Translator C.K. Scott Moncrieff
Publisher: Good Press
The Song of Roland is a book of poems by an anonymous author. It depicts a gory French tale of war, where General Charlemagne was ambushed in a remote Pyrenean pass, showcasing a symbolic struggle between Christianity and Islam.
In England the Victorian Age was about to become the past and a new age of worldwide wars of horror and slaughter would envelop and decimate generations, forever staining mankind. The Century would see the World discover strengths. The Democracies would stand firm against Fascism and later Communism yet still keep its own elite and privileged in power and the rest of us underfoot. The World was more connected than ever before. Culture accelerated its kaleidoscopic and interwoven journey. Transport delivered people by car and train and then aeroplane to far flung corners of the globe. Empires were at their zenith and ready to fragment with new nations, many troubled, rising from their decay. The natural world continued to be plundered and pillaged for its resources by industries who pledged ‘more’ and ‘better’ and would clothe and feed a growing world yet sow the seeds now ready to devastate us in our current times. The globe was as vibrant and violent as troubled and tarnished as it ever was. But new ideas, new political systems, new times changed everything once again. For our wordsmiths there was much to write about, much to contemplate. Poetry was moving from its grand established forms to experiment with others; The Imagists; The Modernists. Poetry seemed to be everywhere and from everyone. Gibran, Brooke, Teasdale to Naidu and Ledwidge. These are but a few of this rich, diverse wave that with mere words bring treasures beyond compare.Show book
Captain Ben Morgan had served with the 8th Air Force in World War II. At home he had a wife and three young children. Three more missions and he could go home. But a bombing run in his B-24 over Hamburg changed his life forever. Shot down by German fire, he was reported killed in action, but a German doctor saved his life and rebuilt his face. His wife, Jenny, waited five years for his hoped-for return, then married George Albright. When Bens’s brother Dale received his phone call, telling him he was alive, Dale told him his wife had remarried. Ben had to choose between reclaiming his family or leave things as they were, and he could approach her without being recognized. He discovered Jenny had adjusted, and her children knew only George as their father. Which way would he choose? The answer was to affect many lives for many years to come.Show book
Drama Classics series The world's great plays at a great little price. Each pocket-sized volume contains: a full introduction an author biography notes on historical and theatrical context a plot synopsis key dates a further reading list a glossary of unusual words and phrases (English-language texts) Lorca's extraordinarily powerful drama, The House of Bernada Alba, is the last he wrote before his assassination, explores the darkness at the heart of repression. When Bernarda's husband dies, she locks all the doors and windows. She tells her grown-up daughters to sew and be silent. 'There are eight years of mourning ahead of us. While it lasts not even the wind will get into this house.' But locks can't hold back the growing tide of desire. This edition, translated and introduced by Jo Clifford, also contains a chronology and suggestions for further reading.Show book
In meteorological terms Spring begins on March 1st and runs through to May 30th. Nature transforms the landscape, colours the skies and begins her epic journey of renewal and offerings. Colour, energy and beauty all abound. Here, each and every day is celebrated with distinct and separate verse; Some poems commemorate the day it was written, others the birth or death of the writer or a particular significant moment that engages poet with date and verse. Our classic poets wax lyrical on each and every day.Show book
The spellbinding, beautifully observed hit from the master of suspenseful realism; combining superbly chilling tales of the supernatural with the hilarious banter of a small community in the heart of rural Ireland. A bar in a remote part of Ireland. The local lads are swapping spooky stories to impress a young woman recently moved to the area from Dublin. As the drink flows and the stories become increasingly frightening, it's clear that Valerie has something on her mind. She has a tale to tell that'll stop them all dead in their tracks. Winner of: Olivier Award for Best New Play, Evening Standard Award for Best New Playwright, Critic's Circle Award for Most Promising New Playwright. 'The play of the decade... a modern masterpiece' Express 'Puts one in mind of an Irish Chekhov. I have rarely been so convinced that I have just seen a modern classic' Daily TelegraphShow book
Bhaskar Chakrabarti's poetry is synonymous with the romantic melancholia inherent to Calcutta. His trenchant poetic voice was one of the most significant to emerge in the 1960s and '70s-perhaps the most prolific period of modern Bengali poetry. Spanning the rise of militant leftism, the spread of crippling poverty across India, the war in Bangladesh, the influx of millions of refugees, the dark, dictatorial days of Indira Gandhi's reign, and the disillusionment of communist rule in Bengal, Chakrabarti's poems plumb the depths of urban angst, expressing the spirit of sadness and alienation in delicate metaphors wrapped in deceptively lucid language.In this first-ever comprehensive translation of Chakrabarti's work, award-winning translator Arunava Sinha masterfully articulates that clarity of vision, retaining the unique cadence and idioms of the Bengali language. Presenting verses and prose poems from all of Chakrabarti's life-from his first volume, When Will Winter Come, published in 1971, to his last, The Language of Giraffes, published just before his death in 2005, and collecting several unpublished works as well-Things That Happen and Other Poems introduces the world to a brilliant and universal poetic voice of urban life.Show book
