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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>Astrophel and Stella</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astrophel-and-stella--7164598</link><description><![CDATA[Explore the intricate dynamics of unrequited love and the artistry of poetic expression in "Astrophel and Stella." This podcast delves into the rich tradition of sonnet sequences that reflect the complexities of desire, devotion, and emotional turmoil, inviting listeners to engage with the timeless theme of the unattainable beloved. Each episode features a new complete audiobook, showcasing a rotating collection of works that illuminate the struggles of the passionate lover caught in the throes of admiration and longing. The series invites you to experience a range of voices and styles, each grappling with the conventions of love and the pain it often entails. This is not a single narrative but a tapestry of unique explorations that resonate with anyone who has ever loved deeply. Discover a new book with every episode and immerse yourself in the beauty and anguish of poetic lamentation.]]></description><atom:link href="https://www.spreaker.com/show/7164598/episodes/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><language>en</language><category>Books</category><copyright>Copyright Social Science Genre</copyright><image><url>https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg</url><title>Astrophel and Stella</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astrophel-and-stella--7164598</link></image><lastBuildDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:18:43 +0000</lastBuildDate><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:owner><itunes:name>Social Science Genre</itunes:name><itunes:email>spreaker86@podcastlibrary.org</itunes:email></itunes:owner><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:subtitle>Explore the intricate dynamics of unrequited love and the artistry of poetic expression in "Astrophel and Stella." This podcast delves into the rich tradition of sonnet sequences that reflect the complexities of desire, devotion, and emotional...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Explore the intricate dynamics of unrequited love and the artistry of poetic expression in "Astrophel and Stella." This podcast delves into the rich tradition of sonnet sequences that reflect the complexities of desire, devotion, and emotional turmoil, inviting listeners to engage with the timeless theme of the unattainable beloved. Each episode features a new complete audiobook, showcasing a rotating collection of works that illuminate the struggles of the passionate lover caught in the throes of admiration and longing. The series invites you to experience a range of voices and styles, each grappling with the conventions of love and the pain it often entails. This is not a single narrative but a tapestry of unique explorations that resonate with anyone who has ever loved deeply. Discover a new book with every episode and immerse yourself in the beauty and anguish of poetic lamentation.]]></itunes:summary><itunes:category text="Arts"><itunes:category text="Books"/></itunes:category><itunes:category text="Religion &amp; Spirituality"/><itunes:category text="Religion &amp; Spirituality"><itunes:category text="Religion"/></itunes:category><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><podcast:guid>43f8140f-2b89-53f5-9a7f-32c8f1f9cf83</podcast:guid><itunes:type>episodic</itunes:type><item><title>Eclogues-Virgil</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/eclogues-virgil--74621414</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74621414</guid><pubDate>Thu, 27 Aug 2026 09:02:43 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74621414/eclogues_virgil.mp3" length="32909523" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>4110</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Sonnets of John Keats-John Keats</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/sonnets-of-john-keats-john-keats--74589308</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74589308</guid><pubDate>Wed, 26 Aug 2026 09:02:52 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74589308/sonnets_of_john_keats_john_keats.mp3" length="33995969" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>4245</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Diatessaron A Harmony of the Four Gospels-Tatian</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/diatessaron-a-harmony-of-the-four-gospels-tatian--74558678</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74558678</guid><pubDate>Tue, 25 Aug 2026 09:02:29 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74558678/diatessaron_a_harmony_of_the_four_gospels_tatian.mp3" length="187974101" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>23473</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (Edition 1831)-Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/frankenstein-or-the-modern-prometheus-edition-1831-mary-wollstonecraft-shelley--74527098</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74527098</guid><pubDate>Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:08:35 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74527098/frankenstein_or_the_modern_prometheus_edition_1831_mary_wollstonecraft_shelley.mp3" length="252257070" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>31500</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Raven and Other Poems-Edgar Allan Poe</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/raven-and-other-poems-edgar-allan-poe--74496781</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74496781</guid><pubDate>Sun, 23 Aug 2026 09:08:35 