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  The Narrative Poetry - Listen to...

  William Shakespeare

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  Despite William Shakespeare being regarded as the most significant figure in the Western literary canon, relatively little is known about his early life and his later ‘lost years’.  Even the exact date of his birth is uncertain. 23rd April generally accepted to be the date of his birth, could be a scholarly mistake amplified by the coincidence of it also being the date of his death.  
   
  What is known for certain is that Shakespeare was born to middle class, but probably illiterate parents, John and Mary, in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1565 and baptised there on the 26th April.  He was the third of eight children and the first and eldest surviving son of the remaining five.  
   
  It’s assumed he attended, King’s New School the nearby grammar school, but no records from the time still exist.  However, information on the standardised curriculum that did exist, introduced the young Shakespeare to the disciplines of mathematics, Greek, law, classical history and Latin which greatly influenced his writing. 
   
  At 18, in some haste, he married Anne Hathaway, his senior by 8 years and pregnant with their first child Susanna who was to be followed by the twins, Hamnet and Judith.   Little else is known until in 1590 Shakespeare probably comes to London as by 1592 he becomes relatively well known – first as an actor and then, of course, as a playwright despite some early criticism for having a writing style of his better educated contemporaries and not of his own lower status.  
   
  His iconic status now spans global literature and stems directly from the magnitude of his plays, both tragedies and comedies, and his poetry which is often cited as some of the greatest love poetry ever written.  His legacy endures despite the passing of centuries. 
   
  William Shakespeare died at Stratford-upon-Avon on the April 23rd, 1616.  He was 52. 
   
  01 - The Narrative Poetry of William Shakespeare - An Introduction 
  02 - Venus and Adonis - Part 1 by William Shakespeare 
  03 - Venus and Adonis - Part 2 by William Shakespeare 
  04 - A Lovers Complaint by William Shakespeare

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  At The Movies

  Lee Brady

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  This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice.   
  A married woman recalls her obsession with movies and movie stars in her earlier days but then comes to realize she is much happier with reality.

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  Born in the USA - Exploring...

  Emma Lazarus, Alan Seeger,...

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  Poetry. A form of words that seems so elegantly simple in one verse and so cleverly complex in another.  Each poet has a particular style, an individual and unique way with words and yet each of us seems to recognise the path and destination of where the verses lead, even if sometimes the full comprehension may be a little beyond us. 
   
  Through the centuries every culture has produced verse to symbolize and to describe everything from everyday life, natural wonders, the human condition and even in its more hubristic moments, the crushing triumph of an enemy. 
   
  In the volumes of this series we take a look through the prism of individual regions of the United States through the centuries and decades. 
   
  The United States may be many things: the world’s policeman, a bully, a shameless purveyor of mass market culture but it also, in its better moments, a standard bearer for truth, transparency, equality and the more positive qualities of democracy. 
   
  Little wonder that’s its poets are rightly acknowledged as wonders of their art.  Leading lights in the fight against slavery and for equality, even if the rest of the Nation is finding it problematic to catch up.   
   
  New York state is more often overshadowed by its energetic and overwhelming five boroughs of its namesake city.  But among its other cities, towns and countryside is a veritable who’s who of classic poets including Walt Whitman, Edith Wharton, Alan Seeger, Herman Melville and Philip Freneau.  Their words and verse record and reveal a wide range of topics and subjects as they focus their poetic talents on the State of their birth.

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  Immigrantish Poetry

  Tim Hakadosh

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  Immigrantish Poetry by Timotheus Hakadosh is a captivating collection of poems that explores the experiences of immigrants. Through the lens of his own personal journey as an immigrant, Hakadosh's poetry delves into themes of identity, belonging, and cultural displacement.

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  Home Burial - Poem about the...

  Robert Frost

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  Robert Lee Frost was born on the 26th March 1874 in San Francisco, California. 
  His father found providing for the family a constant challenge and he died, when Frost was 11, from tuberculosis and left an estate valued at only $8.  The family moved east to Lawrence, Massachusetts, and a better life with his grandfather. 
  After graduating from High School, and then a few months at Dartmouth college, he returned home to take on a variety of menial jobs to help support his mother.  Their drudgery and poor money encouraged him to move in a different direction: a career as a poet. 
  He sold his first poem in 1894 for $15.  With this milestone he proposed to his high school sweetheart who declined as she was still studying at university.  The following year she graduated and they married.  A year later the first of their six children arrived.   
  After a stint at Harvard for two years he received the gift of a farm from his ailing grandfather.  Frost worked the farm and wrote unpublished poetry for several years before turning to a teaching position. 
  Upon the death of one of his children the grief-stricken family decided to quit everything and live in England, moving across the Atlantic in 1912.  The following year he published his first poetry book and with it came critical acclaim.  He was now in his late thirties. 
  The onset of World War I saw Frost return to America with a glowing reputation, and here he launched himself into a career of writing, teaching and lecturing.  
  In 1924 he received the first of four Pulitzer Prizes, for his book ‘New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes’.  He received a second Pulitzer in 1931 for ‘Collected Poems’.  A third Pulitzer Prize was presented in 1937 for ‘A Further Range’.  His fourth Pulitzer was awarded in 1943 for ‘A Witness Tree’. 
  Frost was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 31 times. 
  During these years personal tragedy had enveloped him.  A daughter had died in her late 20s from the effects of her puerperal fever at childbirth, his wife had died of breast cancer, and a son had committed suicide.  
  Then, at the age of 86, was asked to read his poem ‘The Gift Outright’ at President John F Kennedy’s inauguration on the 20th January, 1961.  
  Robert Frost died on the 29th January 1963 in Boston of complications arising from prostate surgery.  He was 88.

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  Cinderella

  Philip Wilson, Jason Carr

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  'I will marry whoever this slipper fits!'
  In this spellbinding retelling of the classic folk tale, we're introduced to some familiar characters: a young, neglected heroine, a wicked stepfamily, and a handsome prince in search of a wife and a missing slipper.
  But wait! There are also three magical dresses, a wish-giving tree, and help for Cinderella from a very unexpected source…
  Packed with thrilling theatricality, delightful comedy and charming original songs, this refreshing adaptation of Cinderella was written for Chichester Festival Youth Theatre by Philip Wilson with music by Jason Carr. It was first performed in 2024 by a cast of over seventy young people. It offers rich opportunities to theatre companies looking for a flexible, family-friendly fairytale which is just the right fit.

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