Résultats Éditeur "----RM Alexander" dans Littérature antique, classique et médiévale

Probably one of the most dissected seduction poems ever written, "To His Coy Mistress" is a metaphysical poem written by the English author and politician Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) either during or just before the English Interregnum (1649-60). It was published posthumously in 1681. This poem is considered one of Marvell's finest and is possibly the best recognized carpe diem poem in English. Although the date of its composition is not known, it may have been written in the early 1650s.

"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love", known for its first line, "Come live with me and be my love," is a poem written by the English poet Christopher Marlowe and published in 1599 (six years after the poet's death). In addition to being one of the best-known love poems in the English language, it is considered one of the earliest examples of the pastoral style of British poetry in the late Renaissance period. The poem was the subject of a well-known "reply" by Walter Raleigh, called "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd".

Oscar Wilde was sentenced to two years in prison, part of which he spent in Reading Gaol. About five months after Wilde arrived at Reading Gaol, Charles Thomas Wooldridge, a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards, was brought to Reading to await his trial for murdering his common-law wife (and promptly presenting himself and confessing to a policeman) on 29 March 1896; on 17 June, Wooldridge was sentenced to death and returned to Reading for his execution, which took place on Tuesday, 7 July 1896 - the first hanging at Reading in 18 years. The poem is dedicated to him.

The Satires comprises a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the second century CE. Juvenal wrote in the Roman tradition of “satura”, a formal literary genre composed in dactylic hexameter rather than just witty criticism in any format. In a tone and manner that ranges from irony to rage, Juvenal criticizes the actions and beliefs of his contemporaries.

Parzival is a romantic poem written by Wolfram von Eschenbach in Middle High German. Regarded as one of the masterpieces of the Middle Ages, the romance was the most popular vernacular verse narrative in medieval Germany. Dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, the poem tells the story of the Arthurian hero Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail. The most notable elements of the work are an emphasis on the importance of humility, compassion, and sympathy. Richard Wagner based his famous opera Parsifal on Parzival.

Jim of the Hills is a verse novel written by celebrated Australian poet, C.J. Dennis (1876-1938). It is narrated by shy, hard-working Jim, who works for a sawmill in the Australian bush. With characteristic pathos and wit, the story unfolds in twists and turns as Jim encounters Ben Murray, the Widow, Old Bob Blair, and the angel with the sunlit hair. This Australian classic, originally published in 1919, is a true delight.

Susan Keating Glaspell (1876 - 1948) was a novelist, playwright, journalist and actress. The Verge reflects Glaspell's observation of the way in which Victorian society left some women feeling trapped in roles for which they were unsuited. The story is about Claire, a woman who lives her life on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Trying to create a new type of plant, Claire spends most of her time in the greenhouse.

Last Poems is the second volume of A. E. Housman's verse to be published in the poet's lifetime. Compiled to present to a dying friend, they poignantly explore in the same gentle, lyrical manner many of those themes of life, death, love, and loss that run throughout his hugely popular first collection, A Shropshire Lad.

A man was hanged in Reading Gaol during Wilde's imprisonment there. In "The Ballad", written after his release, he tells of the horror of the event and its effect on himself and his fellow prisoners. First published 1898, under the pseudonym C.3.3 - the number by which Wilde was known in the prison, consisting of the cell block, landing number and cell number of his cell.

The Oresteia is a tragedy in three parts written by Aeschylus in the fifth century BCE. After a decade of warfare, Troy had fallen and Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, returned home. His wife, Queen Clytemnestra, had him killed to avenge the sacrifice of her daughter Iphigenia, to obtain the crown and to marry her lover Aegisthus. This murder leads to further bloodshed when their son Orestes in turn kills Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. The trilogy consists of Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides.

Christopher Marlowe wrote this spectacularly subversive play in 1589/1590. The setting is the island of Malta as a bone of contention between Spain and the Ottoman Empire in their struggle for supremacy in the Mediterranean. The ghost of Machiavelli appropriately introduces this tale of murder and mayhem which unfolds in flamboyant episodes of blackmail, betrayal, revenge, scheming, theft, and poisoning on a breathtaking scale.

Choephori, or The Libation Bearers, is the second in the Oresteian trilogy on the House of Atreus, written by Aeschylus. It deals with the reunion of Agamemnon‘s children, Electra and Orestes, and their revenge upon their mother Clytemnestra for the murder of Agamemnon, which takes place in the first play, Agamemnon. The title refers to the chorus of libation bearers who supports and encourages Electra and Orestes in their quest for justice. The Oresteia is the only extant example of an ancient Greek theatre trilogy.

The Phaedrus by Plato, is a dialogue between Plato's protagonist, Socrates, and Phaedrus, an interlocutor in several dialogues. It was probably written around 370 BC, at about the same time as Plato's Republic and Symposium. Ostensibly about love, the discussion in the dialogue focuses on the art of rhetoric and how it ought to be practiced. The dialogue appears in the direct words of Socrates and Phaedrus, without an introduction.

The Iliad - attributed to Homer - is the most famous ancient Greek epic poem. It recounts the struggle between King Agamemnon and the hero Achilles during the final months of the Trojan War, with frequent detours into earlier legends and myths. In its portrayal of battle scenes and the constant interventions of the gods, The Iliad explores themes of wrath, glory, and fate, and has provided the subject matter for many later Greek, Roman, and Renaissance writings.

Of the two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, The Odyssey serves to some extent as a sequel to The Iliad. The poem describes the journey home of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, after the fall of Troy. In the Greek sources, the Trojan War lasted 10 years, and Odysseus spent 10 more years on the return journey due to the hostility of Poseidon, the god of earth and sea. Odysseus' fantastical adventures include a period of captivity on Calypso’s island, a visit to the lethargic lotus eaters, an encounter with a one-eyed Cyclops, and more.

Nearly all Michael Angelo's sonnets express personal feelings, and by far the greater number of them were composed after his 60th year. To whom they were addressed, we only know in a few instances. Nothing is more clear than that Michael Angelo worshiped Beauty in the Platonic spirit, passing beyond its personal and specific manifestations to the universal and impersonal.

Antigone is a famous Greek tragedy attributed to the ancient playwright Sophocles at around 440 BCE. The play expands on the Theban legend of Oedipus that predates it, dealing with Antigone’s burial of her brother Polyneices in defiance of the law and the tragic results of her act. On another level, the play exposes the dangers of the absolute ruler or tyrant in the character of Creon. No one speaks freely to him, so he makes a series of mistakes, illustrating the folly of tyranny.

Digger Smith is an Australian soldier who has fought at Gallipoli. An old mate of Ginger Mick's (The Moods of Ginger Mick), he returns from the war to visit the family of a fellow solder, Jim Flood. Narrated by Bill (the protagonist of The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke and a neighbour of the Floods), the story is woven together with sobering reflections and emotive dynamics expressed within a community of neighbours - friends and families of Australia's soldiers.

King Claudius, when a young man, wrote a five-act tragedy which was damned, and all reference to it forbidden under penalty of death. The King has a son - Hamlet - whose tendency to soliloquize has so alarmed his mother, Queen Gertrude, that she has sent for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to devise some Court revels for his entertainment. Rosencrantz is a former lover of Ophelia, to whom Hamlet is betrothed, and they lay their heads together to devise a plan by which Hamlet may be put out of the way. Some Court theatricals are in preparation.

The first book in the essays of Seneca deals with good and evil. The dialogue is opened by Lucilius complaining with his friend Seneca that adversities and misfortunes can happen to good men too. How can this fit with the goodness connected with the design of providence? Seneca answers according to the Stoic point of view.