"The Vision of Mirza" and "Westminster Abbey," first printed in "The Spectator," are examples of Addison's wondrous gift of expression. He leads us to higher realms. (Volume 27, Harvard Classics) Last issue of "The Spectator" published Dec. 6, 1712.
Dec 06, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 925
Introductory note on Joseph Addison (Volume 27, Harvard Classics)
Dec 06, 2021•2 min•Ep. 926
So beautiful that many painters sought her for a model - Christina Rossetti, sister of the famous poet, Dante Rossetti, combined with her unusual beauty a rare poetic sense. (Volume 42, Harvard Classics) Christina Georgina Rossetti born Dec. 5, 1830.
Dec 05, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 923
Introductory note on Christina Georgina Rossetti (The Ridpath Library of Universal Literature)
Dec 05, 2021•46 sec•Season 1Ep. 924
Introductory note on Virgil (Volume 13, Harvard Classics)
Dec 05, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 922
Æneas and Dido, world-famous lovers, while hunting in the forest, were trapped in a cave by a furious storm. There the marriage between the proud African queen and the homeless wanderer was completed. (Volume 13, Harvard Classics)
Dec 05, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 921
After three awesome messengers have issued three warnings, the gods of ten thousand worlds decide who is to be the new Buddha. Then the parents, the conception, the birth of the god-child demand constant vigilance. (Volume 45, Harvard Classics)
Dec 03, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 919
Introductory note on The Buddha (Volume 45, Harvard Classics)
Dec 03, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 920
Introductory note on Sir Thomas Malory (Volume 35, Harvard classics)
Dec 03, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 918
Attacked in fun by two masked knights, Sir Galahad smote one so that both horse and rider went down. Turning on the other jester, he slashed open his helmet. (Volume 35, Harvard Classics)
Dec 03, 2021•12 min•Season 1Ep. 917
Introductory note on George Berkeley (Volume 37, Harvard classics)
Dec 01, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 916
Offhand we say a skeptic is one who doubts everything. But does he? And are his doubts caused by too much learning, or too little? Berkeley presents both sides of skepticism. (Volume 37, Harvard Classics)
Dec 01, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 915
Introductory note on Jonathan Swift (Volume 27, Harvard classics)
Dec 01, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 914
To harp on one's illnesses, giving all the symptoms and circumstances, has been a blemish on conversation for ages. Two hundred years ago Swift complained of persons who continually talked about themselves. (Volume 27, Harvard Classics) Jonathan Swift born Nov. 30, 1667.
Dec 01, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 913
Introductory note on David Hume (Volume 37, Harvard classics)
Nov 30, 2021•1 min•Season 1Ep. 912
Did you ever stop to think just how you thought? What inner emotions, what outer influences make up the fathomless depths of mind and intellect? Hume explains how we draw our thoughts, then clumsily put them into tangible shape called ideas. (Volume 37, Harvard Classics)
Nov 30, 2021•13 min•Season 1Ep. 911
Introductory note on William Blake (The Ridpath Library of Universal Literature)
Nov 28, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 910
"To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower---" Such was the exaltation of the mysticism of William Blake, who reflected in his poetry the ecstasy of his visions. Simplicity is the keynote of his genius. (Volume 41, Harvard Classics) William Blake born Nov. 28, 1757.
Nov 28, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 909
In wondrous Utopia pearls and precious stones were used as playthings for little children. Gold rings and bracelets were only worn by outcasts, while great golden chains shackled criminals and felons. When ambassadors from foreign lands came in fine raiment, the Utopians treated the plainest dressed as the greatest; the others seemed to them like children. (Volume 36, Harvard Classics)
Nov 27, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 907
Introductory note on Sir Thomas More (Volume 36, Harvard Classics)
Nov 27, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 908
Introductory note on Charles Lamb (Volume 27, Harvard Classics)
Nov 26, 2021•2 min•Season 1Ep. 906
Charles Lamb, favorite essayist, thought that no stage could do justice to Shakespeare's tragedies. He advocated reading the plays, and with the imagination costuming the players and building the gorgeous scenery in a way equaled by no scene painter or costumer. (Volume 27, Harvard Classics)
Nov 26, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 905
Introductory note on Thomas Dekker (Volume 47, Harvard Classics)
Nov 25, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 904
We are indebted to Thomas Dekker for one of the most humorous characters in all Elizabethan literature; namely, Simon Eyre, an old shoemaker whose affairs became hilariously involved with those of the gentry. (Volume 47, Harvard Classics)
Nov 25, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 903
Introductory note on Charles Darwin (Volume 11, Harvard Classics)
Nov 25, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 902
The signal for the beginning of a great controversy, still raging, was the publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species." This was the first complete statement of the evolution theory, which had been privately advanced but never publicly taught. A new epoch in science dates from this great work. (Volume 11, Harvard Classics) "Origin of Species" published Nov. 24, 1859.
Nov 25, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 901
Introductory note on Blaise Pascal (Volume 48, Harvard Classics)
Nov 25, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 900
According to Pascal, a man is not even as significant as a speck of star dust in the universe. Pascal's thoughts on the subject are startling to the modern reader, and they furnish rich food for the imagination. (Volume 48, Harvard Classics) Pascal begins writing his "Thoughts," Nov. 23, 1654.
Nov 25, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 899
Introductory note on Virgil (Volume 13, Harvard Classics)
Nov 22, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 898
Deserted by her lover, Queen Dido applied to her heart the only balm that could ease her pain. (Volume 13, Harvard Classics)
Nov 22, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 897
