Other books that might interest you

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  Easter - A Drama in Three Acts

  August Strindberg

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  Set against the backdrop of a small college town, the Heyst's familial tensions converge during the holiday weekend; not only is the family's livelihood at stake, but the debt collector has just come into town, the youngest daughter has returned from an institution unprompted, and there's even a question of fidelity to boot. However, against the simplicity of communal gatherings and the warmth of familial bonds, the worries that once seemed insurmountable begin to fade. And through the lens of Easter's promise of renewal, Strindberg suggests that life's burdens may be lighter than they appear, offering a glimpse of hope amidst the chaos of everyday existence.

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  Hindsight

  Sofia Ivanova

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  Hindsight is the first collection of poetry released by Ivanova. In many ways, Hindsight is an autobiography, capturing Sofiya's pre-teen and early teen years, and all the feelings that come with it. 
  It covers topics such as losing your family pet, leaving behind your childhood, wanting to be special and important, your parents being imperfect people, mental health, etc, etc. And, of course, figuring out love. In Russian (the poet's first language), there's a saying that goes, “the first pancake comes out as a lump”, and that applies to love too. The first few pancakes, in this case. There are a lot of love poems. There are a lot of bitter poems, too, because art is a great outlet for anger. Those read as though they should have a mic drop at the end. 
  Hindsight not only reads like a coming of age collection as an introduction to the world of a new and gifted poet. But, it is also an exorcism and celebration of the past as she becomes a poet that sees the world with clarity and beauty; a poet that we all need.

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  Runaway Dreams

  Richard Wagamese

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  Having developed an impressive reputation for his many novels and non-fiction works, Richard Wagamese now presents a collection of stunning poems ranging over a broad landscape. He begins with an immersion in the unforgettable world where “the ancient ones stand at your shoulder … making you a circle / containing everything.” 
  These are Medicine teachings told from the experience of one who lived and still lives them. He also describes his life on the road when he repeatedly ran away at an early age, and the beatings he received when the authorities tried “to beat the Indian right out of me.” Yet even in the most desperate situations, Wagamese shows us Canada as seen through the eyes and soul of a well-worn traveller, with his love of country, his love of people. Through it all, there are poems of love and music, the language sensuous and tender.
  		 
  Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country’s greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.

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  The Poetry of James Russell...

  James Russell Lowell

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  James Russell Lowell was born on 22nd February 1819 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
   
  Lowell graduated from Harvard in 1838, and thence on to earn a law degree from Harvard Law School.  
   
  His literary life began in 1841 with his first published collection of poetry.  Three years later he married Maria White and they had several children although, sadly, only one was to survive childhood. 
   
  A consuming issue at the time was the abolition of slavery.  Lowell was a staunch supporter even going so far as to move to Philadelphia to edit an abolitionist newspaper.  His poems were fully in support of Emancipation and the ending of this terrible abomination.  His later views were milder and came in for some criticism.  
   
  His publication in 1848 of the long poem ‘A Fable for Critics’, satirising the poets and critics of the then current poetry scene caused an uproar.  That same year came ‘The Biglow Papers’, which increased his fame and his finances.  His use of the Yankee accent in his character’s dialogue was an inspiration for many. 
   
  Maria died in 1853 and Lowell decided to travel to Europe for some time before returning to Harvard to take up a professorship of languages.   In 1857 he re-married and also took on the editorship of that key periodical ‘The Atlantic Monthly’ whilst continuing to teach at Harvard. 
   
  Lowell wrote and published poetry and essay collections throughout his literary career and is acknowledged as one of the ‘Fireside Poets’, a group of New England poets that rivalled the popularity of British poets.  Their work was not controversial and suitable for whole families to enjoy hence their name and appeal.  Whilst Lowell’s own work does not now attract the same praise as his then contemporaries, he was their equal. 
   
  Towards the end of his life Lowell was appointed as ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain and later to the Court of St. James's.  
   
  His last years were a return home to his estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  By the summer of 1891 doctors had diagnosed cancer in his kidneys, liver and lungs.  There was nothing that they could do except prescribe opium for the pain. 
   
  James Russell Lowell died on the 12th of August 1891 on the Cambridge estate where he was also born.  He was 72. 
   
  01 - The Poetry of James Russell Lowell - An Introduction 
  02 - Columbus by James Russell Lowell 
  03 - George Washington by James Russell Lowell 
  04 - Abraham Lincoln by James Russell Lowell 
  05 - To H W L on His Birthday 27th February 1867 by James Russell Lowell 
  06 - To Charles Eliot Norton - Agro Dolce by James Russell Lowell 
  07 - Winter Evening Hymn To My Fire by James Russell Lowell 
  08 - The First Snowfall by James Russell Lowell 
  09 - Midnight by James Russell Lowell 
  10 - On A Portrait of Dante by Giotto by James Russell Lowell 
  11 - A Contrast by James Russell Lowell 
  12 - Above and Below by James Russell Lowell 
  13 - Of the Dawn of Freedom by James Russell Lowell 
  14 - On Board the 76 by James Russell Lowell 
  15 - Trial by James Russell Lowell 
  16 - Ode to France, February 1848 by James Russell Lowell 
  17 - Slaves by James Russell Lowell 
  18 - An Incident in a Railroad Car by Jamers Russell Lowell 
  19 - Threnodia by James Russell Lowell 
  20 - A Requiem by James Russell Lowell 
  21 - On the Death of a Friends Child by James Russell Lowell

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  The Wild Delight of Wild Things

  Brian Turner

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  Although grief is at the forefront of these poems, The Wild Delight of Wild Things is a simple love letter to Turner's late wife, poet Ilyse Kusnetz (1966-2016). The poems are also a love letter to our planet during the ongoing sixth mass extinction. Intertwining this immense grief, Turner explores the hybrid borderlands of genre, and the meditations on love and loss blur the boundaries between poetry and lyric prose. In Italian, the word "stanza" is rooted in the word "room." And so, stanza by stanza, room by room, page by page, we draft ourselves forward into the imagination, our arms filled with all that we can carry from the days gone by. This is the art of survival. Profound grief teaches us how to dwell in the house of memory—that vibrant temporal landscape of the past—where we might live with the dead we love once more.

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  A Rare Recording of EE Cummings...

  EE Cummings

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  Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), commonly known as e e cummings, was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. During World War I, he worked as an ambulance driver and was imprisoned in an internment camp, which provided the basis for his 1922 novel The Enormous Room. The following year he published his first collection of poetry. Cummings wrote approximately 2,900 poems and is often regarded as one of the most important American poets of the 20th century. He is associated with modernist free-form poetry, and much of his work uses idiosyncratic syntax and lower-case spellings for poetic expression. In the following recordings, Cummings reads his poems "somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond" (1931), "next to of course god america i" (1926), "anyone lived in a pretty how town" (1940), "Buffalo Bill's (1920), "in Just–" (1920), i carry your heart with me(i carry it in)" (1952). The final audio clip is from a 1955 Cummings speech, "A Poet's Advice to Students."

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