Showing results by author "ciesse" in All Categories

LibriVox volunteers bring you 32 recordings of Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare.This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for April 23, 2019. ------A perennial Shakespeare favorite. The sober, almost depressed beginning ends with the sun shining through. Here is a playful video performance, a visual treat, by LV member iBeScotty - https://youtu.be/5WEdVfiSoE0 (William Allan Jones)

Located in a part of Cumbria that was once part of Lancashire, the River Duddon rises in the high fells of the Lake District and flows for 25 miles through varied scenery before disappearing into the sands between Millom and Barrow-in-Furness. Wordsworth’s series of sonnets, inspired by his walks along the river, were written over a period of years, but are arranged so as to follow its downward course from the fells to the sea. Part One of this reading consists of the 33 sonnets and postscript that were first published as a series in 1820. Later editions of Wordsworth’s works included a ...

When Diana Henders' father dies and leaves her responsible for running a cattle ranch in Arizona, along with a gold mine on the property, she is left on her own to sort things out between two love interests, Hal Colby and Bull, both of whom are eligible foremen for the ranch. Then, trouble arrives in the form of her cousin Lillian and her lawyer, Corson, from New York. Lillian claims to own half the ranch, and wants to sell out to the Wainrights; a bullying father and son who own land nearby. Meanwhile, the shipments from the gold mine keep being robbed by the notorious "Black Coyote". The ...

This is a 50-poem sequence of 16-line sonnets, divided into 10 sections. It has been called "a novelette in sonnet form". The author, George Meredith, pours his heart out in raw anguish, pain, and heartbreak, as he recalls the moments, and sometimes intimate memories of his wife who deserted him for another lover. (Summary by Laur)

Dans ce livre, Xavier Marmier (1808-1892) a rassemblé 44 contes et légendes, collectionnés du monde entier. Parmi eux on trouve des contes allemands des frères Grimm, des légendes des peuples de l'Amérique du Nord, des histoires régionaux de France, des récits orientaux, et bien plus encore. - Summary by Sonia

The Blue Bird is a 1908 play by Belgian author Maurice Maeterlinck. On the night of Christmas a boy and a girl, Tyltil and Mytil, are visited by Fairy Berilyuna. Fairy's granddaughter is sick and can only be saved by the Blue Bird. Thanks to the Fairy's magic gift children have the opportunity to see the soul of things. Inanimate objects Clocks, Fire, Water, Bread, Sugar, Milk transformed into beings with their own character. Together, they set off on a dangerous journey for the fabulous Blue Bird. The play is inspired with the deep idea of the author "be brave enough to see the hidden." - ...

The Battle of Agincourt provided a surprise English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place in 1415 and brought a turning point in the war between France and England after failed negotiations.This romance by James begins in the lead-up to the battle, with the mysterious "Hal of Hadnock" shown hospitality by Sir Philip Beauchamp while on an unknown journey. He is befriended by young Richard of Woodville, who has suspicions regarding Hal. Gradually, we learn more of Hal and Richard as we follow their fortunes and the twists and turns surrounding Richard’s love for Mary. (Summary by ...

The history of the first return of exiles, in the first year of Cyrus the Great (536 B.C.), till the completion and dedication of the new Temple in Jerusalem, in the sixth year of Darius (515 B.C.). The history of the second return under Ezra, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, and of the events that took place at Jerusalem after Ezra's arrival there. The book thus contains memorabilia connected with the Jews, from the decree of Cyrus to the reformation by Ezra (456 B.C.), extending over a period of about eighty years. (Summary by Wikipedia)

The Book of Job (American Standard Version) is presented in forty-two chapters and is one of the Old Testament Wisdom Books. The narrative chronicles the trials of Job as he is brought low from a comfortable and exalted position in his community to face loss of his fortune, children and health. Joined by three friends who initially commiserate and sympathize with him, there ensues a lengthy argument about the fate of the wicked and the just and much questioning about the character of God and the justice He metes out to his creations.A quite lively and poetic discussion ensues among these wise ...

The Books of Samuel (Hebrew: Sefer Sh'muel ספר שמואל) are part of the Tanakh (part of Judaism's Hebrew Bible) and also of the Christian Old Testament. The work was originally written in Hebrew, and the Book(s) of Samuel originally formed a single text, as they are often considered today in Hebrew bibles. Together with what is now referred to as the Book(s) of Kings, the translators who created the Greek Septuagint divided the text into four books, which they named the Books of the Kingdoms. In the Latin Vulgate version, these then became the Books of the Kings, thus 1 and 2 Samuel were...

