The Classic English Literature Podcast

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For this Easter holiday, I thought we'd look at a hymn lyric from a very influential writer who is often overlooked in discussions of literature: Isaac Watt.  You can find the full text of the lyric in the transcript.
Additional Music: "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" perf. The Choir of St. Margaret's, Westminster (1931) His Master's Voice (B 3746)
https://archive.org/details/78_when-i-survey-the-wondrous-cross_choir-of-st-margarets-westminster-miller-herber_gbia0438074b
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Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra
Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards
Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org
My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

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Alexander Pope, whom some critics regard as the most important poet of the early 18th century, set out to comprehensively explain the rules that governed art, poetry, and humanity itself.  And, it turns out, they're all the same rules.
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Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra
Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards
Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org
My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

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While many may think of Swift's magnificent octopus as a mere children's adventure tale, it is, in fact, one of the darkest and most troubling satires in the English language.  Written as the Enlightenment began asserting rationality as the measure of all things, Gulliver's Travels questions the very premises of western culture themselves.  

Link to Gulliver's Travels: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17157/17157-h/17157-h.htm
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If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!
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Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra
Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards
Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org
My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

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I hope you've brought your appetite, because today we're looking at some of Dr. Swift's shorter prose satires (along with a couple of poems) and he certainly gives us plenty to chew on.

"A Description of the Morning": https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45266/a-description-of-the-morning
"A Description of a City Shower": https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50578/a-description-of-a-city-shower
"The Battle of the Books": https://www.gutenberg.org/files/623/623-h/623-h.htm
"A Tale of a Tub": https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4737
"A Modest Proposal": https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/1080-h/1080-h.htm
Support the show
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!
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Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra
Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards
Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org
My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!

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One of the most theologically and liturgically important Christmas carols may contain coded messages against the Throne of England!

Additional Music: "Adeste Fidelis" by Bing Crosby with The Max Terr choir; John Scott Trotter and his orch.; Traditional; Decca (BM 03929)
Support the show
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting it with a small donation.  Click the "Support the Show" button.  So grateful!
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Please like, subscribe, and rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, or wherever you listen.  Thank you!

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Podcast Theme Music: "Rejoice" by G.F. Handel, perf. The Advent Chamber Orchestra
Subcast Theme Music: "Sons of the Brave" by Thomas Bidgood, perf. The Band of the Irish Guards
Sound effects and incidental music: Freesounds.org
My thanks and appreciation to all the generous providers!