Poetry by the Month
Enjoy these poems with themes about a particular month of the year: January February March April May June July August September October November December *** New Year’s Poems *** More on Poetry: How to...
Audio and video resources, including recitations, dramatizations, music, video tours, and more, about or related to classic literature.
Audio / Video / Excellence in Literature: The Curriculum / Poetry
by EILeditor · Published March 1, 2024 · Last modified February 10, 2024
Enjoy these poems with themes about a particular month of the year: January February March April May June July August September October November December *** New Year’s Poems *** More on Poetry: How to...
Audio / Video / E4-Resources / Excellence in Literature: The Curriculum / Poetry
by EILeditor · Published February 13, 2024 · Last modified February 24, 2024
“Ash Wednesday” is a poem by T. S. Eliot, first published in 1930. Listen to the author reading his own poem: Dr. Bartel helps us understand this complex work: “Ash Wednesday” is a...
A Calendar of Sonnets: February by Helen Hunt Jackson Still lie the sheltering snows, undimmed and white; And reigns the winter’s pregnant silence still; No sign of spring, save that the catkins fill, And...
January can be a very cold month in the northern hemisphere, and many poets have reflected upon this! A Calendar of Sonnets: January by Helen Hunt Jackson O Winter! frozen pulse and heart of fire,...
DECEMBER by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Riding upon the Goat, with snow-white hair, I come, the last of all. This crown of mine Is of the holly; in my hand I bear The thyrsus, tipped with fragrant cones of pine. I celebrate the birth of the Divine, And the return of the Saturnian reign;– My songs are carols sung at every shrine. Proclaiming “Peace on earth, good will to men.” *** A Calendar of Sonnets: December by Helen Hunt Jackson The lakes of ice gleam bluer than the lakes Of water...
NOVEMBER by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Centaur, Sagittarius, am I,Born of Ixion’s and the cloud’s embrace;With sounding hoofs across the earth I fly,A steed Thessalian with a human face.Sharp winds the arrows are with which I chaseThe leaves, half dead already with affright;I shroud myself in gloom; and to the raceOf mortals bring nor comfort nor delight. *** A Calendar of Sonnets: November by Helen Hunt Jackson This is the treacherous month when autumn daysWith summer’s voice come bearing summer’s gifts.Beguiled, the pale down-trodden aster liftsHer...
In “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” from The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan’s character introduces himself by presenting an absurdly detailed résumé in the musical form of a “patter...
by Janice Campbell · Published December 31, 2020 · Last modified January 15, 2024
How better to mark the close of an old year and the coming of a new than with poetry or song? Here are a few favorite classic New Year’s Eve poems to help you...
What is so rare as a day in June? Definitely not poems about the month of June — there are many! Here are five June poems that offer varying glimpses of this lovely month. Choose...
Audio / Video / Writer's Handbook
by Janice Campbell · Published April 8, 2020 · Last modified April 21, 2021
The Hero’s Journey is a classic story structure in which someone — often an unlikely hero — is called to adventure. Through the help of a mentor, he/she crosses to a challenging and unfamiliar...
The daguerreotype, an early photographic process, was invented by French artist and photographer Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. Introduced in 1830, it was the first publicly available photographic process but was superseded by less complicated processes in...
by Janice Campbell · Published April 11, 2017 · Last modified December 9, 2023
April poems, spring poems — there are so many that it’s not easy to choose just a few to feature here. For now, I’ve chosen to offer just a few; we will add or...
Audio / Video / Classics-Based Writing Resource / Poetry
by Janice Campbell · Published March 7, 2017 · Last modified December 9, 2023
Poems about the month of March Each month has its share of poetic musings, and March is no exception. As children, we learn that “March comes in like a lion and goes out like...
by Janice Campbell · Published December 15, 2015 · Last modified March 6, 2021
“A cold coming we had of it . . . “ Journey of the Magi, by T. S. Eliot Here are two readings of “Journey of the Magi” by T. S. Eliot. The first reading...
