Posts Tagged ‘audio’

15
Oct

James Whitcomb Riley

   Posted by: Reely    in American, Literature

How clearly I can still remember being able to recite Little Orphant Annie, by James Whitcomb Riley, when I was just a wee sprite of 5. My mom just thought that was the cat’s meow and whenever she had a friend over, she’d trot me out and have me say the first verse. She must have liked this poem, because I could recite other ones, like Robert Louis Stevenson’s, My Shadow, but it was always Orphant Annie (until I was older and she found out I knew the words to Dominique!).

Before he became the beloved “Children’s Poet,” James Whitcomb Riley perpetrated a hoax that cost him his job. He wrote a poem entitled Leonanie, in the style of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, Ulalume. Riley believed that the poem mattered little if one already had an established reputation. He enlisted the help of his friend, John Henderson, the editor of the Kokomo Dispatch. Henderson fabricated a tale on how the poem came to be found and Leonainie was published on August 3, 1877, almost 28 years after Mr. Poe had left this vale of tears.

Upon exposure, a suitable period of disgrace ensued, then forgiveness, then acceptance. James Whitcomb Riley made a very respectable living from writing and public appearances. Remarkably, or perhaps typically, some people continued to believe that the poem had been written by Poe.

Here is another poem I like by James Whitcomb Riley:

FAITH

The sea was breaking at my feet,
And looking out across the tide,
Where placid waves and heaven meet,
I thought me of the Other Side.

For on the beach on which I stood
Were wastes of sands, and wash, and roar,
Low clouds, and gloom, and solitude,
And wrecks, and ruins — nothing more. ”

O, tell me if beyond the sea
A heavenly port there is !” I cried,
And back the echoes laughingly ”
There is ! there is !” replied.

More Resources:
Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley in 10 Volumes (Google Books)
Leonainie - Museum of Hoaxes
James Whitcomb Riley Recordings - 17 recordings by the poet - Indiana Marion County Public Library

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20
Jun

Great Voices with Something to Say

   Posted by: Reely    in Literature

What if you had a great voice but didn’t have anything great to say? Or maybe you had something great to say, but didn’t have a great voice. Hey, It happens …

Then there are some who have not only a great voice but something great to say.

Today is Irish poet, Paul Muldoon’s birthday. You can visit his website

http://www.paulmuldoon.net/recordings.php4

and listen to some of his recordings that he has been kind enough to put online. You will really like his voice. I like his poem “At Least They Were Not Speaking French,” (though since my ancestors were both Irish and French, it probably has a different signficance to me than he means). He describes the deaths of two uncles against this nonsense refrain “fol-de-rol fol-de-rol fol-de-rol-di-do.”

Among his many accomplishments, Paul Muldoon is a professor at Princeton, chair of the university’s Lewis Center for the Arts, and poetry editor for the New Yorker magazine. In 2003, he won the Pulitzer for Moy Sand and Gravel.

More Irish Poet’s Audio Links:

Seamus Heany on The Poetry Archive - you will need realplayer for this page

Dylan Thomas Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night. If Dylan Thomas’ voice doesn’t blow you away, nothing will!

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22
Mar

Latest Poems

   Posted by: Reely    in Literature

Added at least half a dozen poems in the last week that struck my fancy, two have audio readings:

Why So Pale and Wan. First learned this poem in high school in English lit and I’ve always liked its very amusing and practical observations on the topic of unrequited love. “Will when looking well won’t win her, looking ill prevail?” Good point!

English author, Sir John Suckling, died when he was only 33 years old and no one really knows how, although it is generally accepted that he ended his own life by ingesting poison. Another theory goes that a servant put a razor in his boot!

The Deacon’s Masterpiece tells the story of the “wonderful one-hoss shay” that lasted one hundred years. Another Oliver Wendell Holmes poem, “Old Ironsides”, contributed to the preservation of the frigate USS Constitution. It was saved from being decommissioned, and is now the oldest commissioned warship in the world still afloat. We don’t have that one yet.

We hope to get an audio on Little Breeches by John Hay, a quaint and appealing account of the survival of Little Gabe in a sudden blizzard. According to his entry on wikipedia, Hay knew Sarah Helen Whitman, who was later a romantic interest of Edgar Allan Poe. Hay worked as a secretary during the Lincoln administration and went on serve as Ambassador to Great Britain and Secretary of State.

Author and poet, Bret Harte, well known for his accounts of pioneering life in California, was often given credit for “Little Breeches.” A fan of the poem approached Harte one day, declaring: “My dear Mr. Harte, I am so delighted to meet you. I want to tell you how much I loved reading ‘Little Breeches.’”

“Thank you, madam,” Harte replied, “but I have to tell you that you have put the little breeches on the wrong man!”
Read the rest of this entry »

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13
Nov

The Night Before Christmas

   Posted by: Reely    in Literature

Just added a new reading of A Visit from St. Nicholas, more popularly known as The Night Before Christmas.

This is one poem I never managed to memorize - can’t keep those reindeer straight.

“Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!

Reely

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17
Oct

My Last Duchess - what’s not to like?

   Posted by: Reely    in English

I happened to notice today that 17% of the total vote for Robert Browning’s MY LAST DUCHESS has been “No” - a lot of people don’t seem to like this poem and that just may be the highest percentage of No votes on any one poem so far. Just wondering if it’s the poem or the Duke they don’t like.

It’s really a very clever poem and one has to admire Browning’s style, even if they think the emissary should knock the Duke down the stairs right into Neptune, run back to his mistress and her daddy post-haste, and say don’t marry that guy!

We also have an audio reading on Robert Browning’s terrific PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN. Again, Browning’s ability to convey the Pied Piper story in this most amusing way is very clever. That particular reading is not the complete poem, but it IS a very long poem. The entire poem in an illustrated book from 1888 is online at The Indiana University Library site. Very cool.

We also just added a Yeats poem, Are You Content?, in which he ponders the meaning of a line from Robert Browning’s first work.

More Robert Browning resources:
My Last Duchess: A Fascinating Dramatic Monologue Based Upon Real People
Robert Browning on the Author’s Calendar
Erin’s Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning page - dedicated to their love.

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