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LibriVox volunteers bring you 9 different recordings of Dover Beach, by Matthew Arnold. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of April 8th, 2007.

2Gulliver of Mars

By Edwin Lester Arnold

This escapist novel first published in 1905 as <i>Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation</i> follows the exploits of American Navy Lieutenant Gulliver Jones, a bold, if slightly hapless, hero who is magically transported to Mars; where he almost outwits his enemies, almost gets the girl, and almost saves the day.<br/><br/>Somewhat of a literary and chronological bridge between H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jones' adventures provide an evocative mix of satire and sword-and-planet adventure.<br/> (Summary by James Christopher and Wikipedia)

"Balder Dead" is a beautiful epic poem by Matthew Arnold. It draws from Norse mythology to retell the story of the the death of Odin's son, Balder, instigated by the treacherous jealousy of Loki. (Summary by Nathan)

Tristam & Iseult is a narrative poem containing strong romantic and tragic themes: and was first published in 1852 by Matthew Arnold. This poem draws upon the Tristam and Iseult legends: which were popular with contemporary readers.<br /><br />The poem opens with Tristam upon his deathbed. The monologue of the dying man is shot through with sharp pangs of regret: centering upon his induced passion for Iseult of Ireland - inflamed by his unwittingly imbibing an irresistible love-potion.<br /><br />Before his decease, Tristram's lawful wife - Iseult of Ireland - arrives in time to share his deathbed. Iseult of Brittany graciously accedes to their request to be buried near each other - in a splendidly-constructed mausoleum back in King Mark's Tyntagel (sic.) in Cornwall.<br /><br />Iseult of Brittany survives to raise Tristram's children in isolation. She forgives Tristam his adultery, and with delightful pathos is thankful for the short years of happiness that she spent espoused to one of King Arthur's most renowned knights. (Summary by Godsend)

LibriVox volunteers bring you 17 recordings of Growing Old by Matthew Arnold. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for April 17, 2011.<br><br>Matthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator. Matthew Arnold has been characterized as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues. (summary from Wikipedia)

6In Harmony with Nature

By Matthew Arnold

LibriVox volunteers bring you 16 recordings of In Harmony with Nature. by Matthew Arnold. This was the Weekly Poetry project for July 8, 2012.<br><br>Matthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator. Matthew Arnold has been characterized as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues.<br>Arnold is sometimes called the third great Victorian poet, along with Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning. (Summary from Wikipedia)

7Culture and Anarchy

By Matthew Arnold

Culture and Anarchy is a series of periodical essays by Matthew Arnold, first published in Cornhill Magazine 1867-68 and collected as a book in 1869. The preface was added in 1875. Arnold's famous piece of writing on culture established his High Victorian cultural agenda which remained dominant in debate from the 1860s until the 1950s. According to his view advanced in the book, "Culture [...] is a study of perfection". He further wrote that: "[Culture] seeks to do away with classes; to make the best that has been thought and known in the world current everywhere; to make all men live in an atmosphere of sweetness and light [...]". His often quoted phrase "[culture is] the best which has been thought and said" comes from the Preface to Culture and Anarchy: The whole scope of the essay is to recommend culture as the great help out of our present difficulties; culture being a pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world, and, through this knowledge, turning a stream of fresh and free thought upon our stock notions and habits, which we now follow staunchly but mechanically, vainly imagining that there is a virtue in following them staunchly which makes up for the mischief of following them mechanically. (Summary by Wikipedia)

8American Egypt

By Channing Arnold and Frederick J. Tabor Frost

Arnold and Frost were English archaeologists who traveled to the Yucatan Peninsula and wrote "the first book ever written by Englishmen on Yucatan—that Egypt of the New World, where, it is now generally admitted, Central American Civilisation reached its apogee—and to be, for the present at least, the only Englishmen who can claim to have explored the uncivilised north-eastern portions of the Peninsula and the islands of her eastern coast." Their studies brought them to the conclusion, contrary to the bulk of the body of other contemporary experts, "that America's first architects were Buddhist immigrants from Java and Indo-China." Summary by Lynne Thompson.

