vote. As a boy he was fascinated by English Poetry and literature, although at 17 he took on work as an apprentice woodcutter for two years before becoming a police constable in the capital, Kingston. In this mainly white and affluent town racism was rife and its nature awakened his political instincts and pursuit of social justice. He soon returned home and published his first two poetry collections in 1912.

Rilke's Book of Hours shares with the listener a new kind of intimacy with God, or the divine—a reciprocal relationship between the divine and the ordinary in which God needs us as much as we need God. Rilke influenced generations of writers with his Letters to a Young Poet, and now Rilke's Book of Hours tells us that our role in the world is to love it and thereby love God into being.

Welcome to Edmund Spenser’s 1590s epic poem, The Faerie Queene. This text-faithful, line-by-line prose rendering transports modern listeners into a vast narrative tapestry. Knights traverse diverse fantastical landscapes including the shadowy depths of an enchanted forest, a treacherous underwater lair, a mysterious subterranean kingdom, and the deadly Bower of Bliss.

In the heat of the Trojan War, the Greek army’s greatest warrior, Achilles, withdraws from battle after a bitter dispute with King Agamemnon. As the war spirals into chaos, heroes rise and fall, divine forces meddle in mortal affairs, and honor is tested on every side. But when tragedy strikes, Achilles must confront his rage—and his destiny.

New York Times bestselling author and former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins captures the essence and mystery of dogs in this special collection of poems inspired by our beloved companions, with striking watercolor canine portraits by Pamela Sztybel. “Collins remains the most companionable of...

This beloved poem captures the wonder and warmth of Christmas Eve with its classic charm. Whether it’s being heard for the very first time or recited as part of a treasured family tradition, it invites listeners of all ages to gather close and listen for jolly old St. Nicholas.

Dive into this collection of poetry and prose inspired by modern dating and broken relationships, perfect for fans of Rupi Kaur and Orion Carloto.

There Was an Old Woman (Who Lived in a Shoe): What do you do when you live in a shoe? Save up some loot and move to a boot! There Was a Crooked Man: Everything is a little crooked in this silly rhyme everyone loves to recite.

Did you know that excavation of Elizabeth Line unearthed a Black Death pit and remains of long extinct wildlife? Or that the underground has an array of disused stations and hidden passages? Or how the Victorian railway rivalry shaped the transport network we use today? In a one of a kind guide to secrets of London famous stations written in original elegantly depicted narrative verse, one finds these any more answers! The book is unique and unprecedented—filled with history, facts, insights and observations eloquently and neatly composed.

It takes a collective dream, a colossally pressing issue and a civil engineering genius to design infrastructure projects that not only solve the problem of its time but also set a fine example of reliability, continuity and robustness. ‘Works’ takes the listener through some of London’s the most ingenious public works that tackled enormous challenges and fuelled growth and progress of London we know today.

'Birthday: What Gifts Day Gives' invites listeners to explore the traditions and customs of the birthday celebration, picks their curiosity at the choice of the cake, shares the party highlights and raises existential questions through a poetic recollection.

Dancing With the End of the World by Dylan Goddard A raw, unfiltered audiobook about grief, survival, and the strange beauty that remains when everything else has burned down. This is not a guide. This is not self-help. This is a man walking through the wreckage of his own life and choosing, again and again, not to look away. In these pages, Dylan Goddard writes with savage honesty about the moments that break us, the memories that haunt us, and the quiet, stubborn hope that refuses to die.

A survivor of government sanctioned mind control under the MK Ultra system, Cathy has spent the last three decades exposing hidden truths and reclaiming her sovereignty — one word at a time. While her testimony has rattled institutions, these poems reveal the quieter revolution: the return of her own free thought.

Embark on a perilous journey through this raw collection of poetry that explores violence, human suffering and the predatory forces of nature. Each poem confronts the listener with an example from history or the writer's own experience, daring the listener to rationalize these as the will of a good and just god. The poems sadly ring as true today as the events documented from recent and ancient history.

Written while riding the ferry across Puget Sound, Liz Kellebrew’s poems explore the liminal places between cities and forests, animals and people, the sky and the sea. This gorgeous and impactful debut gazes unflinchingly at the twin crises of climate change and human hubris, urging us to look closer at the creatures who co-exist with us in the space between wild and tame.

Did you know that construction of the bridges was historically fiercely opposed by watermen who demanded compensation for inconvenience? Or that the first London Bridge dates back to the Romans? In a one of a kind guide to secrets of London famous famous bridges, viaducts, highwalks and footbridges, written in original elegantly composed narrative verse, one finds these any more answers!

These poems attempt to retrace and re-imagine stories that have remained untold, filling the gaps between symptoms and family myths. The place is somewhere in rural Europe. The stories could be those of a woman and her children and their children. The time is a long time ago, but it is also now and maybe tomorrow. They come from the earth, the one you cherish and feed and get fed from. Archeology requires some imagination. Mental illnesses require attention. Reality isn’t completely important here, as long as we can finally walk to a river, and in a fresh and slow world, start to talk.