Ancient Poetry

Like his great contemporaries, John Keats and Lord Byron, Shelley suffered an untimely death, but still managed to stun the world with a wide-ranging body of work, including poetry, drama, and criticism. His poetry is that of a young man, a lover of nature and fiercely critical of institutionalized corruption, and virtuosic in his use of language and imagery.

The Odyssey by Homer is an ancient Greek poem which tells the story of the hero Ulysses and his arduous journey home to Ithaca after the long and bloody Trojan war. After the ten-year battle and the fall of Troy, Ulysses intends to make his way back to his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus. The Gods are against him and he faces many obstacles in his path which delay his return for many years. With her husband gone for so long Penelope assumes that he is dead and never to return.

Christmas just isn't the same without this poem which is why Monkeynut Audiobooks have brought together the unforgettable voice of Mike Read, the musical genius of film composer Andrew Stamp, and leading audiobook producer Elliott Frisby to create this full orchestral version of the famous poem by Clement Clarke Moore.

This epic poem by Edmund Spenser is the longest poem in the English language. It is an allegorical work, written in praise of Queen Elizabeth I. Michael MacLiammoir reads a selection from Book III.

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.

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.

Petronius’ Satyricon is a rampant and vivacious Roman adventure dating back to the first century, during the reign of Nero. It follows the exploits of Encolpius, an impoverished ex-gladiator, and his boy-lover Giton. The action is fleet and the narrative sweeping: over the course of their journey we meet a host of lewd and comical rogues, including beggars, prostitutes, poets, sodomites, and pedants, and witness many strange and curious events, including a remarkably vulgar multi-course feast, hosted by the pompous nouveau riche Trimalchio

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.

The Nature of Things was written in the 1st century BC by Roman polymath Lucretius. It is written as a didactic poem, and explains Epicurean physics.

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.

Sophisticated wit and intense emotion, religious fervor and erotic sensuality, delight in life’s pleasures and fascination with death, are all to be found in the paradoxical poetry of John Donne. One of the foremost metaphysical poets, Donne’s ingenious metaphors and inspired use of language has earned him affection and reverence in near equal measure to Shakespeare.

Extraits de : "Éloge", "La gloire des rois", "Anabase", "Exil", "Vents", "Amer". Il manquait, parmi les grands poètes de ce siècle, un personnage hautain, toujours isolé, toujours absent, qui transmît aux hommes, d'une voix voilée et d'un geste à peine entrevu, un discours ample et sibyllin, plein de terribles vigueurs et d'énigmes, de ces discours que seuls un orateur antique ou un Bossuet eussent pu prononcer et qui n'étaient faits que pour un auditoire princier.

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.

Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy. So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey, which Jasper Griffin in The New York Times Review of Books hails as "a distinguished achievement." If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life.

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.

Ion is a very short Platonic dialogue between Socrates and a rhapsode by the name of Ion who specializes in reciting the poetry of Homer. The dialogue explores the nature of poetic and artistic inspiration in a most playful way.

A collection of the finest work of one of America's best-loved poets. Despite Dickinson's prolific writing, fewer than a dozen of her poems were published during her lifetime. Critics now consider Dickinson to be a major American poet. Read by Julie Harris.

Esta es una colección de 24 poemas de la poeta Americana más famosa de la lengua inglesa. Emily Dickinson fue una poeta fenomenal, no sólo por sus artes innovadoras sino por su historia personal, la imagen que la vida formó en ella, y que le dio el aura de leyenda. Sus extraordinarios poemas no respetan las reglas tradicionales de la poesía, y la gran mayoría carece de título.

You've read the poetry, but you don't understand the symbolism. You've been to every class, but it's two a.m., and your essay is due at nine. Your midterm is Friday, and you need a boost. We've been there. We know what it's like to study, work, have a life, do your best, and still need help. Course Hero study guides untie the knots. You do the work, we give you the tools to make every minute count. We help you get unstuck.

The Epic of Gilgamesh relates the tale of the fifth king of the first dynasty of Uruk (in what is modern-day Iraq), who reigned for 126 years, according to the ancient Sumerian list of kings. Gilgamesh was first inscribed in cuneiform writing on clay tablets by an unknown author during the Sumerian era and has been described as one of the greatest works of literature in the recounting of mankind's unending quest for immortality.