<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2024786/open_sms">Send us a text</a>Which is better: the life of ascetic contemplation or one of passionate sensuality?  Let&apos;s see what the last great poet of the Stuart era, Andrew Marvell, has to say about that.<a rel="payment" href="https://paypal.me/classicenglishlit?country.x=US&amp;locale.x=en_US">Support the show</a>Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the &quot;Support the Show&quot; button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: &quot;Rejoice&quot; by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: &quot;Sons of the Brave&quot; by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2024786/open_sms"&gt;Send us a text&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Which is better: the life of ascetic contemplation or one of passionate sensuality?  Let&amp;apos;s see what the last great poet of the Stuart era, Andrew Marvell, has to say about that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://paypal.me/classicenglishlit?country.x=US&amp;amp;locale.x=en_US"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the &amp;quot;Support the Show&amp;quot; button. So grateful!&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Podcast Theme Music: &amp;quot;Rejoice&amp;quot; by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra&lt;br/&gt;Subcast Theme Music: &amp;quot;Sons of the Brave&amp;quot; by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards&lt;br/&gt;Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org&lt;br/&gt;My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us a text Which is better: the life of ascetic contemplation or one of passionate sensuality?  Let's see what the last great poet of the Stuart era, Andrew Marvell, has to say about that. Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!  Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.  If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small d...

A Garden and a Coy Mistress: Andrew Marvell

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2024786/open_sms">Send us a text</a>Here&apos;s another episode in our foundling series &quot;Out of Time.&quot;  Today, I correct an oversight from our 15th century literature discussions and survey the very earliest surviving tales of the outlaw and all-around-swell-guy Robin Hood!  Let&apos;s jump in the Wayback Machine!Here&apos;s a link to the Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester, where you can find the texts we&apos;re discussing today and a wealth of other resources!<a href='https://d.lib.rochester.edu/project/robin-hood/about.html'> https://d.lib.rochester.edu/project/robin-hood/about.html</a><a rel="payment" href="https://paypal.me/classicenglishlit?country.x=US&amp;locale.x=en_US">Support the show</a>Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the &quot;Support the Show&quot; button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: &quot;Rejoice&quot; by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: &quot;Sons of the Brave&quot; by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2024786/open_sms"&gt;Send us a text&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here&amp;apos;s another episode in our foundling series &amp;quot;Out of Time.&amp;quot;  Today, I correct an oversight from our 15th century literature discussions and survey the very earliest surviving tales of the outlaw and all-around-swell-guy Robin Hood!  Let&amp;apos;s jump in the Wayback Machine!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here&amp;apos;s a link to the Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester, where you can find the texts we&amp;apos;re discussing today and a wealth of other resources!&lt;a href='https://d.lib.rochester.edu/project/robin-hood/about.html'&gt; https://d.lib.rochester.edu/project/robin-hood/about.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://paypal.me/classicenglishlit?country.x=US&amp;amp;locale.x=en_US"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the &amp;quot;Support the Show&amp;quot; button. So grateful!&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Podcast Theme Music: &amp;quot;Rejoice&amp;quot; by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra&lt;br/&gt;Subcast Theme Music: &amp;quot;Sons of the Brave&amp;quot; by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards&lt;br/&gt;Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org&lt;br/&gt;My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us a text Here's another episode in our foundling series "Out of Time."  Today, I correct an oversight from our 15th century literature discussions and survey the very earliest surviving tales of the outlaw and all-around-swell-guy Robin Hood!  Let's jump in the Wayback Machine! Here's a link to the Robin Hood Project at the University of Rochester, where you can find the texts we're discussing today and a wealth of other resources! https://d.lib.rochester.edu/project/robin-hoo...

The Earliest Tales of Robin Hood (Out of Time Episode 2)

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2024786/open_sms">Send us a text</a>We return to Milton&apos;s magnificent octopus today with an eye toward evaluating the epic&apos;s success according to its own mission statement: &quot;to justify the ways of God to men.&quot;  How does Milton approach the great theological problems of evil and suffering, divine foreknowledge, and free will?<a rel="payment" href="https://paypal.me/classicenglishlit?country.x=US&amp;locale.x=en_US">Support the show</a>Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the &quot;Support the Show&quot; button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: &quot;Rejoice&quot; by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: &quot;Sons of the Brave&quot; by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2024786/open_sms"&gt;Send us a text&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We return to Milton&amp;apos;s magnificent octopus today with an eye toward evaluating the epic&amp;apos;s success according to its own mission statement: &amp;quot;to justify the ways of God to men.&amp;quot;  How does Milton approach the great theological problems of evil and suffering, divine foreknowledge, and free will?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://paypal.me/classicenglishlit?country.x=US&amp;amp;locale.x=en_US"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the &amp;quot;Support the Show&amp;quot; button. So grateful!&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Podcast Theme Music: &amp;quot;Rejoice&amp;quot; by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra&lt;br/&gt;Subcast Theme Music: &amp;quot;Sons of the Brave&amp;quot; by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards&lt;br/&gt;Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org&lt;br/&gt;My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us a text We return to Milton's magnificent octopus today with an eye toward evaluating the epic's success according to its own mission statement: "to justify the ways of God to men."  How does Milton approach the great theological problems of evil and suffering, divine foreknowledge, and free will? Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!  Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com  Follow me o...

