Showing results by narrator "Denis Daly" in All Categories

This aggressive diatribe against the Bible was published in 1894 and is based on an assertion that formed the basis of many of Ingersoll's attacks on organized religion - the concept of divine inspiration and the evils that spring from this contention.

Few of Emily Dickinson’s poems were published in her lifetime. Her posthumous fame is largely due to the efforts of her editors and supporters Thomas W. Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd.

First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice is the most polished of Jane Austen’s novels, with a humorous and upbeat mood. It was written at a time when the author’s narrative powers were fully developed and the story flows with an ease that conceals the skill of its construction. The plot line follows the sequence of a love relationship apprehended, misunderstood, and finally realized, which has since become a standard format of the romcom genre. However, Austen complicates the action by involving not one but four romantic relationships in the plot.

For James Allen, philosopher and pioneer of the New Thought movement, the highest expression of personal realization was to be "in the world" but not "of the world." As Allen says, "The turmoil of the world we cannot avoid, but the disturbances of mind we can overcome." In this collection of short essays he discusses the attitudes and actions required for the attainment of that abiding inner peace "where the Heavenly Silence reigns."

This short poem, first published in 1717, became one of Pope's best-known verse works. The actual history of the lady appears to have been intentionally concealed by the poet under a mysterious veil. Dr. Johnson offers the following details, based on the content of the poem: that the lady was distinguished by her rank, fortune, and beauty; that she was committed to the care of an uncle who was being crossed in her affections by her guardian, who opposed her marriage.

Like his great contemporaries, John Keats and Lord Byron, Shelley suffered an untimely death, but still managed to stun the world with a wide-ranging body of work, including poetry, drama, and criticism. His poetry is that of a young man, a lover of nature and fiercely critical of institutionalized corruption, and virtuosic in his use of language and imagery.

Although the historicity of Sun Tzu is today in dispute, his short treatise on the art of war has remained a preeminent classic of military philosophy and practice. In this small audiobook, the author describes in trenchant detail the approach and methods required for success in any combative endeavor. The principles he enunciates have been widely applied not only by leaders in the military but also in business, politics, sports, and education.

"Enoch Arden" is a long narrative poem that is built on a theme that has been widely explored in literature and on film. A man is separated from his family due to shipwreck and marooned on an island. After several years of absence from his home, it is assumed that he has died, and his wife remarries and starts a new family. After 10 years, the man finally makes his way home and has to deal with the trauma of discovering his wife and family happily established in a new relationship.

Dooman's translation of the Rubaiyat, containing 180 quatrains, was first published in 1911. It has a roughhewn quality, reminiscent of the style of an earlier American translator, John Payne, who published a collection of 845 quatrains in 1898.

This collection of Japanese poetry was compiled and translated into English from an anthology known as The Collection of Myriad Leaves, and from a number of other anthologies made by imperial decree between the tenth and fifteenth centuries. This period has come to be considered the golden age of Japanese literature. These examples of Japanese poetry exhibit the most exquisite polish, allied with an avoidance of every shocking or perturbing theme; they combine the enduring luster of a precious metal with the tenuity of gold-leaf.

Despite its patina of humor, the work is a merciless exposé of the commercial middle class dishonesty, and the convenient immorality hiding behind social conventions, which are characteristic of a developing urban society. The most noble character, Serafima, is a compelling mixture of naïveté, whimsicality, sentimentality, and obstinate practicality - one of the finest character portraits in Russian drama.

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.

Together with "The Vicar of Wakefield" and "She Stoops to Conquer", these two poems are the best-known works of the Irish literary maverick Oliver Goldsmith.

Initially published in 1914, Papa was the first major dramatic work by playwright and poet Zoë Akins (1886-1958). A subtle but quietly savage comedy of manners, the play was not a commercial success but has since come to be regarded as a masterpiece. As a skillfully drawn portrait of genteel corruption, it ranks with the works of masters of dramatic satire like Moliere and Oscar Wilde.

Making his way to a tryst with his "dark lady" near the royal palace the young playwright William Shakespeare encounters a mysterious woman in a cloak. Mistaking her for his lady friend, he accosts her in a familiar fashion, only to discover, to his dismay, that she is in fact the queen. He overcomes his initial discomfort, and takes advantage of the situation to make a petition for royal support to establish a national theatre.

Better known in the English-speaking world simply as Rúmi, Jalálu'd-Din Muḥammad Balkhi (1207-1273) was a Persian scholar, theologian, and poet. After Omar Khayyam he is probably the most celebrated classical Persian poet and his luminously spiritual verse has been the subject of many notable English translations.

Christian Daa Larson (1874- 1954) is considered to be one of the founders of the New Thought movement and was a significant influence on many New Thought authors. Between 1907 and 1920, he published over 20 books covering the application of New Thought principles to a variety of fields, including psychology, metaphysics, business, health, and personal success.

Rosmersholm is a play surrounding the deep and intense political and cultural change in Norway in the middle of the 1880s, a period during which the traditional ruling class were forced to relinquish their right to impose their ideals on the rest of society. We follow Johannes Rosmer, a pastor who has resigned from his position; Rebecca West, a woman who sees Rosmer's potential and believes she can help him to realize his dream of creating a world of "happy, noble people"; and Headmaster Kroll, Rosmer's former best friend.

The authorship of this Gospel has been widely disputed. Some scholars accept that it was really written by Nicodemus, the Pharisee who visited Jesus by night, as described in chapter three of John’s Gospel. Others have conjectured that the Gospel was a forgery made towards the close of the third century by some zealous believer who imagined it would aid the spread of Christianity. Jeremiah Jones notes that such pious frauds were very common among Christians even in the first three centuries, and that the circulation of forgeries of this nature seems natural and probable.

This poem was written by Wordsworth after a walking tour through the Welsh Borders. As usual with many of Wordsworth's poems, it opens with a description of the countryside which is then developed into a philosophical reflection about beauty and the suggestive power of recollection.