Understand The Waste Land by Eliot
“The Waste Land” by T. S. Eliot can be a difficult poem. Here are some resources to help you understand it, starting with a video introduction by Dr. Timothy Bartel: The notes that follow...
Tagged: video
The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot
THE WASTE LAND By T. S. Eliot Contents I. THE BURIAL OF THE DEAD II. A GAME OF CHESS III. THE FIRE SERMON IV. DEATH BY WATER V. WHAT THE THUNDER SAID “Nam Sibyllam...
Poet’s Calendar by Longfellow
The Poet’s Calendar, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow JANUARY Janus am I; oldest of potentates; Forward I look, and backward, and below I count, as god of avenues and gates, The years that through my portals come and go. I block the roads, and drift the fields with snow; I chase the wild-fowl from the frozen fen; My frosts congeal the rivers in their flow, My fires light up the hearths and hearts of men. FEBRUARY I am lustration, and the sea is mine! I wash the sands and headlands with my tide; My brow is crowned with branches of the pine; Before my chariot-wheels the fishes glide. By me all things unclean are purified, By me the souls of men washed white again; E’en the unlovely tombs of those who died Without a dirge, I cleanse from every stain. MARCH I Martius am! Once first, and now the third! To lead the Year was my appointed place; A mortal dispossessed me by a word, And set there Janus with the double face. Hence I make war on all the human race; I shake the cities with my hurricanes; I flood the rivers and their banks efface, And drown the farms and hamlets with my rains....
Calendar of Sonnets by Helen Hunt Jackson
A Calendar of Sonnets, by Helen Hunt Jackson January O winter! frozen pulse and heart of fire, What loss is theirs who from thy kingdom turn Dismayed, and think thy snow a sculptured urn...
How to Read Ash Wednesday by Eliot
“Ash Wednesday” is a poem by T. S. Eliot, first published in 1930. Listen to the author reading his own poem: Dr. Bartel helps us understand this complex work: “Ash Wednesday” is a...
November Poems
NOVEMBER by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Centaur, Sagittarius, am I,Born of Ixion’s and the cloud’s embrace;With sounding hoofs across the earth I fly,A steed Thessalian with a human face.Sharp winds the arrows are with which I chaseThe leaves, half dead already with affright;I shroud myself in gloom; and to the raceOf mortals bring nor comfort nor delight. *** A Calendar of Sonnets: November by Helen Hunt Jackson This is the treacherous month when autumn daysWith summer’s voice come bearing summer’s gifts.Beguiled, the pale down-trodden aster liftsHer...
New Year Poems
How better to mark the close of an old year and the coming of a new than with poetry or song? Here are a few favorite classic New Year’s Eve poems to help you...
Shakespeare Resources
Why do William Shakespeare’s plays still touch us today? This Renaissance playwright, poet, and actor had a unique way with words and a timeless grasp of human nature. His works are considered to be...
Hermitage Video Tour
Gary Bembridge offers a short video tour of the beautiful Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world,...
Fitzgerald Audio Recordings
F. Scott Fitzgerald Audio Recordings Listen to these 1940s recordings of F. Scott Fitzgerald reading and reciting famous literature — he has a magnificent, magical voice that seems to give insight into his works...
Silence by Edgar Allan Poe
Silence by Edgar Allan Poe There are some qualities — some incorporate things, That have a double life, which thus is made A type of that twin entity which springs From matter and light,...
Ian McKellen Analyzes a Shakespearean Soliloquy
How should a soliloquy be performed? It starts with reading thoughtfully and with understanding; then thinking about the text and what the audience will need to understand. In this clip from British television, c....
Dr. Mahfood Dante Videos Index
Dr. Sebastian Mahfood has kindly shared these Dante videos with us: he has made a short video reflection on each canto of Dante’s Inferno. We hope you find these helpful in your studies. If...
Cantos 32 to 34 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 32-34, which cover Circle 9 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional video explanations contain...
Cantos 18 to 31 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 18 – 31, which cover Circle 8 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional video...
Cantos 12 to 17 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 12 – 17, which cover Circle 7 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. (See the end of Canto 11 for the entrance into Circle 7.) Please be aware that this...
Cantos 4 to 11 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 4 – 11, which go through Circles 1-6 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional...
Cantos 1 to 3 Dante Videos with Professor Mahfood
Dr. Mahfood shares his insights on the first three cantos (the Dark Wood and Gate of Hell) in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes....
Dante’s Inferno: The 1911 Silent Movie
Have you ever read Dante’s Divine Comedy? It is a three-part book-length Italian narrative poem that tells of Dante’s journey through the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, and it’s considered one of the greatest works...
Dickinson and Copland: Poems and Music
Composer Aaron Copeland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson provides a creative musical approach to Emily Dickinson that may help you hear her poems anew. This composition by Aaron Copeland was performed for the recital “For...
Julius Caesar Video Resources
Shakespeare was, of course, a master of the written word. It’s precisely because of this, though, that people forget that much of his work was originally meant to be performed, not merely read. Sometimes...
Composers in Death Comes for the Archbishop
Among the composers mentioned in Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop are Giuseppe Verdi, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Stephen Foster. Here are a few works of theirs to enjoy; your library may have other...
“A White Heron” Audio
Listen to “A White Heron” “A White Heron,” an 1886 short story by American author Sarah Orne Jewett, features Sylvia, a young girl who comes from a big city to live in the country...
The Purloined Letter Dramatized
Although suspenseful music accompanies this 1952 dramatization, “The Purloined Letter” by American author Edgar Allan Poe lacks the element of horror found in most of Poe’s other short stories. Instead, this is one of...
“The Diamond Necklace” Audio
“The Diamond Necklace” (La Parure) is a short story by French author Guy de Maupassant, considered a master of the form. A 19th-century Naturalist author, de Maupassant was a protégé of Gustave Flaubert and...
1995 Pride and Prejudice Fan Trailer
I recommend the 1995 BBC/A&E version of Pride and Prejudice, with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. It incorporates much of Austen’s incomparable dialogue and remains generally faithful to the novel. Below, this brief “trailer”...
DiCaprio Discusses The Great Gatsby
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays Jay Gatsby in a recent film adaptation, reflects on the movie and the novel The Great Gatsby in the short clip below. Other American Literature (E3) videos
Don Quixote 2000 film clip
I have not seen any of the many Don Quixote movies available, but I have heard that the 2000 Hallmark version with John Lithgow in the title role is a good choice—unfortunately, it is...
Mark Twain House Video
Where did Mark Twain live? The Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut, was the home of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) and his family from 1874 to 1891. Designed by Edward Tuckerman...
Opera Eugene Onegin Scene sung by Netrebko at Metropolitan Opera
The opera Eugene Onegin is based on Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin’s famous novel in verse, with a musical score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. You may watch the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko perform a scene from...
