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<rss xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:podcast="https://podcastindex.org/namespace/1.0" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" version="2.0"><channel><title>"Old" Arcadia</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/old-arcadia--7088621</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><atom:link href="https://www.spreaker.com/show/7088621/episodes/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><language>en</language><category>Books</category><copyright>Copyright Literary Fiction Genre</copyright><image><url>https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg</url><title>"Old" Arcadia</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/old-arcadia--7088621</link></image><lastBuildDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 09:10:13 +0000</lastBuildDate><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:owner><itunes:name>Literary Fiction Genre</itunes:name><itunes:email>spreaker64@podcastlibrary.org</itunes:email></itunes:owner><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:category text="Arts"><itunes:category text="Books"/></itunes:category><itunes:category text="Health &amp; Fitness"/><itunes:category text="Health &amp; Fitness"><itunes:category text="Mental Health"/></itunes:category><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><podcast:guid>7babab3b-3743-5129-bfdb-96ef3ef2e7b5</podcast:guid><itunes:type>episodic</itunes:type><item><title>Soren Kierkegaard, Various Readings-Various</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/soren-kierkegaard-various-readings-various--74257191</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74257191</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 09:00:57 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74257191/soren_kierkegaard_various_readings_various.mp3" length="128630190" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>16062</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Men of Iron (Version 2 Dramatic Reading)-Howard Pyle</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/men-of-iron-version-2-dramatic-reading-howard-pyle--74239881</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74239881</guid><pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 09:00:55 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74239881/16959_men_of_iron_version_2_dramatic_reading_howard_pyle.mp3" length="236979866" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>29592</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Faust I-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/faust-i-johann-wolfgang-von-goethe--74223923</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74223923</guid><pubDate>Sun, 30 Aug 2026 09:00:48 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74223923/faust_i_johann_wolfgang_von_goethe.mp3" length="124462662" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>15542</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Ideala-Sarah Grand</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/ideala-sarah-grand--74199592</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74199592</guid><pubDate>Sat, 29 Aug 2026 09:00:47 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74199592/ideala_sarah_grand.mp3" length="207168819" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>25870</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Wigwam Evenings Sioux Folk Tales Retold-Elaine Goodale Eastman, Charles Alexander Eastman</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/wigwam-evenings-sioux-folk-tales-retold-elaine-goodale-eastman-charles-alexander-eastman--74170235</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74170235</guid><pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2026 09:00:58 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74170235/wigwam_evenings_sioux_folk_tales_retold_elaine_goodale_eastman_charles_alexander_eastman.mp3" length="73537089" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>9183</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Wine and Roses-Victor Daley</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/wine-and-roses-victor-daley--74141747</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74141747</guid><pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:00:54 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74141747/wine_and_roses_victor_daley.mp3" length="87139108" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>10881</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Court and Character of King James, with the Court of King Charles-Anthony Weldon</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/court-and-character-of-king-james-with-the-court-of-king-charles-anthony-weldon--74088286</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74088286</guid><pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2026 09:01:05 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74088286/court_and_character_of_king_james_with_the_court_of_king_charles_anthony_weldon.mp3" length="108207645" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>13512</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Alice's Adventures Underground-Lewis Carroll</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/alice-s-adventures-underground-lewis-carroll--74064419</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74064419</guid><pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 09:00:41 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74064419/alice_s_adventures_underground_lewis_carroll.mp3" length="38884644" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>4855</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Cinderella-George Calderon</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/cinderella-george-calderon--74039704</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74039704</guid><pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:02:06 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74039704/cinderella_george_calderon.mp3" length="45224342" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>5647</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Rosalynde or, Euphues' Golden Legacie-Thomas Lodge</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/rosalynde-or-euphues-golden-legacie-thomas-lodge--74017475</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74017475</guid><pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2026 09:02:05 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74017475/6996_rosalynde_or_euphues_golden_legacie_thomas_lodge.mp3" length="154377456" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>19278</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>In Indian Tents-Abby Langdon Alger</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/in-indian-tents-abby-langdon-alger--73993315</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73993315</guid><pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2026 09:01:35 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73993315/in_indian_tents_abby_langdon_alger.mp3" length="76049293" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>9497</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Poems and Some Satires of Andrew Marvell-Andrew Marvell</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/poems-and-some-satires-of-andrew-marvell-andrew-marvell--73970048</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73970048</guid><pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:01:42 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73970048/poems_and_some_satires_of_andrew_marvell_andrew_marvell.mp3" length="218885888" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>27333</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Birthplace-Henry James</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/birthplace-henry-james--73947297</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73947297</guid><pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 09:01:45 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73947297/birthplace_henry_james.mp3" length="40499315" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>5057</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Wonder-Working Magician-Pedro Calderón de la Barca</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/wonder-working-magician-pedro-calderon-de-la-barca--73922577</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73922577</guid><pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 09:01:29 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73922577/wonder_working_magician_pedro_caldero_n_de_la_barca.mp3" length="73982462" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>9239</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>France