Petrarch’s Canzoniere
Scattered Rhymes, a New Verse Translation
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Narrated by:
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Ed Ashley
About this listen
This is Petrarch for the modern ear. From the translator of a Dante edition that 'ranks with the very best available in English'.
Francesco Petrarch’s Canzoniere (translated in English as ‘Scattered Rhymes’) is a collection of 14th century poems famed for their exploration of love, grief, spirituality and nature. Peter Thornton's accessible new translation brings Petrarch to the 21st century in direct, rhymed, English verse - for academics and poetry enthusiasts alike.
Written over the course of forty years (approximately between 1328-1368), Petrarch's various poems often come back to Laura. He adores her in life and after her early death. His Canzoniere also serves as a valuable contemporary insight into 14th century religion and Christendom.
Petrarch’s work is one of civilization’s most immaculate achievements. Peter Thornton provides non-intrusive, insightful commentary and guidance through the text.
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Paradise Lost
- By: John Milton
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny.
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The most accessible reading of Paradise Lost
- By Tony McClung on 02-21-10
By: John Milton
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De Profundis
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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At its heart, De Profundis is a love letter and is better known as the De Profundis papers. Written in 1897, while Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in Reading Gaol, De Profundis would become one of his best-known works. The papers include Wilde's account of living a lavish lifestyle and his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, both of which he credited for his eventual downfall and imprisonment. The second half of the papers is Wilde's account of prison life and his spiritual awakening.
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This Work Really Is Wilde Going Off...
- By James E. Lytle on 05-16-21
By: Oscar Wilde
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Leaves of Grass
- By: Walt Whitman
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the great innovators in American letters, Walt Whitman created a daringly new kind of poetry that became a major force in world literature. Leaves of Grass is his masterpiece, written in a pure, uninhibited style, combining sensual and mystical sensibilities. Its bold, joyous voice, its expansive optimism, and its transcendental vision made it uniquely American.
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No chapters! Can't skip to a particular poem :(
- By April Antoniou on 02-08-13
By: Walt Whitman
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Leaves of Grass
- 1855 Edition
- By: Walt Whitman
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1855, Walt Whitman published, at his own expense, the first edition of Leaves of Grass, a visionary volume of 12 poems. Showing the influence of a uniquely American form of mysticism known as Transcendentalism, the writing is distinguished by an explosively innovative free-verse style and previously unmentionable subject matter. Exalting nature, celebrating the human body, and praising the senses and sexual love, this monumental work, now a classic of American poetry, was condemned as immoral upon publication.
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password “primaeval”
- By Chas Carner on 05-28-20
By: Walt Whitman
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Poems of Emily Dickinson: Series 1
- By: Emily Dickinson, Thomas W. Higginson - editor, Mabel Loomis Todd - editor
- Narrated by: Kendra Murray, Nancy Beard, Jennifer Fournier, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Emily Dickinson was one of the most reclusive of all poets. She spent much of her life in seclusion in her father’s house in Amherst, and only a handful of her 1800 poems were published in her lifetime. Credit for the posthumous publication of her work must be given to her editor and friend Thomas W. Higginson, who reported that, in spite of the voluminous correspondence which passed between himself and Dickinson, he only met her twice in person.
By: Emily Dickinson, and others
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The Sorrows of Young Werther
- By: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Werther, a sensitive young artist, finds himself in Wahlheim, a quiet, attractive village in Germany where he seeks solace from the turmoils of love. It is a young spring, and he hopes that arcadian solitude will prove a genial balm to his mind. But his romantic tendency rules otherwise, and he falls in love with Charlotte - Lotte - even though he knows she is affianced to another.
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Great performance for a classical story.
- By Brandon Shaw on 09-15-17
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I Know What to Do, So Why Don't I Do It?
- The New Science of Self-Discipline
- By: Nick Hall
- Narrated by: Nick Hall
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
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You might think laziness, lack of willpower, and/or low motivation are to blame for the fact that you aren't achieving your goals. But fascinating research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology has revealed another, far more likely possibility. One with the potential to transform your life in a dramatic way.
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Big Disappointment!
- By TP on 01-29-15
By: Nick Hall