Showing results by narrator "Denis Daly" in All Categories

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.

This anthology, first published in 1919, is very much a record of its time. Many of the poems deal with the cataclysmic trauma of World War One and the emergence of a new world order after the fading of the Edwardian era. Among the authors of the 151 poems can be found the names of Rupert Brooke and Ivor Gurney, best known as war poets, as well as James Joyce and the mystic philosopher Evelyn Underhill.

The Boor (sometimes translated as The Bear) is an atypical romantic comedy by Anton Chekhov. A surly landowner visits a widow who is one of his debtors - with unexpected results.

In the final volume of The Divine Comedy, Dante completes his tour of the afterlife and rises to the highest sphere of heaven. His guide is Beatrice, who acts as both an object of devotion and also a source of instruction. In verse of the most sublime order, Dante not only describes the sights, sounds, and inhabitants of this celestial region, but also presents, with astonishing clarity, a comprehensive view of Catholic theology.

Neither the date nor the authorship of the Dhammapada is known, but there is conclusive evidence that this monument of the Buddhist canon existed well before the Christian era. Many scholars agree in ascribing its utterances to Buddha himself, while others are of the opinion that it is a compilation made by Buddhist monks from various sources. This classic religious text focuses on practical morality, which, if practiced earnestly and diligently, will lead the practitioner to Nirvana, the state of unconditioned eternal bliss.

The Kybalion purports to be an exposition of the teaching of the mysterious Hermes Trismegistus, a legendary figure, whose origin is buried in Egyptian mythology. A considerable body of literature that expounds theories and practices attributed to him is extant and has been categorized as Hermetic. The focus of early Hermetic literature was on conjuring and alchemy. In later centuries, Hermeticism developed into a philosophy of personal self-development, the object of which was the understanding and transcending of physical reality.

This collection of 35 short poems was first published in 1927, and is a sequel to When We Were Very Young, which was the first anthology of verse dealing with the domestic adventures of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.

Amongst all the figures in the history of Western art forms, Beethoven is one of the most radical and influential. Not only did he produce some of the most celebrated and recognizable music of all time, but his influence dramatically accelerated the development of musical composition. He was instrumental in raising the status of the composer from that of a court servant to one of an independent artist.

The unlikely heroine of this novel is the bashful and unadventurous Fanny Price, who occupies a Cinderella-like position in the residence of her wealthy cousins, the Bertrams, at Mansfield Park. Fanny is the butt of ridicule for the young Bertram sisters (Maria and Julia), and is relentlessly bullied by her manipulative and penny-pinching aunt, the widowed Mrs Norris.

Measure for Measure is one of darkest of Shakespeare’s comedies. Written in about 1603 and first performed in 1604, it immediately preceded the composition of the major tragedies Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. Duke Vincentino, the ruler of Vienna, fears that under his mild sovereignty, the...

Andrew Barton 'Banjo" Paterson (1864 - 1941) may be considered the unofficial poet laureate of Australia. After training as a solicitor he began contributing verse to the Sydney "Bulletin" under the pseudonym of "The Banjo", taken from the name of a horse. His first collection, "The Man from Snowy River", was published in 1895. Two further collections followed: Rio Grande's Last Race and Other Verses in 1902 and Saltbush Bill, JP. and Other Verses in 1917.

This dramatic romance, first published in 1845, ostensibly relates the story of the escape of a love-lorn young woman from the rigours of life with a stern and uncaring husband. Several commentators have seen the poem as an oblique reference to Browning's own current life situation, in which he enabled his future wife, Elizabeth Barrett, to escape from the confines of a patriarchal household to Italy, a country that forms the backdrop to many of his poems.

This full cast presentation includes Part 1 and Part 2 of Shakespeare’s Henry IV. In 1598 appeared a Quarto with the following title: The History of Henrie the Fourth; With the Battell at Shrewsburie, betweene the King and Lord Henry Percy, surnamed Henrie Hotspur of the North. With the...

Lady Susan Vernon, middle-aged and recently widowed, has retained her looks and appealing vivacity. She makes use of her bereavement and her loss of wealth by imposing herself on the hospitality of relatives, and by amusing herself in flirtation with the various men who fall under her spell. Lady Susan has a daughter, Frederica, who is bashful and innocent—in stark contrast to her unfeeling and manipulative mother. Her mother is anxious to marry Frederica off to a spouse of appropriate wealth and social standing, and also, perhaps, to capture a new mate for herself.

Pinocchio is by all odds the best puppet-story to be found anywhere, and we sigh in sympathy with the funny little chap's scrapes and punishments, or chuckle at his pranks, while we feel like exclaiming, "Why, how much Pinocchio must have been like me!" The author of this captivating tale, Signor Lorenzini, or "Collodi" as he liked to call himself after his native town in Italy, lived during the 19th century (1826-90) and devoted himself to writing and education, believing that one pleasing way to teach was through puppet-plays.

These four poems, which deal with ethical issues, were collated and published in 1751 by William Warburton, seven years after Pope's death.

The story concerns the young and vivacious Emma Watson, one of six children of a widowed clergyman. Emma has spent most of her life under the care of a wealthy aunt of liberal views, and has received a good education. However, when her aunt enters into a second marriage, Emma is forced to return to the family home, where she is affronted by the crass hunting for husbands undertaken her sisters, Penelope and Margaret.

Wlliam Walker Atkinson was one of the most prolific of new-thought authors, and more than 100 volumes on a wide variety of religious, metaphysical, and self-improvement topics have been attributed to him.

This book, a true spiritual classic, consists of notes of several conversations had with, and letters written by, Nicholas Herman, of Lorraine, a humble man of little education. After having served as a soldier and a footman, Herman was admitted as a lay brother to the order of the barefooted Carmelites at Paris in 1666, where he took the name "Brother Lawrence." The conversations are supposed to have been recorded by Joseph de Beaufort, who later became vicar general to the Archbishop of Paris.

Gitanjali (song offerings) is a collection of 103 devotional poems written originally in Bengali and first published in 1910. In 1912 a translation into English by the author was published in 1912, and led to his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.