Audio / Video / Biography / Classics-Based Writing Resource / E1-Resources / E2-Resources / E4-Resources
by EILeditor · Published October 24, 2015 · Last modified November 18, 2023
Why do William Shakespeare’s plays still touch us today? This Renaissance playwright, poet, and actor had a unique way with words and a timeless grasp of human nature. His works are considered to be...
Audio / Video / Classics-Based Writing Resource / Elocution
by Janice Campbell · Published September 28, 2015 · Last modified October 24, 2015
“All the World’s a Stage:” the Seven Ages of Man monologue from As You Like It by William Shakespeare All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They...
Art / Audio / Video / E5-Resources
by EILeditor · Published January 16, 2015 · Last modified April 24, 2021
Gary Bembridge offers a short video tour of the beautiful Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world,...
Audio / Video / Classics-Based Writing Resource
by Janice Campbell · Published January 5, 2015 · Last modified November 25, 2023
P. G. Wodehouse, one of the funniest writers to ever appear in print, offers a tongue-in-cheek essay on the proliferation of poets. You’ll find additional information about Wodehouse and his writing below this short article....
Audio / Video / Classics-Based Writing Resource / E4-Resources
by EILeditor · Published December 22, 2014 · Last modified November 18, 2023
In a Modernist* culture hostile to Christianity, how did T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and many more join the faith — and how did other intellectuals like Virginia Woolf react?...
by EILeditor · Published December 10, 2014 · Last modified October 8, 2018
F. Scott Fitzgerald Audio Recordings Listen to these 1940s recordings of F. Scott Fitzgerald reading and reciting famous literature — he has a magnificent, magical voice that seems to give insight into his works...
In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Georgina Rossetti In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow,...
Audio / Video / E3-Resources / Poetry
by EILeditor · Published November 13, 2014 · Last modified November 18, 2023
The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow This narrative poem written in 1858 by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow tells a charming tale of a courtship during the early days of Plymouth...
Audio / Video / Classics-Based Writing Resource / Poetry
by Janice Campbell · Published November 3, 2014 · Last modified June 4, 2020
The Wild Swans at Coole by William Butler Yeats Written between 1916 and early 1917, “The Wild Swans at Coole” is a lyric poem by Irish poet William Butler Yeats. Literary scholar Daniel Tobin suggests...
Audio / Video / Biography / E2-Resources
by EILeditor · Published October 20, 2014 · Last modified November 18, 2023
This biography of T.S. Eliot comes from the Yale Modernism Lab, where you’ll find a wealth of resources about modernist writers in the years 1914-1926. You can view their original works and find out...
Audio / Video / Classics-Based Writing Resource
by EILeditor · Published October 7, 2014 · Last modified December 23, 2020
How should a soliloquy be performed? It starts with reading thoughtfully and with understanding; then thinking about the text and what the audience will need to understand. In this clip from British television, c....
Richard Austin Recites Hopkins’ Poetry Richard Austin grew up in the same corner of England as Gerard Manley Hopkins. Thus blessed with the correct native accent, he now recites Hopkins’ poetry all over the...
Dr. Sebastian Mahfood has kindly shared these Dante videos with us: he has made a short video reflection on each canto of Dante’s Inferno. We hope you find these helpful in your studies. If...
by EILeditor · Published June 10, 2014 · Last modified September 10, 2019
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 32-34, which cover Circle 9 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional video explanations contain...
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 18 – 31, which cover Circle 8 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Please be aware that this is a challenging work with complex and mature themes. These optional video...
Dr. Mahfood reflects on cantos 12 – 17, which cover Circle 7 of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. (See the end of Canto 11 for the entrance into Circle 7.) Please be aware that this...
Here’s the Everyday Educator — our annual newsletter handout. It has book lists and helpful articles about homeschooling topics. We’d rather be sharing it in person, but for now, you can download the Everyday Educator here. I hope you enjoy it!
Resources