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74496781/raven_and_other_poems_edgar_allan_poe.mp3" length="16999549" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>2123</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Metamorphosis (version 4)-Franz Kafka</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/metamorphosis-version-4-franz-kafka--74457504</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74457504</guid><pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2026 09:07:39 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74457504/metamorphosis_version_4_franz_kafka.mp3" length="69096189" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>8628</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Iolanthe-W. S. Gilbert</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/iolanthe-w-s-gilbert--74425818</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74425818</guid><pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:08:34 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74425818/iolanthe_w_s_gilbert.mp3" length="39042119" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>4875</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Selection from the Sonnets of William Wordsworth-William Wordsworth</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/selection-from-the-sonnets-of-william-wordsworth-william-wordsworth--74381509</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74381509</guid><pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 10:57:50 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74381509/selection_from_the_sonnets_of_william_wordsworth_william_wordsworth.mp3" length="55730980" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>6959</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>New Discoveries at Jamestown-John L. Cotter, J. Paul Hudson</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/new-discoveries-at-jamestown-john-l-cotter-j-paul-hudson--74341944</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74341944</guid><pubDate>Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:43:52 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74341944/new_discoveries_at_jamestown_john_l_cotter_j_paul_hudson.mp3" length="61264035" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>7650</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Dramatic Reading Scene and Story Collection, Volume 002-Various</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/dramatic-reading-scene-and-story-collection-volume-002-various--74200216</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74200216</guid><pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:08:51 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74200216/dramatic_reading_scene_and_story_collection_volume_002_various.mp3" length="182162483" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>22747</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.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--74154146</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74154146</guid><pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:09:08 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74154146/john_donne_s_satires_john_donne.mp3" length="39822705" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></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/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Manfred (Version 2)-George Gordon, Lord Byron</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/manfred-version-2-george-gordon-lord-byron--74112908</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/74112908</guid><pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2026 09:11:36 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/74112908/manfred_version_2_george_gordon_lord_byron.mp3" length="46585255" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>5817</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item><item><title>Diatessaron A Harmony of the Four Gospels-Tatian</title><link>https://www.spreaker.com/episode/diatessaron-a-harmony-of-the-four-gospels-tatian--73420028</link><description><![CDATA["Diatessaron: A Harmony of the Four Gospels" by Tatian presents a unique synthesis of the four canonical gospels into a single narrative, allowing listeners to experience the life and teachings of Jesus in a cohesive manner. This work is significant for its early attempt to harmonize diverse accounts of Christ's life, highlighting the common threads of faith and morality that resonate through time. As contemporary audiences seek unity and understanding in a fragmented world, Tatian's harmonious approach invites reflection on the enduring messages of compassion, sacrifice, and hope found in the gospels.]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/73420028</guid><pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:01:17 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73420028/diatessaron_a_harmony_of_the_four_gospels_tatian.mp3" length="187974101" type="audio/mpeg"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>"Diatessaron: A Harmony of the Four Gospels" by Tatian presents a unique synthesis of the four canonical gospels into a single narrative, allowing listeners to experience the life and teachings of Jesus in a cohesive manner. This work is significant...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA["Diatessaron: A Harmony of the Four Gospels" by Tatian presents a unique synthesis of the four canonical gospels into a single narrative, allowing listeners to experience the life and teachings of Jesus in a cohesive manner. This work is significant for its early attempt to harmonize diverse accounts of Christ's life, highlighting the common threads of faith and morality that resonate through time. As contemporary audiences seek unity and understanding in a fragmented world, Tatian's harmonious approach invites reflection on the enduring messages of compassion, sacrifice, and hope found in the gospels.]