|
|
 |
|
stories and poems podcasts |
|
 |
|
| The podcasts below appear in reverse chronological order, i.e. the first in the list is the most recent and the last in the list is the oldest. |
|
|
 |
|
Quotes about the United Kingdom
Read what young people in countries around the world think about the United Kingdom. Compare their opinions, work with the vocabulary and let us know what you think about the UK |
|
|
|
The Blind Boy
by Colley Cibber
In this short poem, the Poet Laureate describes the feelings of a boy who has never been able to see. |
|
|
|
King of the Pumpkins
A young boy and his cat go in search of the King of the Pumpkins, to try and find out what - if anything - is true about his mother's stories. |
|
|
|
The Tyger
by William Blake
This famous poem conjures up amazingly vivid images of the mighty tiger. |
|
|
|
The Stonecutter
This fascinating tale from Asian mythology has a very powerful message. |
|
|
|
The Einstein and the Eddington
by Dr W. H. Williams
This nonsense poem (which is based on Lewis Carroll’s "The Walrus and the Carpenter" in "Through the looking-glass") was written for a faculty club dinner on the eve of the physicist Eddington's departure from Berkeley in 1924. |
|
|
|
Two Peas in a Pod
by Chris Rose
Edie and Evie are identical twins. Identical in appearance, but their personalities are not at all identical. Things get very weird when one of them pretends to be the other ... |
|
|
|
The Seven Ages of Man
by William Shakespeare
The famous lines from Shakespeare's play As You Like It. |
|
|
|
The Masalai of Lep Island
This Papua New Guinea folk story involves a masalai (a large ugly cannibal, similar to an ogre). |
|
|
|
To Autumn
by John Keats
Autumn, or "fall" as it is called in the USA, often arouses feelings of loss and melancholy. However, in this ode the end of summer is not a cause for sadness but for celebration, of the wonderful fruitfulness of nature on the brink of decay. |
|
|
|
A Game of Go
by Chris Rose
Two people sit down opposite each other to play a game. Between them is a large wooden board. One of the players is an old man. He is now 89 years old. He has spent all of his life playing this game, which is called Go. The other person is a young woman. The young woman has only been playing Go for three years. |
|
|
|
The Travelling Post Office
by A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson
This ballad by one of Australia's favourite poets shows what an enormous task it was delivering mail in a country as vast as Australia before modern technologies existed. |
|
|
|
Burke and Wills
In 1860-61 Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 2,800 kilometres. |
|
|
|
No
by Thomas Hood
This poem takes a negative view of winter in a cold, urban climate, but expresses it with a nice sense of humour. |
|
|
|
The Broken Mirror, The Black Cat, and Lots of Good Luck
by Chris Rose
Nikos was an ordinary man. One thing that he absolutely did not believe in was superstition. But when so many things that are meant to cause bad luck started bringing him good luck he began to wonder ... |
|
|
|
Pronunciation poem
This clever and amusing poem explains why English pronunciation is so very difficult. |
|
|
|
Funny sports quotes
From football, tennis and other sports
You'll never believe what some people say! Read these hilarious quotes from sports people involved in football, tennis and other sports, and work out why they're funny or strange. |
|
|
|
The Wild Colonial Boy
This ballad tells the story of the rise and fall of an Australian outlaw, Jack Doolan. |
|
|
|
The Comeback
by Chris Rose
When the once-great opera singer Fausto Ruiz returns to the place where he was born, things do not work out as he had expected ... |
|
|
|
Land-locked
by Celia Thaxter
This poem by Celia Thaxter, who during her lifetime and briefly thereafter, was one of the better known women poets in America, vividly portrays the feelings of someone who yearns for the sea. |
|
|
|
Night's Mardi Gras
by Edward J. Wheeler
This poem compares the night to the Mardi Gras, where nothing is quite what it seems ... |
|
|
|
Beginner's luck
by Chris Rose
When James Milner lands a job in his uncle's bank he rides his luck for a while and even a huge earns himself a huge bottle of vintage champagne for one transaction. But how long can his luck last? |
|
|
|
On Chloris Being Ill
by Robert Burns
In this poem (written as a song), the great Scottish poet laments the illness of his loved one. |
|
|
|
Chinese Zodiac
The Jade Emperor (Emperor of Heaven) called for a contest on his birthday: a race! All the animals of the kingdom were invited to participate, but there would only be 12 winners, and the prize was a permanent place in the Zodiac Years. |
|
|
|
Ozymandias
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
This poem was written in 1818 by the famous Romantic poet Shelley. In this poem Shelley reflects on the nature of political power, and those who hold it. |
|
|
|
The Hunting Bird
by Chris Rose
Samir’s grandfather told him that once, a long time ago, the bird had been a famous hunting bird. But now it looked old and tired and it seemed it couldn't fly. But could it? |
