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In this moving poem, Byron recounts the final, desperate resistance of the Venetians on the day the Ottoman army stormed Acrocorinth: revealing the closing scenes of the conflict through the eyes of Lanciotto - a Venetian renegade fighting for the Ottomans - and Francesca - the beautiful maiden daughter of the governor of the Venetian garrison: Minotti. Lanciotto - whose impasioned suit for Francesca's hand had been previously refused by Minotti: had later fled the Venetian empire after being falsely denounced by anonymous accusers via the infamous Lion's Mouth at the Doge's palace. Enlisting under the Turkish flag, Lanciotto repudiates both his nationality and his religion: only to be challenged by Fransesca herself the night before the final assault to repent his apostasy, to forgive his accusers, and to save the Venetian garrison from certain slaughter. - Can Lanciotto - after years of unjust persecution and betrayal - bring himself to relent and save the Venetian garrison now on the verge of wholesale slaughter? - Will Francesca's years of constant, faithful devotion succeed in winning the renegade back from his suicidal slide t...

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Literature, Poetry

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Devotions upon Emergent Occasions is a 1624 prose work by the English writer John Donne. It is a series of reflections that were written as Donne recovered from a serious illness, believed to be either typhus or relapsing fever. (Donne does not clearly identify the disease in his text.) The work consists of twenty-three parts describing each stage of the sickness. Each part is further divided into a Meditation, an Expostulation, and a Prayer. The seventeenth meditation is perhaps the best-known part of the work. It contains the following passage: No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee....

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Religion, Literature

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The book starts with a young heroine telling her story of coping with a debilitating illness that includes depression and thoughts of suicide. Her doctor is unable to help her and sends her off on a holiday where she meets a mystical character by the name of Raffaello Cellini, an Italian artist. Cellini offers her a strange potion which immediately puts her into a tranquil slumber, in which she experiences divine visions. This is the beginning of her journey to health, both spiritual and physical. ....

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Fantasy, Literature, Religion

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Manasseh da Costa, protagonist of this hilarious novel, is a schnorrer (beggar) who lives on the charitable contributions of the Jews of late 18th-century London. Manasseh is far from being a humble panhandler for, as every schnorrer knows, supporting the poor is a commandment from God (a mitzvah) not just a favour. And as the descendant of Portuguese Jews who had lived in England for many generations, Manasseh is the social superior of those newly arrived from Eastern Europe (Tedesco)—even his wealthy ‘patron’ Joseph Grobstock. The book concludes as the ever-audacious Manasseh strikes a blow for tolerance and understanding—while helping himself along the way. (Summary by Adrian Praetzellis)...

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Religion, Literature, Humor

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Le pélerinage d'un nommé Chrétien est un roman allégorique de John Bunyan, publié en 1678. L'auteur rédigea cet ouvrage en 1675, alors qu'il était emprisonné pour avoir violé le Conventicle Act, qui punissait les personnes coupables d'avoir organisé des services religieux non autorisés et sans supervision de l'Église anglicane. Le récit rapporte les aventures de Chrétien, un homme ordinaire tâchant de se frayer un chemin depuis la Cité de la destruction jusqu'à la Cité céleste de Sion. The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan (published February, 1678) is a Christian allegory. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print. The allegory tells of Christian, an everyman character, who makes his way from the City of Destruction (Earth) to the Celestial City (Heaven) of Zion. (Summary from Wikipedia, adapted by Ezwa)...

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Literature, Religion

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Rome having been stormed and sacked by the Goths under Alaric their king, the worshippers of false gods, or pagans, as we commonly call them, made an attempt to attribute this calamity to the Christian religion, and began to blaspheme the true God with even more than their wonted bitterness and acerbity. It was this which kindled my zeal for the house of God, and prompted me to undertake the defence of the city of God against the charges and misrepresentations of its assailants. This work was in my hands for several years, owing to the interruptions occasioned by many other affairs which had a prior claim on my attention, and which I could not defer. However, this great undertaking was at last completed in twenty-two books. Of these, the first five refute those who fancy that the polytheistic worship is necessary in order to secure worldly prosperity, and that all these overwhelming calamities have befallen us in consequence of its prohibition. In the following five books I address myself to those who admit that such calamities have at all times attended, and will at all times attend, the human race, and that they constantly recur i...

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Literature, Philosophy, Religion

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volunteers bring you 12 recordings of Past Days by Emily Brontë . This was the Weekly Poetry project for November 28th, 2010 Anne Brontë was a British novelist and poet, the youngest member of the Brontë literary family. She wrote a volume of poetry with her sisters (Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, 1846) and in short succession she wrote two novels. Agnes Grey, based upon her experiences as a governess, was published in 1847. Her second and last novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall appeared in 1848. Anne's life was cut short with her death of pulmonary tuberculosis when she was 29 years old. She published under the androgynous pen name Acton Bell. Please note, at the time of this poetry project, the Gutenburg index was mis-interpreted and this poem was mistakenly attributed to Emily Brontë / Ellis Bell. The recorded introductions will reflect this mistake....

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Instruction, Literature, Philosophy, Romance, Religion, Poetry