Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany And Alphabets [by Edward Lear]

LibriVox recording of Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany And Alphabets, by Edward Lear and read by Adrian Praetzellis. A selection of nonsense poems, songs (not sung!), stories, and miscellaneous strangeness. The work includes the "Owl and the Pussycat" and a recipe for Amblongus Pie, which begins "Take 4 pounds (say 4½ pounds) of fresh ablongusses and put them in a small pipkin." Edward Lear was an English writer, poet, cat-lover, and illustrator). This recording celebrates the 200th anniversary of Lear's birth.

link to the free audiobook
Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany And Alphabets [by Edward Lear]

The King of Ireland's Son [by Padraic Colum]

The King of Ireland's Son is a children's novel published in Ireland in 1916 written by Padraic Colum, and illustrated by Willy Pogany. It is the story of the eldest of the King of Ireland's sons, and his adventures finding and then winning Fedelma, the Enchanter's Daughter, who after being won is kidnapped from him by the King of the Land of Mist. It is solidly based in Irish folklore.

link to the free audiobook

The King of Ireland's Son [by Padraic Colum]

Carmilla [by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu] [read by Elizabeth Kett]

Laura and her father live a quiet life in their remote castle in the dense forest of Styria.  It is a solitary existence for young Laura, who has no companionship except for her governess and the occasional visits of neighbouring gentry.  Into this lonely life comes the mysterious house guest, Carmilla. Slowly Laura falls under Carmilla’s spell.  Whilst she is both attracted and repulsed by Carmilla, she seems unable to find the energy to resist her. A spate of sudden wasting deaths afflict the peasants in the countryside around the castle and Laura herself falls ill.  Will they manage to work out the cause of her illness in time or will she just be the latest victim of the vampire Carmilla?

Carmilla has elements of traditional Gothic fiction as well as drawing on Irish folklore too. Carmilla has something of the Irish banshee about her.  The banshee is a spirit who haunts a family and foretells or announces the deaths of family members. Like the banshee, she is attracted to Laura’s family and is her distant ancestress.

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. Carmilla first published in 1872 predates fellow Irish writer Bram Stoker's Dracula by over twenty years and had a strong influence on Stoker's famous novel.

Elizabeth Kett has a lovely voice and a subtly expressive reading style. The sheer beauty of her voice allows the story to flow into your mind as if on a gentle breeze.

link to the free audiobook
Carmilla [by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu] [read by Elizabeth Kett]

In Flanders Fields and Other Poems [by John McCrae]

In Flanders Fields and Other Poems by John McCrae and read by Steve Toner; Bruce Kachuk; Ken Masters; Julia Niedermaier; Rach Clem; Ian King; Jordan Heron; Roger Denis; Catherine Grissom; Carol; Greg Giordano; Steve C; Connie; Tony Green

John McCrae, physician, soldier, and poet, died in France January 28, 1918 of pneumonia. McCrae was a Lieutenant-Colonel with the Canadian forces. The poem which gives this collection of his lovely verse its name has been extensively reprinted, and received with unusual enthusiasm. The volume contains, as well, a striking essay in character by his friend, Sir Andrew Macphail.

01 - In Flanders Fields
02 - The Anxious Dead
03 - The Warrior
04 - Isandlwana
05 - The Unconquered Dead
06 - The Captain
07 - The Song of the Derelict
08 - Quebec
09 - Then and Now
10 - Unsolved
11 - The Hope of My Heart
12 - Penance
13 - Slumber Songs
14 - The Oldest Drama
15 - Recompense
16 - Mine Host
17 - Equality
18 - Anarchy
19 - Disarmament
20 - The Dead Master
21 - The Harvest of the Sea
22 - The Dying of Pere Pierre
23 - Eventide
24 - Upon Watts' Picture 'Sic Transit'
25 - A Song of Comfort
26 - The Pilgrims
27 - The Shadow of the Cross
28 - The Night Cometh
29 - In Due Season
30 - An Essay in Character - I - In Flanders Fields
31 - An Essay in Character - II - With the Guns, part 1
32 - An Essay in Character - II - With the Guns, part 2
33 - An Essay in Character - III - The Brand of War
34 - An Essay in Character - IV - Going to the Wars
35 - An Essay in Character - V - South Africa
36 - An Essay in Character - VI - Children and Animals
37 - An Essay in Character - VII - The Old Land and the New
38 - An Essay in Character - VIII - The Civil Years
39 - An Essay in Character - IX - Dead in His Prime

link to the free audiobook
In Flanders Fields and Other Poems [by John McCrae]