|
|
|
Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer
by Anonymous
In this amusing poem the correct words have been substituted by homophones (two or more words that are spelt differently, but pronounced the same). It proves that computer spelling checkers are not infallible! |
|
|
|
The Day Bob Marley Died
A young man working as a tree-planter in the Highlands of Scotland experiences an incredible coincidence. |
|
|
|
The Banyan Tree
by Rabindranath Tagore
Indian Tagore, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, once said ‘To study a banyan tree, you not only must know its main stem in its own soil, but also must trace the growth of its greatness in the further soil, for then you can know the true nature of its vitality’. |
|
|
|
Aesop's fables
Aesop, who was supposed to have lived from about 620 to 560 B.C. in Greece, was famous for his Fables. As well as being good fun, these also teach moral lessons. |
|
|
|
Tom Beatty
by Edgar Lee Masters
This poem from Masters' acclaimed Spoon River Anthology compares gambling and life. |
|
|
|
The Gods and the Human Resources Department
by Chris Rose
Zeus was having a bad day. “It’s just not fair!” he shouted. The Deputy Human Resources Manager for the Myths, Legends and Folktales sections (Western, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, India, Asia and Americas) had just told Zeus that the Myths and Legends Departments were going to be merged. |
|
|
|
The Good Old Days
This amusing poem compares the meanings of words and expressions as they are used nowadays when speaking about computers, and in their original contexts. |
|
|
|
The Kitemaker
by Chris Rose
When the people of Jaizhar decided to hold a kite flying competition, Mehfooz and the kitemaker made the most wonderful kite anyone had ever seen. They were sure to win ... or were they? |
|
|
|
Danger in the Wet
Some people in North Queensland (Australia) love having tourists visit them so much, that they tell them this tale... |
|
|
|
Fairy tale magic
Listen to and read short versions of seven common fairy tales that contain examples of the use of magic. Then compare them and write a fairy tale yourself. |
|
|
|
Welsh Landscape
by R.S. Thomas
This grim poem by the pre-eminent Welsh poet writing in the English language is typical of his work, which is uncompromising: images like slate - hard and sharp; his style spare, unflinching, honest. |
|
|
|
The Skier
by Chris Rose
Afel was twelve years old when he saw them. “What are those?” he asked his uncle excitedly. “Skis,” replied his uncle, “And those people are called skiers.” Afel was in love. Here was the snow, and here were people who were flying across the snow. It was just like one of his dreams. It was perfect. At that moment, he decided. He wanted to be a skier. |
|
|
|
David
by Earle Birney
This beautiful and tragic poem tells of the adventures of two youths mountain climbing in the Rocky Mountains, and in particular of "That day, the last of my youth, on the last of our mountains". |
|
|
|
The End
by Chia Lih Tan
This story, written by one of our users, begins: "'You know, I have been thinking about this for a long time. I want to start a new life, with a new you.' she said. 'A new me?' I asked." Is it the end or is it a new beginning? |
|
|
|
An Irish Airman Foresees His Own Death
by W.B. Yeats
According to encyclopedia.com “William Butler Yeats, 1865-1939, Irish poet and playwright ... (was) the greatest lyric poet Ireland has produced and one of the major figures of 20th-century literature”. This poem graphically illustrates how it felt to be an Irishman fighting for the Allies.. |
|
|
|
The Invention of Nothing
by Chris Rose
"I will be forgotten by history. Perhaps that was because I invented something. I invented nothing." |
|
|
|
Star-gazers
by William Wordsworth
In this interesting poem Wordsworth explores what goes through people's minds when they look at the stars through a telescope. |
|
|
|
The Chaplet
by Saki
In this amusing story you will find out what happens when two big egos - one belonging to a chef and the other to an orchestra conductor - meet head on! |
|
|
|
Ring Out, Wild Bells
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
One of Tennyson's most famous poems - partly due to its association with New Year's Eve. |
|
|
|
Coming Back Up
by Chris Rose
So we’re driving along, a road in the middle of nowhere, a few trees now and then on each side of the road, mountains in the distance, there hasn’t been a town for ages and then you see this sign, not really a proper sign at all, just a piece of card with some words scribbled on it: “Bungee Jumping, 5km” |
|
|
|
Online Auction
by Peter Wyllie
In this funny poem we find out about a man's experience putting in a bid for something on e-Bay. |
|
|
|
Rice Bowl Wishes
by Bernadette and Dr. Donald
A "fabulous, original" Chinese children's story of traditional values with a very strong message. |
|
|
|
Mulga Bill's Bicycle
by A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson
