EP20 - Star and Star Lover | Sidney, Astrophi...

John Donne, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning. John Donne came of age in a high culture whose notions of love were shaped by writers like Philip Sidney. Donne’s own love poetry, though, was very different. Scandalously frank, experimental, intellectually complex, Donne disdains ...  Show more

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien is one of the most beloved writers in the English tradition, though that popularity is a source of frustration to many supposedly sophisticated critics and scholars. However, his fans and his detractors alike often miss not just ho ...  Show more

We begin to look at Elizabethan literature, as Sidney argues that poetry is superior to philosophy, and philosophy is put to use in Spenser’s "Fairie Queene".

Sonnet 18 is possibly the most famous of Shakespeare's sonnets. The sonnet (meaning ‘little song’) originated in Italy in the 13th century and became fashionable in England in the early 16th century. English sonnets of the period usually treated on the poet’s love for a woman, al ...  Show more

To celebrate Melvyn Bragg’s 27 years presenting In Our Time, some well-known fans of the programme have chosen their favourite episodes. Historian and broadcaster Simon Schama has selected the episode on Shakespeare’s Sonnets and recorded an introduction to it. (This introduction ...  Show more

Title: The Sky We Touched TogetherLevel: Intermediate (B1)#Story : Sophia’s quiet life changes when she meets Julian, an enigmatic artist who believes the stars hold secrets. Together, they discover a glowing stone that opens a doorway to the Starfields, a magical world of floati ...  Show more