Shakespeare Anthology

Christmas brings out the best and the worst in us, as can been seen in this evocative anthology. Among what Thomas Love Peacock calls the "many poetical charms in the heraldings of Christmas," there are eulogies by saints and diatribes from curmudgeons. Here, Christmas is expounded by divines, sung by rustics, deplored by philosophers, made mystical in stories and summed up in a line by the poet Elizabeth Jennings: "The hush, the star, the baby, people being kind again."

The eloquence of lovers is celebrated in this rich and sensuous collection - the love of women for men. Héloïse, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Katherine Mansfield, George Sand, and others express their very real passion intensely - as, in fiction, does Juliet for her Romeo, Jane Eyre for her Rochester and Catherine for her Heathcliffe. With the music of Mendelssohn, Tchaikovksy, Puccini, Legar and more, here is some of the most tender and love prose and poetry in literature.

Mark Redfield performs an eclectic mix of story excerpts, poems, and favorite readings of some of his favorite British and American storytellers.

Because it defines human existence, love is one of art's favorite subjects. Timeless Love: Poems, Stories, and Letters celebrates the mysterious nature of love and passion by bringing together classic works by beloved writers through the ages. Including stories, poems, and letters from Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barret Browning, John Keats, Edith Wharton, and more, this collection explores how each love is singular - yet love itself is universal.

Bitter Lips, Sweet Heart is a unique collection of romantic poetry first assembled by a group of young male college students who got together to read poetry and drink tea every week, thinking themselves spurned romantics and talented poets. Most of the original selections have been forgotten, and the collection has been updated for this simple release with a sense of irony and sheepishness in mature adulthood. May its angst, irony, lust, and innocent affection amuse and entertain you today, just as it did the four nerdy boys who assembled it to communicate.