Showing results by narrator "Denis Daly" in All Categories

According to Tertullian and others Marcion was the son of a bishop and was born at Sinope, in Pontus. He arrived in Rome in about 140 CE, bringing a scripture with him that he named "The Gospel of the Lord". Marcion described this not as a new gospel, but as that which Saint Paul had used and which he communicated to the churches he founded.

Christopher Smart (1722-1771) was an English poet and scholar. This extraordinary poem, which is a florid display of Smart's opinions on a variety of theological, historical, and scientific subjects, was written between 1759 and 1763, while the author was confined in a lunatic asylum. His condition was diagnosed as religious mania, as evidenced by his compulsion to break into spontaneous prayer in public.

This 1918 novella presents the life history of an ideal inamorata, universally admired and doomed to an untimely passing. The author uses the story to explore in-depth the concept of beauty, both personal and spiritual.

This collection of three stories was originally published in 1908 in Arabic under the title Al-Arwah Al-Mutamarridah. The English translation was first published in 1911. All are set in Lebanon, where the author spent the first 12 years of his life, and explore various aspects of love relationships.

In his lifetime, Valery Bryusov (1873-1924) was best known as a translator and a Symbolist poet. His prose works include the historical novels The Altar of Victory and The Fiery Angel and this collection of short stories, which was assembled by the translator Stephen Graham.

Richard Le Gallienne was a notable example of the Bohemian literary figure. He travelled widely, had many acquaintances among notable figures of his day, including Oscar Wilde, Rupert Brooke, and John Cowper Powys, and worked through a long series of romantic relationships. However, his poetic verbiage is economical and disciplined, and free from rhetorical affectation. This collection was published in 1895, and reflects the mature style of the poet.

Many of Gogol's stories feature ineffectual individuals who are overwhelmed by the caprices of fate. In Diary of a Madman, one of his most colorful tales, the narrator, a humble and obscure office worker, veers from mere eccentricity into full blown lunacy, and finds that the delusions fostered by madness are anything but comforting.

This classic farce was first performed in 1892. Since the record-breaking initial run in London, it has been revived many times around the world in a variety of languages, and has also been adapted for a number of presentations on film. The play incorporates many of the features which have become standard in romantic comedies: a cross dressing central character, identity confusion, young lovers kept apart by parental influence and older lovers unexpectedly reunited.

This anthology of 140 poems, published in 1921, features the work of 97 British and American poets who were active in the early 20th century. Among the more famous names are John Masefield, Rupert Brooke, Walter de la Mare, William Butler Yeats, Robert Graves, Amy Lowell, Carl Sandburg, Edna St Vincent Millay, Joyce Kilmer and Witter Bynner.

Ginger Mick has fallen amongst the ANZACS of Gallipoli - but not before entreating his mate Bill to take care of his sweetheart, Rose. Bill sets out with a local minister to 'rescue' Rose from a life of moral and material poverty, unbeknownst to his wife Doreen (or so he thinks!). The adventure unfolds with the humour, larrikinism, Aussie colloquialisms and pathos characteristic of C.J. Dennis.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was the adopted son of the Emperor Antoninus Pius and ruled from 161 to 180. His Meditations or "discourses with himself" were written in Greek between 170 CE and 180 CE, mostly while he was on military campaigns. Jeremy Collier's translation, while lacking the accuracy of the more famous translation by George Long, has a particular verve and color, imparting a vigor that is often lacking in the original text.

The 36 poems, many of which are written in Aussie vernacular, highlight the extraordinary, the comic, and the tragic of daily life in Australia. Quirks of culture, geography, and language are simultaneously caricatured and celebrated, while the challenges and ironies of human experience are touched upon with humor and pathos. Many of these poems first appeared in Australian periodicals during the early 20th century. As a collection, Backblock Ballads and Later Verses was first published in 1918 and includes the notorious mock anthem, "The Austra-laise".

Jim of the Hills is a verse novel written by celebrated Australian poet, C.J. Dennis (1876-1938). It is narrated by shy, hard-working Jim, who works for a sawmill in the Australian bush. With characteristic pathos and wit, the story unfolds in twists and turns as Jim encounters Ben Murray, the Widow, Old Bob Blair, and the angel with the sunlit hair. This Australian classic, originally published in 1919, is a true delight.

Carlo Collodi's whimsical recasting of the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea was first published in 1883 and has since become an established classic of children's literature. Geppetto, a poor wood carver, receives a piece of wood from which he carves a marionette. Much to his surprise, the puppet springs to life and embarks on a wild series of adventures.

Nearly all Michael Angelo's sonnets express personal feelings, and by far the greater number of them were composed after his 60th year. To whom they were addressed, we only know in a few instances. Nothing is more clear than that Michael Angelo worshiped Beauty in the Platonic spirit, passing beyond its personal and specific manifestations to the universal and impersonal.

Oscar was not only a prolific author but also attracted the critical attention of many other writers. This collection contains a poem and two nonfiction works by Wilde, and three essays about Wilde by contemporary commentators.

Digger Smith is an Australian soldier who has fought at Gallipoli. An old mate of Ginger Mick's (The Moods of Ginger Mick), he returns from the war to visit the family of a fellow solder, Jim Flood. Narrated by Bill (the protagonist of The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke and a neighbour of the Floods), the story is woven together with sobering reflections and emotive dynamics expressed within a community of neighbours - friends and families of Australia's soldiers.

Little is known of Norton F. Hazeldine, whose version of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam was published in 1908. It is not stated whether this was an actual translation, although it appears to be an extensive reworking of the fourth or fifth edition of the translation by Edward Fitzgerald.

Wilde's first collection of verse, published in 1881, contains many poems which had already been published individually. Among the 61 poems can be found four major works, "The Garden of Eros", "The Burden of Itys", "Charmides", and "Humanitad". Although the initial critical reaction was not particularly enthusiastic, Wilde's poetry aroused enough attention for him to become the object of ridicule in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera Patience, in which he is characterized as the "fleshly poet", Reginald Bunthorne.

This small handbook of the theory and practice of Stoic philosophy has become one of the most influential of all texts from the ancient world. It has been a source of inspiration to rulers, philosophers, and social theorists, and its cogent prescriptions about the management of one's personal life can be applied with great benefit in the hectic and confused world of today.