Showing results by narrator "Denis Daly" in All Categories

Duke Vincentino, the ruler of Vienna, fears that under his mild sovereignty, the people may have become lazy and lax. He decides to “go over cover” in the disguise of a monk and appoint his deputy, Angelo, who is a reputed paragon of virtue, as temporary ruler. On assuming power, Angelo inaugurates draconian provisions regarding sexual propriety. One of the first victims of this new regime is young Claudio, who has impregnated his lover Juliet, and is accordingly sentenced to death.

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.

In Rhonda Byrne's self-help book, The Secret, published in 2006, the theory of the Law of Attraction is presented as a re-discovery of an ancient metaphysical principle, buried in ages of historical neglect. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Exactly a century earlier, prolific New Thought author William Walker Atkinson published Thought Vibration, a succinct but thorough examination of the power of thought and its function in the creation and control of personal circumstances.

In this entertaining pamphlet, the author, who was an expert on the artistic traditions of China and Japan, examines the effect of Zen Buddhism on popular culture. He provides a perceptive thumbnail view of the development of Buddhism in the Far East, and engaging portraits of its luminary figures.

Rio Grande's Last Race and Other Verses was Paterson's second collection of poems and was published in 1902. Among the 46 poems are some of Paterson's best-known pieces of verse, including "Rio Grande's Last Race" and "Mulga Bill's Bicycle"

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.

Jelalu-'d-Din, today know simply as Rumi, was the greatest mystical poet of the golden age of classical Persian literature. In later years, he renounced the world and founded a famous order of Dervishes called the Maulavis. He was born at Balkh in 1207, and died in Konya in 1273.

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.

During his long internment in the Tower of London Elizabethan adventurer and statesman Sir Walter Raleigh (1552 - 1618) took time to compose this thoughtful homily to his son.

This collection of 36 short poems was published in 1907. The title is alleged to be an ironic pun referring cryptically to the sound of urine striking the sides of a chamber pot. However, the poems have no touch of vulgarity or bawdiness.

This collection of aphorisms, poems and parables has been described as the reflections of a philosopher watching from his window and commenting on the scenes passing before him.

The Lifestyle & Adventure of Ace McDice, Stretch Deed & Moonshine Melody tells a fictitious tale of three devil-may-care wild men of the Australian Bush during the last days of the era of Bushrangers and the Gold rush at the end of the 19th century. It tells of each character's lifestyle and their united bent as wild men of Australia's west who set upon a plan to rob the Sugar and Tea Express. How the plan manifested and what drove them to an apparent reckless course in gaining the never-to-be-found-out robbery reward is a colourful story herein.

This very clever and highly-polished epistle to Dr Arbuthnot (also entitled the "Prologue to the Satires"), who was suffering from terminal illness, dates from 1734. Arbuthnot, from his deathbed, solemnly advised Pope to moderate his satire and expressed fear about the poet's personal safety from his numerous foes. Pope replied in a manly but self-defensive style. He is said at this time to have in his walks carried arms, and taken a large dog as a protector, but none of the purported enemies ever had the courage to attack him.

Esson’s first collection of poems, Bells and Bees, was published in 1910; a second collection, Red Gums and Other Verses, in 1912. Although Esson published no further poetry collections, his verse continued to appear in magazines such as The Bulletin until the late 1920s.

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.

Although most of Windsor Forest was written as early as 1704, it was not published until 1713. The poem was completed after the promulgation of the first peace treaty of Utrecht, which is alluded to in terms of approbation in the body of the poem:

Caliban is a major character in The Tempest by Shakespeare. He is a deformed monster, the offspring of Sycrorax, a witch. Prospero, a magician who presides over the island where Caliban dwells, has made him a servant. This galls Caliban's spirit, as he believes himself to be the rightful ruler of the island. Setebos is the deity who was worshipped by Sycorax and is mentioned by Caliban in two scenes.

The dramatic romance was a poetic form particularly favored by Robert Browning. This collection of 25 poems includes many of the poet's most celebrated efforts in this genre. Each of these poems is essentially a monologue or imagined conversation by a character recalling a life-changing event. The particular occurrence may be related to war (Incident of the French Camp), love (The Last Ride Together), murder (Porphyria's Lover), or even a humorous fable (The Pied Piper of Hamelin.)

This book on memory is not a catalogue of mnemonic techniques but rather a survey of its whole structure and operation. In the first chapter, Atkinson writes: "We see that the cultivation of memory is far more than the cultivation and development of a single mental faculty—it is the cultivation and development of our entire mental being—the development of our selves."

The Romantic Epistle was published in 1717 and aroused considerable interest because of its mildly suggestive content. It portrays an incident in which Héloïse d'Argenteuil, now immured in a convent chances on a letter from her former lover and later, husband, the brilliant philosopher Peter Abelard.