The poem begins with the beloved god Balder, thought to be invulnerable, dead at the hands of the inoffensive blind god Hoder, in a game. Loki, whose deceit brought about this catastrophe, is promptly punished with exile, and Odin, Balder's father, sponsors a heroic quest to rescue his son from the land of the dead. This desperate venture unexpectedly meets with partial success, a conditional agreement to release Balder if everyone in the land of the living mourns his death. And even though over every hope hangs the threat of the ultimate end of the reign of the Norse gods, the mother of the gods points out that "much must yet be tried which shall but fail." - Summary by T. A. Copeland

10Sohrab and Rustum: An Episode

By Matthew Arnold

A young soldier born among Tartars but sired by the mighty Persian lord Rustum, serves in the Tartar army, seeking his great father. To this end, he persuades his general to call a truce and arrange for him to challenge the Persians to single combat. Should he prevail, his father will learn his whereabouts and come to him, or so he thinks, for Sohrab is unaware that his mother, fearing to lose her son, wrote to Rustum that their child was a girl. The Persians agree but have no champion until it is learned that they have recently been joined by Rustum. Although the great hero is contemplating retirement, he reluctantly agrees to be the Persians' champion provided that he may fight unknown. As a result the two warriors engage in a contest that must lead to their mutual grief regardless of who wins—unless they happen to discover their relationship before it is too late. They continually approach but fail to make this discovery until it can no longer give them joy. This tragic poem, like Oedipus Rex, is a sustained piece of dramatic irony, but it differs from that play both in that it is in epic style (though only a episode) and in that the secret which hovers so close to disclosure would produce a happy ending were it ever to break forth. (Summary by T. A. Copeland)

The term ‘Hitopadesha’ is a combination of two Sanskrit terms, ‘Hita’ (welfare/ benefit) and ‘Upadesha’ (counsel). As the term suggests, The Hitopadesha is a collection of tales that gives good counsel. <br><br>Hitopadesa was presumably written by Narayan Pandit and is an independent treatment of the Vishnu Sarman's Panchatantra (3rd century BC) which it resembles in form. In Hitopadesha, Vishnu Sarman is depicted as a Sage who undertakes to give good counsel to the sons of Sudarsana, the king of Pataliputra, through stories within stories involving talking animals. The dating of Hitopadesha is problematic as no other work by Narayan Pandit is known. The earliest manuscript of Hitopadesha dates from 1373; it could be of East Indian origin during the Pala Empire (8th-12th centuries).<br><br>This book is a condensed but faithful transcript of Hitopadesha in sense and manner rendered in English by Sir Edwin Arnold. Sir Edwin says in the Preface that the Hitopadesa may be styled 'The father of all Fables'; for "from its numerous translations come Esop and Piplay and in latter days, 'Reineke Fuchs'." Summary by Jothi

Matthew Arnold was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. Matthew Arnold has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues. He is sometimes called the third great Victorian poet, along with Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning. This week's poem is the first part of Arnold's Lyric Poem 'Switzerland'. - Summary by Wikipedia

Phra, a Phoenician merchant and warrior, settles in the south of England as husband to Blodwen, a British princess. Slain during the Roman invasion, he reawakens several hundred years later to find that Blodwen has painstakingly tattooed the history of his family and village on his body. Slipping in and out of a state of suspended animation, Phra goes on to play his part in the departure of the Romans, the Norman conquest, and the Hundred Years' War. Meanwhile, Blodwen appears to Phra from time to time in ethereal form and in the guise of a succession of beautiful lovers. Expect adventure, battles, romance, mystery, commentary on the futility of war and, for those who continue to the end, some bad science in the form of an out-of-control steam-powered robot. Phra was first published as a serial in Illustrated London News, and later as a book in the United States and the United Kingdom. After languishing in obscurity for many years Phra's wonderful adventures were republished in the 1970s as the eleventh volume in the Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library. (Phil Benson)

14Austerity Of Poetry

By Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues. (Wikipedia)

The English poet and cultural critic Matthew Arnold was the son of the headmaster of Rugby School who became a fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. He famously described Oxford as "that sweet city with it's dreaming spires". A deeply committed Christian he was well-versed in Greek and Latin classics and had a fascination with pre-christian myth and legend. His version of the Celtic legend of Tristram and Iseult is dramatised here. This selection includes some of Arnold's best known poems Dover Beach, Thyrsis and The Scholar-Gypsy as well as early works like The Forsaken Merman and a dramatised reading of The Strayed Reveller. His poetry was strongly influenced by Woodsworth, whose death he memorialised in the final poem. (Summary by Alan Mapstone) Cast of Tristam and Iseult Tristram: Greg Giordano Iseult of Ireland: Agnes Robert Behr The Page: Adrian Stephens Huntsman: Algy Pug Cast of The Strayed Reveller The Youth: Inkell Circe: ShrimpPhish Ulysses: Alan Mapstone