A 750-line idyllic poem about a snow-storm from the narrator's childhood.(Summary by Paul Tremblay)
3 episodes
LibriVox volunteers bring you 13 recordings of An Ode by Táhirih (Fátimih Baraghání) (1814/1817 – 1852), Translated by Edward Granville Browne (1862 – 1926). This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for February 7th, 2010.
Fátimih Baraghání (1814/1817 – 1852), also known by the titles of Táhirih (Arabic for “The Pure One”) and Qurratu’l-‘Ayn (Arabic for “Consolation of the Eyes”) was an influential Iranian poet and Bábí heroine from the town of Qazvín. Her legacy is important to Bahá’ís, as well as supporters of women’s rights in Iran. In 1844, she became the seventeenth disciple or “Letter of the Living” of the Báb (1819-1850). As the only woman in this initial group of disciples, she is often compared to Mary Magdalene. From June-July 1848, she attended the Conference of Badasht where she appeared without a veil in public (a shocking statement of women’s rights) and declared that a new religious dispensation had been inaugurated. Coincidentally, shortly after this, the Seneca Falls Convention (an important women’s rights convention) was held in New York on the 19th-20th of July, 1848. She was executed in Tehran in 1852. Before her death, she said that although she would be killed, they could not stop the emancipation of women. Edward Granville Browne described her thus: “The appearance of such a woman as Qurratu’l-‘Ayn is in any country and any age a rare phenomenon, but in such a country as Persia it is a prodigy—nay, almost a miracle. Alike in virtue of her marvellous beauty, her rare intellectual gifts, her fervid eloquence her fearless devotion, and her glorious martyrdom, she stands forth incomparable and immortal amidst her countrywomen.” This poem is a ghazal composed in the Kámil metre. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. Browne notes that this poem appears to be addressed to the Báb. Browne made a versified translation of the poem, which first appeared in the J.R.A.S. in 1899. (Summary by Nicholas James Bridgewater)
13 episodes
LibriVox volunteers bring you 8 recordings of An Ode to Bahá'u'lláh by Nabíl-i-A'zam (Mullá Muhammad Zarandí). This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 21st, 2010.Mullá Muhammad-i-Zarandí (29 July 1831 – 1892), more commonly known as Nabíl-i-A`zam or Nabíl-i-Zarandí, was an eminent Bahá'í historian during the time of Bahá'u'lláh, and one of the nineteen Apostles of Bahá'u'lláh. He is most famous for authoring The Dawn-breakers, which stands out as one of the most important and extensive accounts of the ministry of the Báb. Besides writing a lengthy history of the Bahá'í Faith, he wrote poetry about the historical events of the religion, which he would send to the Bahá'ís of Iran. He learned about the Bábí Faith at the age of 16 and met Bahá'u'lláh in 1851. He made several journeys on behalf of Bahá'u'lláh, was imprisoned in Egypt and is the only person known to have made the two pilgrimages to the House of the Báb in Shíráz and the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdád in accordance with the rites set out by Bahá'u'lláh. After the passing of Bahá'u'lláh, and at the request of `Abdu'l-Bahá, he arranged a Tablet of Visitation from Bahá'u'lláh's writings which is now used in the Holy Shrines. Shortly afterwards, overcome with grief, he walked into the sea and drowned. (Summary from Wikipedia)
8 episodes
LibriVox volunteers bring you 11 recordings of Inscription for an Old Bed by William Morris. This was the Weekly Poetry project for June 20th, 2010.
11 episodes
LibriVox volunteers bring you 22 recordings of To a Dog by John Jay Chapman, published in 1917. This was the Weekly Poetry project for November 6th, 2011 to mark this year's festivals of remembrance.Chapman's son Victor was the first American pilot to lose his life in aerial combat, while serving with the Escadrille Américaine in the First World War. This poem tells of the heartbreak of a bereaved father; the sentiment, though attributed to the son's dog, is familiar to all who have lost someone they loved, in peace or war. (Introduction by Ruth Golding)
22 episodes
Written in the 14th century by the Gawain poet, 'Pearl' is an elegiac poem reflecting on the death of a young daughter, pictured as a pearl lost in a garden. It is considered a masterpiece of Middle English verse, incorporating both the older tradition of alliterative poetry as well as rhyme, centered around the development of an intricately structured image. Sophie Jewett's translation from the Northern dialect of the original renders much of the poem's liveliness and beauty accessible to modern readers, whilst encouraging them to pursue their reading further, to read the original itself.
This recording is dedicated to the memory of Pearl Jean Shearman, 1914-2012. (Summary by Jordan)
4 episodes
Οἱ Ὁμηρικοὶ Ὕμνοι ἐντάσσονται στὰ πλαίσια τῶν ἐργασιῶν πού ξεκίνησα ἐδῶ καὶ μερικὰ χρόνια στὴν ἰστοσελίδα μου Projet Homere (Σχέδιο Ὁμήρου (γιὰ τὴν ἑλληνικὴ γλῶσσα στὸ σύνολό της)) - http://www.projethomere.com
Ὅπως ἦταν φυσικό, ξεκίνησα τὴν προσπάθεια μου μὲ τὴν ἠχογράφηση τῆς Ὁμηρικῆς ποιήσεως διότι πιστεύω ὅτι βρίσκεται στὴν κορυφὴ τῆς ἑλληνικῆς καὶ τῆς δυτικῆς λογοτεχνίας ἀφοῦ πρόκειται γιὰ τὰ πρῶτα λογοτεχνικὰ ἔργα - Ἐπίσης θεωρῶ ὅτι αὐτὰ τὰ σπουδαῖα ἀρχαῖα ἑλληνικὰ λογοτεχνικὰ ἔργα πρέπει νὰ ἠχογραφηθοῦν ἀπὸ ἑλληνικὲς φωνὲς .
The Homeric Hymns are part of the work that I started a few years ago on my website, Projet Homere (Homer Project (For the Greek language as a whole)) - http://www.projethomere.com
As I naturally started my effort with the recording of Homeric poetry because I believe it is at the top of Greek and Western literature Since they are the first literary works. Ι also believe that these great ancient Greek literary works must be recorded by Greek voices.
Les Hymnes Homériques font partis des travaux que j'ai commencés il y a quelques années sur mon site Projet Homère( sur la langue grecque dans sa globalité) : http://www.projethomere.com
Comme il était naturel , j'ai débuté les enregistrements avec la poésie homérique qui est au somment de la littérature grecque et occidentale puisqu'il s'agit des premières œuvres littéraires. Je suis persuadée qu'il est important que les anciennes œuvres littéraires grecques soient enregistrées par des voix grecques.
Summary by Ἑλένη Κεμικτσή.
33 episodes