To Justify the Ways of God: John Milton's Paradise Lost (episode 2)

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2024786/open_sms">Send us a text</a>Sexy Satan, what have you done? You made a fool of every one!On this episode we tackle the rather thorny question of Paradise Lost&apos;s charismatic protagonist (?) or antagonist (?) or antihero (?): the hottest guy in Hell.  Why does an epic on the cosmic history of Christianity, written by a radical Puritan, present us with so commanding and appealing a character?   Additional music: &quot;Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)&quot; by Bill Conti.  https://archive.org/details/rocky_202111/1976+-+Rocky/01.+Gonna+Fly+Now+(Theme+from+Rocky).mp3 <a rel="payment" href="https://paypal.me/classicenglishlit?country.x=US&amp;locale.x=en_US">Support the show</a>Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the &quot;Support the Show&quot; button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: &quot;Rejoice&quot; by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: &quot;Sons of the Brave&quot; by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2024786/open_sms"&gt;Send us a text&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Sexy Satan, what have you done? You made a fool of every one!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On this episode we tackle the rather thorny question of &lt;em&gt;Paradise Lost&lt;/em&gt;&amp;apos;s charismatic protagonist (?) or antagonist (?) or antihero (?): the hottest guy in Hell.  Why does an epic on the cosmic history of Christianity, written by a radical Puritan, present us with so commanding and appealing a character?  &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Additional music: &amp;quot;Gonna Fly Now (Theme from &lt;em&gt;Rocky&lt;/em&gt;)&amp;quot; by Bill Conti.  https://archive.org/details/rocky_202111/1976+-+Rocky/01.+Gonna+Fly+Now+(Theme+from+Rocky).mp3&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://paypal.me/classicenglishlit?country.x=US&amp;amp;locale.x=en_US"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the &amp;quot;Support the Show&amp;quot; button. So grateful!&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Podcast Theme Music: &amp;quot;Rejoice&amp;quot; by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra&lt;br/&gt;Subcast Theme Music: &amp;quot;Sons of the Brave&amp;quot; by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards&lt;br/&gt;Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org&lt;br/&gt;My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us a text Sexy Satan, what have you done? You made a fool of every one! On this episode we tackle the rather thorny question of Paradise Lost's charismatic protagonist (?) or antagonist (?) or antihero (?): the hottest guy in Hell.  Why does an epic on the cosmic history of Christianity, written by a radical Puritan, present us with so commanding and appealing a character?     Additional music: "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)" by Bill Conti.  https://archive.org/det...

Sexy Satan: John Milton's Paradise Lost (episode 1)

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2024786/open_sms">Send us a text</a><a rel="payment" href="https://paypal.me/classicenglishlit?country.x=US&amp;locale.x=en_US">Support the show</a>Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you! Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube. If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the &quot;Support the Show&quot; button. So grateful! Podcast Theme Music: &quot;Rejoice&quot; by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: &quot;Sons of the Brave&quot; by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

<description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2024786/open_sms"&gt;Send us a text&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a rel="payment" href="https://paypal.me/classicenglishlit?country.x=US&amp;amp;locale.x=en_US"&gt;Support the show&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the &amp;quot;Support the Show&amp;quot; button. So grateful!&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Podcast Theme Music: &amp;quot;Rejoice&amp;quot; by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra&lt;br/&gt;Subcast Theme Music: &amp;quot;Sons of the Brave&amp;quot; by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards&lt;br/&gt;Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org&lt;br/&gt;My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Send us a text Support the show Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen. Thank you!  Email: classicenglishliterature@gmail.com  Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and YouTube.  If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation. Click the "Support the Show" button. So grateful!  Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" ...

A Minor Announcement and a Major Request

Where rhyme gets its reason!In a historical survey of English literature, I take a personal and philosophical approach to the major texts of the tradition in order to not only situate the poems, prose, and plays in their own contexts, but also to show their relevance to our own.  This show is for the general listener: as a teacher of high school literature and philosophy, I am less than a scholar but more than a buff.  I hope to edify and entertain!

Sign In

The Classic English Literature Podcast

Details

Recent Episodes