Ancient Poetry

Award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti recites Shakespeare’s "Sonnet 12".

Award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti recites William Shakespeare's Sonnet 2.

Award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti recites William Shakespeare's Sonnet 1.

Award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti recites William Shakespeare's Sonnet 43.

Ausgelöst durch Paris' Raub der Helena, der schönsten aller Frauen, herrscht ein jahrelanger Krieg zwischen den Griechen und den Bewohners Trojas. In dramatischen Einzelszenen trifft Mann auf Mann, wird um das Leben von Freunden gekämpft und um Angehörige getrauert. Zusätzlich befeuert wird das grausame Gemetzel vom der persönlichen Fehde des Griechen Achilleus mit seinem Heerführer Agamemnon. Achilleus bittet die Götter um Rache - und sei es um den Preis der eigenen Niederlage.

Qu'ils donnent la parole aux opprimés réduits au silence ou ravivent le souvenir des peuples engloutis de l'histoire, qu'ils exaltent l'amour d'une mère ou la fraternité nécessaire, qu'ils évoquent les réfugiés en quête d'une impossible terre d'accueil ou les abominables convois de bois d'ébène des siècles passés, ils sont habités d'une ferveur païenne lumineuse, qui voudrait souffler le vent de l'espérance.

Da Omero ai grandi lirici greci e latini, dallo splendore della poesia italiana dello Stil Novo ai romantici. Roberto Mussapi ha scelto e inanellato magnifiche opere di poesia dall'antichità alle soglie del nostro tempo, leggendo con la sua voce i loro versi.

Percy Bysshe Shelley was born at Field Place near Horsham, Sussex, England, on August 4th, 1792, and was drowned in the sea off Leghorn on July 8th, 1822, within a month of completing his 30th year. Here, Margaretta Scott reads a selection of his finest work.

A first person epic poem of Odysseus' life and journey. This poem has all the twists and turns that one might expect from the teller of the tale...which is in this case Odysseus himself. The poem starts with Odysseus chiding his unnamed summoner, thus narrating his life, starting with his childhood and ending with his ultimate triumph at the death of the suitors. However, Odysseus has an agenda of his own and attempts to turn the tables on his foe.

The Iliad of Homer is the earliest work of European literature that we have. Created in the eighth century BC it has continued to arouse interest for over 2000 years. The author intended it to be heard, as delivered by a bard or rhapsode who had made the presentation of Greek epic poetry his profession, and who had command of the vocal resources and the dramatic power to move his audience.

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)?

The idiosyncratic Scottish poet William Topaz McGonagall has the unusual reputation as one of the worst poets in the English language with rhymes and rhythms that produce mirth rather than wonder. His masterpiece is The Tay Bridge Disaster. Scottish-born Gregor Fisher, who starred in Love Actually and other film and TV programs, reads the key poems and passages from the autobiography - and gets deep into character!

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.

The poem written by Wilde while in exile about his time in Reading Prison and the hanging of Charles Thomas Wooldridge.

Rumi gilt als der bedeutendste Lyriker Persiens. Eine Auswahl aus seiner Gedichtssammlung "Der Diwan" erscheint hier erstmals als Hörbuch und zeugt von Rumis poetischer Meisterschaft: ungekünstelt, frisch und spontan spricht er von Sehnsucht, Verzweiflung und Hoffnung und fasst die höchsten Wahrheiten wie die alltäglichsten Dinge in Verse von unübertroffener Schönheit.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) and Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) were both regarded as the female poet laureates of their time, and between them their writings spanned almost the entire Victorian age, from the end of Romanticism to the beginnings of Modernism. This selection of their shorter works contains all the major themes that animated them - social justice, faith, love and mortality - and some of the best-loved poetry in English, including "In The Deep Midwinter" and "How Do I Love Thee?"

Here are some of the finest poems by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), a unique voice in American poetry. She is known for her short poems, full of acute observations, and deft use of language. This careful but imaginative selection shows the remarkable variety she produced, despite the miniature nature of her medium.

A literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks among the 30 most translated authors in the world, just below Charles Dickens. He has been greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Marcel Schwob, Vladimir Nabokov, J. M. Barrie, and G. K. Chesterton, who said of him that he, "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins."

Narrated in Middle English by J.B. Bessinger, Jr.

Martial was a Latin poet from Hispania best known for his 12 books of Epigrams, published in Rome between A.D. 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In these short, witty poems, he cheerfully satirises city life and the scandalous activities of his acquaintances, and romanticises his provincial upbringing.