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>23473</itunes:duration><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.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--72895210</link><description><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></description><guid isPermaLink="false">https://api.spreaker.com/episode/72895210</guid><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 17:49:45 +0000</pubDate><enclosure url="https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72895210/astrophel_and_stella_sir_philip_sidney.mp3" length="48425003" type="audio/mpeg"/><podcast:transcript url="https://transcription.spreaker.com/starship/029f0271-68ff-4730-b219-7c2544989689/029f0271-68ff-4730-b219-7c2544989689.srt" type="application/x-subrip" language="en"/><podcast:transcript url="https://transcription.spreaker.com/starship/029f0271-68ff-4730-b219-7c2544989689/029f0271-68ff-4730-b219-7c2544989689.txt" type="text/plain" language="en"/><podcast:transcript url="https://transcription.spreaker.com/starship/029f0271-68ff-4730-b219-7c2544989689/029f0271-68ff-4730-b219-7c2544989689.vtt" type="text/vtt" language="en"/><itunes:author>Sir Philip Sidney</itunes:author><itunes:subtitle>Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet,...</itunes:subtitle><itunes:summary><![CDATA[Sonnet sequences, which these poems by Sidney made very popular in the Elizabethan age, reflected the Medieval motif of courtly love, whereby a wretched lover courts an unavailable woman, typically married already and faithful to her vows. The poet, although unsuccessful, is a slave to her beauty and virtue, which, by pulling in opposite directions, hold him in an agonizing tension that prolongs the sequence. Sidney wrestles creatively, though, with the restrictions of the ancient conventions. The first line of the first poem declares him an iconoclast, for he defies the very definition of a sonnet by using iambic hexameter. This opening poem, therefore, is no sonnet, and besides, it portrays the beloved as (at least initially) a sadist, an extreme exaggeration of the typical beloved’s aloofness. The following poems fall more or less into line with the conventions, the speaker’s adoration displayed against a background of the reproaches, self-contempt, self-pity, and indignation that the lady’s behavior inspires. Moderns find Sidney’s language difficult partly because its antiquity has rendered many words obsolete, partly because word order is (doubtless deliberately) tortured, but also possibly because of the Italian vogue for asprezza ‘roughness.' In addition, many of the poet’s allusions puzzle modern readers. In the Elizabethan age, readers shared with writers a common heritage of lore that they enjoyed using almost like a code: Rather than saying simply “Plato,” Sidney writes, “The wisest scholar of the wight most wise by Phoebus’ doom,” referring to Socrates, whom a god’s oracle had declared the wisest of men (as we read in Plato’s account of his teacher’s trial). Moreover, Sidney's readers had knowledge of both Greek and Latin, so the title of this work, which means "Star-lover and Star," would have been well understood by them. The delight that those of Sidney’s age took in using their education obliges a student seeking full comprehension to rely on a scholarly edition with extensive footnotes. The Oxford English Dictionary can help as well; it even cites Sidney’s Sonnet 46 for the meaning of the obsolete verb to myche 'play truant.' However, anyone can enjoy these poems without understanding every allusion. An oral reading can assist by bringing out the many different tones of voice and even different voices the poet employs, for he often creates little dramas in which various characters speak. On the other hand, certain puns are not audible, e.g., posie (bouquet)/poesie (poetry) raze/raise rich/Rich (“Rich” being the lady’s married name) Moreover, if the text contains fruitful ambiguities, an oral reading necessarily eliminates them. For instance, when the poet, addressing the faculty of Reason, says, “Leave love to will” does he mean “Stop influencing love,” or does he mean, “Allow the Will to handle love”? These two interpretations reinforce each other, but a performer must sacrifice one or the other in speaking the words. So it is best not to rely on any performance as the definitive reading. History of the text: Philip Sidney wrote most of his literary work while staying on the country estate of his sister Mary, Countess of Pembroke, at Wilton in Wiltshire. When he left to return to the army or court he left the manuscripts which had written with his sister, who preserved them carefully and supervised their publication after his early death. It is thought that the 1591 edition was made from other people's copies of Sidney's manuscripts and so contains many errors. The 1598 edition, which also includes Arcadia, was made under the supervision of Mary and is thought to have been taken from Sidney's original handwritten manuscripts and so is the most accurate version. It does of course have some errors as all printed documents did at that time. The text used for this reading is the 1598 edition. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland; history by Alan Mapstone)]]></itunes:summary><itunes:duration>6054</itunes:duration><itunes:keywords>astrophel,edition,manuscripts,obsolete,rely,sidney,sonnet,sonnets,stella,wisest</itunes:keywords><itunes:explicit>false</itunes:explicit><itunes:image href="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/de59f24d30e1d55525dd46f0997096a4.jpg"/><itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType></item></channel></rss>