This funny ballad by one of Australia’s favourite poets, ‘Banjo’ Paterson (whose most famous work is undoubtedly Waltzing Matilda), is typical of his work in that his love for the bush and its colourful characters are very apparent. |
|
|
|
The Untied Nations
by Chris Rose
It was the house at the end of the street; the one where nobody wanted to live. Seeing as people from the city didn’t want to live there, the landlord asked people from other countries to live there. At first everything went well, but then the neighbours began falling out. Fortunately, one of them had an idea ... |
|
|
|
The Cat that Walked by Himself
by Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling used to tell his daughter stories in which he invented funny answers for such questions as "How did the camel get his hump?". The stories end in amusing poems that summarise the stories themselves. This poem tells us the reasons why many people prefer dogs to cats. |
|
|
|
The Masterpiece
by Carmen María Ugarteche Soriano
This chilling psycho-terror story was written by one of our users, who at the time of publication was a seventeen-year-old high-school student from Bolivia. |
|
|
|
Heat
by Archibald Lampman
This poem by Archibald Lampman conjures up vivid images of a sweltering summer’s day. |
|
|
|
A Serious Case
by Chris Rose
I have a friend who is afraid of spiders. This isn’t very unusual; a lot of people are afraid of spiders. I don’t really like spiders much myself. But my friend isn’t afraid of spiders in any normal way. She isn’t just afraid of spiders, she is totally, completely and utterly terrified of them. |
|
|
|
The Medieval Travelling Salesman
Nowadays New Year is celebrated on January 1. But this has not always been so. In the past often another date was chosen as the starting day of the year. The use of different dates at the same time must have caused much confusion ... |
|
|
|
A Ballad of John Silver
by John Masefield
In this poem the poet John Edward Masefield fondly reminisces about the ‘good old days’ when there were pirates on the seas! |
|
|
|
Ali goes to University
by Chris Rose
Ali can't wait to leave his home and his home town and go off to university. But during his first year he learns some valuable lessons of life. |
|
|
|
The Man Hunt
This poem by Madison Cawein, who was one of the leading American nature poets of his day, tells of the terrifying ordeal of a man on the run. |
|
|
|
So You Wanna Be a Roadie?
What a life! Being a roadie must involve meeting rock stars and picking up all the girls. Or does it? A young man finds out all about it from someone who knows. |
|
|
|
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
This famous poem by William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was inspired by the Spring flower, the yellow, or golden daffodil. |
|
|
|
The Stranger
by Ambrose Bierce
In the middle of an Arizona desert night, a group of explorers are approached by a mysterious stranger with a tale to tell. |
|
|
|
The Law for the Wolves
by Rudyard Kipling
Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. |
|
|
|
A Small Family Business
by Chris Rose
“One last job”, thought Jack Robino. “One last job, then I’ll finally retire.” Jack knew that it was time to give up working and go and collect his pension like other people of his age. But would his last job work out? |
|
|
|
The Robe of Peace
by O.Henry
Johnny Bellchambers was the flashiest dresser in all of New York. Then, suddenly, he disappeared into thin air. In this amusing story by O. Henry find out what happened to him ... |
|
|
|
We Loved the World Together
This funny poem by Gordon Taylor describes a love affair of epic proportions: "It's great when you meet at first, but then after the money's gone you have to pay the price ..." |
|
|
|
Playing God
by Chris Rose
In a future world where genetic manipulation and DNA modification is prohibited, there are still people who are prepared to risk jail sentences to get what they want. And doctors prepared to play God ... |
|
|
|
Circus
This poem by Vine McCasland provides a different, very interesting view of the circus as seen from the audience. |
|
|
|
Diagnosis of Death
In this scary story by Ambrose Bierce, a man explains to his doctor how he came to believe in ghosts. |
|
|
|
Food poetry
10 short poems about food from famous and not so famous poets, and an activity in which you compare them. |
|
|
|
The Secret Motorcycle
by Chris Rose
Giacomo de Filippo has a secret motorcycle ... or so he thinks! Sometimes you think that you are the main actor in your life, but then you find out that you are only a minor character in someone else’s ... |
|
|
|
The Polar Bear's Dinner
by Chris Rose
So, I’m a polar bear, right? Got that? A polar bear. Not one of those brown bears that live in forests and on mountains. One of those big white ones, you know, surely. Where do I live? On an iceberg of course, not that far from the North Pole. We never go too near the North Pole though, it’s much too cold up there. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
