Résultats lu par "Denis Daly" dans Toutes les catégories

Although he was well known as an authority on spiritual traditions, Paul Carus was unusual in that he refused to align himself with any particular form of organized religion. In any case, his universalist view of God would probably have put him outside the allowable boundaries of Christian belief. Carus was particularly active in raising awareness of Eastern spiritual traditions in the West.

This collection contains miscellaneous notes and fragments found after the death of Baudelaire. They reveal in miniature the many and varied aspects of the moral and intellectual life of the author. Included are reflections not only on poetry, but also on painting and music, displaying Baudelaire’s finely honed critical instincts.

This enigmatic scripture is attributed to the mysterious sage Lao Tze, who is believed to have lived in the sixth century BCE. In the present translation by religious scholar Paul Carus, the title is presented as The Canon of Reason and Virtue, and in the body of the text Carus renders the word usually translated as “Tao” as “reason.” This book is an extract from the author’s larger work, Lao-Tze’s Tao Teh King. The latter contained an historical introduction, the Chinese text, a transliteration, explanatory notes and an index, including the Chinese terms.

Listeners are invited to sit back and enjoy this collection of classic Yuletide tales....

Baudelaire’s most famous collection of poems is The Flowers of Evil, which was published in 1857 and which was widely condemned as being unwholesome and decadent. The publication actually led to Baudelaire being prosecuted on a charge of offending public morals. There have been numerous translations of Baudelaire’s work into English, but many of them have been judged as not being particularly successful. Strum’s version of The Flowers of Evil is unusual and notable for its accuracy in capturing the elusive appeal of the originals.

The Castle of Indolence was published early in the summer of 1748, four months after the poet’s death. The work was a slow and leisurely composition, which took nearly fifteen years to complete. The poem consists of 158 stanzas, divided into two cantos. It is presented as an allegory and was professedly written in imitation of The Faerie Queene. The origin of the poem appears to be the frequent remonstrances of Thomson’s friends about the poet’s well-known indolence, regarding both life and composition.

Neither the date nor the authorship of the Dhammapada is known, but there is conclusive evidence that this monument of the Buddhist canon existed well before the Christian era. Many scholars agree in ascribing its utterances to Buddha himself, while others are of the opinion that it is a compilation made by Buddhist monks from various sources. This classic religious text focuses on practical morality, which, if practiced earnestly and diligently, will lead the practitioner to Nirvana, the state of unconditioned eternal bliss.

This collection of Japanese poetry was compiled and translated into English from an anthology known as The Collection of Myriad Leaves, and from a number of other anthologies made by imperial decree between the tenth and fifteenth centuries. This period has come to be considered the golden age of Japanese literature. These examples of Japanese poetry exhibit the most exquisite polish, allied with an avoidance of every shocking or perturbing theme; they combine the enduring luster of a precious metal with the tenuity of gold-leaf.

During his lifetime, Hopkins, who was ordained as a Jesuit priest, was best known as a scholar and a teacher of languages. In his youth, he composed poetry prolifically, but destroyed all his juvenile work in 1867. In 1874, he commenced writing poetry again, but little of his verse was published in his lifetime. His work was rescued from obscurity by his friend and supporter, Robert Bridges, who later became poet laureate.

Alexander Pope was celebrated for his command of classical Greek and produced seminal translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Prior to the preparation of these translations, Pope took advantage of his mastery of the classical style and also his waspish wit to compose a burlesque epic about the theft of a lock of hair. The incident that inspired Pope was related to him by his friend John Caryll. Lord Petre had cut off a lock of the hair of Arabella Fermor, whom he was courting at the time, without asking the lady's permission.

William Wordsworth composed hundreds of sonnets, among which are some of his best-known poems. The sonnet form particularly suited Wordsworth, enabling the poet to encapsulate the beauties of mundane life in language of appealing directness and simplicity. This recording contains 122 poems, ranging across many decades of Wordsworth’s writing career.

William Wordsworth belonged to a chosen band of poets for whom poetry was a priesthood, displayed in his unerring devotion to his art. He nourished his unique poetic gift by daily intimacy with Nature. It is Wordworth’s peculiar achievement to reveal the impulses at work behind the outward beauty of Nature, and to manifest its sustaining influence upon the spirit of man.

First published in 1857, The Flowers of Evil (Les Fleurs du Mal) is a poetry collection by Charles Baudelaire. In 1909, Cyril Scott published a translation of 54 of the poems, which is the subject of this recording.

As the Enlightenment movement was gathering strength in the early 18th century, various challenges to established religious faith were launched. In response, a number of celebrated commentators produced defences of religion and morality, and among these was Alexander Pope, who was inspired to write "some pieces on Human Life and Manners." The result was a collection of poems in rhyming couplets, designated "Epistles", which were published in instalments.

First published in 1711, An Essay on Criticism was one of Pope's earliest major poems. As the title suggests, it is an exploration of what Pope considered to be the essential aspects of good critical writing.

According to Tertullian and others Marcion was the son of a bishop and was born at Sinope, in Pontus. He arrived in Rome in about 140 CE, bringing a scripture with him that he named "The Gospel of the Lord". Marcion described this not as a new gospel, but as that which Saint Paul had used and which he communicated to the churches he founded.

This book, a true spiritual classic, consists of notes of several conversations had with, and letters written by, Nicholas Herman, of Lorraine, a humble man of little education. After having served as a soldier and a footman, Herman was admitted as a lay brother to the order of the barefooted Carmelites at Paris in 1666, where he took the name "Brother Lawrence." The conversations are supposed to have been recorded by Joseph de Beaufort, who later became vicar general to the Archbishop of Paris.

This very clever and highly-polished epistle to Dr Arbuthnot (also entitled the "Prologue to the Satires"), who was suffering from terminal illness, dates from 1734. Arbuthnot, from his deathbed, solemnly advised Pope to moderate his satire and expressed fear about the poet's personal safety from his numerous foes. Pope replied in a manly but self-defensive style. He is said at this time to have in his walks carried arms, and taken a large dog as a protector, but none of the purported enemies ever had the courage to attack him.

Dooman's translation of the Rubaiyat, containing 180 quatrains, was first published in 1911. It has a roughhewn quality, reminiscent of the style of an earlier American translator, John Payne, who published a collection of 845 quatrains in 1898.

It cannot be said of this book that James Allen wrote it at any particular time or in any one year, for he was engaged in it over many years and those who have eyes to see and hearts to understand will find in its pages the spiritual history of his life. It was his own wish that The Divine Companion should be the last MS of his to be published.