At War On the Frontier of Civilization-Rudyard Kipling</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/france-at-war-on-the-frontier-of-civilization-rudyard-kipling--73897666</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73897666</guid><pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:01:44 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73897666/france_at_war_on_the_frontier_of_civilization_rudyard_kipling.mp3" length="49187898" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>6142</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>From the Foundation of the City Vol. 01-Titus Livius</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-the-foundation-of-the-city-vol-01-titus-livius--73873323</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73873323</guid><pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:01:43 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73873323/from_the_foundation_of_the_city_vol_01_titus_livius.mp3" length="207347876" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>25892</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Into The Valley Of Death Crimea, Balaklava, The Light Brigade Russell, Tennyson And Kipling-Various</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/into-the-valley-of-death-crimea-balaklava-the-light-brigade-russell-tennyson-and-kipling-various--73852643</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73852643</guid><pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2026 09:01:30 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73852643/into_the_valley_of_death_crimea_balaklava_the_light_brigade_russell_tennyson_and_kipling_various.mp3" length="24861620" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>3104</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Commentary on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians-John Calvin</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/commentary-on-the-epistle-of-paul-the-apostle-to-the-galatians-john-calvin--73835879</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73835879</guid><pubDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:02:28 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73835879/commentary_on_the_epistle_of_paul_the_apostle_to_the_galatians_john_calvin.mp3" length="194386279" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>24274</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>John Donne's Satires-John Donne</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/john-donne-s-satires-john-donne--73799751</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73799751</guid><pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2026 05:17:45 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73799751/john_donne_s_satires_john_donne.mp3" length="39822705" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>4972</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Astrophel and Stella-Sir Philip Sidney</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/astrophel-and-stella-sir-philip-sidney--73343832</link><description><![CDATA["Astrophel and Stella" by Sir Philip Sidney is a poignant exploration of love, desire, and the struggles of the heart, encapsulated in a sequence of sonnets that reflect the complexities of romantic relationships. This timeless work delves into the themes of unrequited love and the emotional turmoil that accompanies it, making it a rich tapestry of human experience that resonates even today. The eloquence of Sidney's language and the depth of his emotional insight invite listeners to reflect on their own experiences of love and longing. Its enduring relevance lies in its ability to capture the universal nature of love, making it a compelling listen for anyone seeking to understand the intricacies of the heart.]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73343832</guid><pubDate>Sun, 02 Aug 2026 17:36:32 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73343832/astrophel_and_stella_sir_philip_sidney.mp3" length="48482480" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>"Astrophel and Stella" by Sir Philip Sidney is a poignant exploration of love, desire, and the struggles of the heart, encapsulated in a sequence of sonnets that reflect the complexities of romantic relationships. This timeless work delves into the...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA["Astrophel and Stella" by Sir Philip Sidney is a poignant exploration of love, desire, and the struggles of the heart, encapsulated in a sequence of sonnets that reflect the complexities of romantic relationships. This timeless work delves into the themes of unrequited love and the emotional turmoil that accompanies it, making it a rich tapestry of human experience that resonates even today. The eloquence of Sidney's language and the depth of his emotional insight invite listeners to reflect on their own experiences of love and longing. Its enduring relevance lies in its ability to capture the universal nature of love, making it a compelling listen for anyone seeking to understand the intricacies of the heart.]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>6054</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Old Arcadia - Sir Philip Sidney - Part 2</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/old-arcadia-sir-philip-sidney-part-2--72390058</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72390058</guid><pubDate>Sun, 07 Jun 2026 09:00:22 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72390058/old_arcadia_sir_philip_sidney_part_2.mp3" length="229013459" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>28627</itunes:duration><itunes:keywords>arcadia,disguised,idealized,literary,old,pastoral,retreat,shepherds,sidney,style</itunes:keywords><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Old Arcadia - Sir Philip Sidney - Part 1</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/old-arcadia-sir-philip-sidney-part-1--72390055</link><description><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72390055</guid><pubDate>Sat, 06 Jun 2026 16:34:46 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72390055/old_arcadia_sir_philip_sidney_part_1.mp3" length="270373235" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sir Philip Sidney wrote two romances which he called Arcadia. The revised version he never finished because of his untimely death on the battlefield. The less complicated but finished earlier version, here recorded, was written while the author resided with his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. To a greater degree than other romances having pastoral settings, like Lodge's Rosalynde, the main characters, the chief secondary ones, and even some minor ones are not shepherds but great persons sojourning in the countryside of Arcadia, an idealized pagan Greek duchy, the heroes disguised in order to court the daughters of the duke, who is vacationing in his own realm. They themselves have already made a reputation for themselves, which they conceal to conform to the Duke’s rusticating mood. They are not yet old enough to shave, giving one of them the opportunity to pose as an Amazon. These disguises serve more complicated ends as the plot develops. The style is ornamental, the syntax tangled, and at times the author himself gets lost in his own Chinese boxes, which become yet more difficult to parse in the eclogues. To readers accustomed to today’s fragmented style, Sidney’s balanced antitheses will seem alien, as will the highly sophisticated poetry that springs extempore from the lips of shepherds and disguised courtiers alike, and the prose bejeweled with platitudes. These aspects of style, however, befit the idealized landscape that resembles the scenes on fine painted china. Moreover, the author’s penchant for balancing one concept with another (e.g., "what for many was made should not for one be broken") is reflected in the plot, from the very beginning, where the great world outside begins to invade the pastoral retreat. The occasional hints of irony, as in a battle scene which starkly contrasts with the rural setting, is described in language rivaling Ovid’s high camp. Yet, in spite of the mild self-mockery, the writer’s admiration for his two pairs of lovers registers as sincere, and as the fist of Justice comes slamming down upon the pastoral retreat, one’s hope that the maxim "Et in Arcadia Ego" is a myth becomes tenuous. (comment by Thomas A. Copeland)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>33797</itunes:duration><itunes:keywords>arcadia,disguised,idealized,literary,old,pastoral,retreat,shepherds,sidney,style</itunes:keywords><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/d91c1f29c34504105d0cd6a7e809067e.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item></channel></rss>