"The Book of Nehemiah, sometimes called the Second Book of Ezra, is a book of the Hebrew Bible. It is historically regarded as a continuation of the Book of Ezra, and the two are frequently taken together as Ezra-Nehemiah. Traditionally, the author of this book is believed to be Nehemiah himself. The date at which the book was written was probably about 431 - 430 BC, when Nehemiah had returned the second time to Jerusalem after his visit to Persia. The book consists of four parts: (1) An account of the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem, and of the register Nehemiah had found of those who had...

“The Books of Samuel (Hebrew: Sefer Sh’muel ספר שמואל) are part of the Tanakh (part of Judaism’s Hebrew Bible) and also of the Christian Old Testament. The work was originally written in Hebrew, and the Book(s) of Samuel originally formed a single text, as they are often considered today in Hebrew bibles. Together with what is now referred to as the Book(s) of Kings, the translators who created the Greek Septuagint divided the text into four books, which they named the Books of the Kingdoms. In the Latin Vulgate version, these then became the Books of the Kings, thus 1 and 2 ...

During the time of the Judges when there was a famine, an Israelite family from Bethlehem - Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their sons Mahlon and Chilion - emigrate to the nearby country of Moab. Elimelech dies, and the sons marry two Moabite women: Mahlon marries Ruth and Chilion marries Orpah. Then Mahlon and Chilion also die. Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem. She tells her daughters-in-law to return to their own mothers, and remarry. Orpah reluctantly leaves; however, Ruth says, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. ...

"The Book of Judges (Hebrew: Sefer Shoftim) is a book of the Bible originally written in Hebrew. It appears in the Tanakh and in the Christian Old Testament. Its title refers to its contents; it contains the history of Biblical judges (not to be confused with modern judges), who helped rule and guide the ancient Israelites, and of their times. As Judges stands today, the last judge it mentions is Samson, and although there are two further stories, the traditional view is that Samson's exploits probably synchronise with the period immediately preceding Eli, who was both high priest and judge. ...

"Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the Mountain of God: Mount Sinai. There Yahweh, through Moses, gives the Hebrews their laws and enters into a covenant with them, by which he will give them the land of Canaan in return for their faithfulness. The book ends with the construction of the Tabernacle." (Summary by Wikipedia)

The book commences with a feast organized by Ahasuerus, initially for his court and dignitaries and afterwards for all inhabitants of Shushan. Ahasuerus orders his wife Vashti to display her beauty before the guests. She refuses, and the King's advisors warn that, if unpunished, her actions would inspire other wives to disobey their husbands. Ahasuerus removes her as queen. (Jews believe that she was executed, He then orders all young women to be presented to him, so he can choose a new queen to replace Vashti. One of these is Esther, who was orphaned at a young age and is being fostered by ...

Der Judenstaat (German, The Jewish State) is a book written by Theodor Herzl and published in 1896 in Leipzig and Vienna by M. Breitenstein's Verlags-Buchhandlung. It was originally called "Address to the Rothschilds" referring to the Rothschild family banking dynasty which was very influential in the realization of a Zionist state in Palestine. It is considered to be one of the most important texts of early Zionism. As expressed in this book, Herzl envisioned the founding of a future independent Jewish state during the twentieth century. He argued that the best way of avoiding anti-Semitism ...

"Ecclesiastes is a wisdom book of the Old Testament. The author represents himself as the son of David, and king over Israel in Jerusalem. The work consists of personal or autobiographic matter, at times expressed in aphorisms and maxims illuminated in terse paragraphs with reflections on the meaning of life and the best way of life. The work emphatically proclaims all the actions of man to be inherently "vain", "futile", "empty", or "meaningless," depending on translation, as the lives of both wise and foolish men end in death. While the teacher clearly promotes wisdom as a means for a ...

The Books of Chronicles (Hebrew Divrei Hayyamim, דברי הימים, Greek Paralipomenon, Παραλειπομένων) are part of the Hebrew Bible (Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament). In the Masoretic Text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim (the latter arrangement also making it the final book of the Jewish bible). Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings. It appears in two parts (I & II Chronicles), immediately following 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings as a summary of them with minor details sometimes added. ...

"Genesis (Greek: "birth", "origin") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible, and the first of five books of the Pentateuch or Torah. It recounts the world from creation to the descent of the children of Israel into Egypt, and contains some of the best-known accounts of the Old Testament, including Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark, the Tower of Babel, and the biblical Patriarchs." (From Wikipedia, modified by Sam Stinson)