This anthology of poetry, published in 1904, contains such favorites as The Raven, My Shadow, and The Village Blacksmith, as well as many lovely poems that may be unfamiliar. Most of the poems in this collection are short enough for children to memorize.
81 episodes
This book of poems, written between 42 en 39 BC, was a bestseller in ancient Rome, and still holds a fascination today. Held to be divinely inspired not only by the Romans themselves, but by the Medieval Catholic church, The Eclogues is one of the most beloved collections of Latin short poetry. (Summary by Caeristhiona)This recording is done in the original Latin, in the form of a dramatic reading: in each eclogue, every character is read by a different Librivox volunteer. Two eclogues are included twice - giving you a "Choice of Voice" !
12 episodes
Beowulf. [Translated by Francis Barton Gummere].This is a short but beautiful book, and the Gummere translation really captures the feel of the Old English. Beowulf tells the story of a mysterious young warrior who saves the Spear-Danes from the terrible monster Grendel and his venomous mother. Long a mainstay of English Literature 101 courses at universities around the world, it is not only one of the oldest, but one of the most exciting English folktales ever invented. (Summary by Caeristhiona)
8 episodes
Wilhelm Busch war einer der bedeutendsten humoristischen Zeichner und Dichter Deutschlands. Er gilt wegen seiner satirischen Bildergeschichten (u.a. Max und Moritz) in Versen als einer der Urväter des Comics. Die Bilder zu diesem Buch sind im Online Text enthalten. (Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia)
51 episodes
The Cathay poems appeared in a slim volume in 1915. They are, in effect, Ezra Pound’s English translations/interpretations from notebooks written by the Japanese scholar Ernest Fenollosa. Pound, not knowing any Chinese or Japanese at all, promptly created a new and somewhat complex style of translation, as he had done with words from several other languages. The Cathay poems are primarily written by the Chinese poet Li Po, refered to throughout these translations as Rihaku, the Japanese form of his name. These poems came to have a profound influence on 20th Century poetry, spawning, among other things, the Imagist movement, and helped in the generation of widespread interest in Asian literature and thought. Also included in this collection are two poems from Pound’s 1912 collection Ripostes. “The Seafarer” is another of Pound’s experiments in translation, this one from the Anglo-Saxon. (Summary by Alan Davis-Drake)
17 episodes
This week we’re marking the American Memorial Day with eleven readings of a John Donne poem. Memorial Day was conceived as a time to remember military men and women who had lost their lives in war. Kings and presidents come and go and some of the reasons that wars have come about are now lost from memory or are obscured in our history texts.
A consistent aspect of war is that those who fight them are not those who arrange them. The soldiers and sailors who suffer loss of limb, scarred minds or forfeit their lives mostly come from the lower and middle rungs of our societal ladder. They are our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters.
Once gone, it is the family who notices the empty chair at the family table while society at large knows not their name. Death has captured them and taken them forever from our midst. It has become personal and not a vague philosophical idea. The theme of Donne’s poem is that, though Death is irresistible, it has no cause to be proud. The human spirit and its hope for redemption is indomitable. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of May 27th, 2006.
(Summary by Robert Garrison)
11 episodes
Der Struwwelpeter, zuerst erschienen als “Lustige Geschichten und drollige Bilder mit 15 schön kolorierten Tafeln für Kinder von 3-6 Jahren”, wurde 1845 von Heinrich Hoffmann als ein Kinderbuch für seine eigene Familie geschrieben. Es wurde als eine illustrierte Sammlung von Kindergeschichten sehr bekannt durch seine erste englische Übersetzung im Jahre 1848. Das Buch wird oft als brutal angesehen, da die Kinder in den Geschichten nicht notwendigerweise gut behandelt werden. Trotzdem hatte es einen Einfluß auf spätere Literatur. (Summary by Aldark and Rainer)
1 episodes
Librivox volunteers bring you eight different readings of Walt Whitman’s A Noiseless Patient Spider, a weekly poetry project. (Summary by Annie Coleman)
8 episodes
Librivox volunteers bring you twenty different readings of Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton’s I Do Not Love Thee, a weekly poetry project. (Summary by Annie Coleman)
20 episodes
Librivox’s weekly poetry project for the week of January 29, 2006: This popular piece was voted Britain’s favourite poem in a BBC opinion poll in 1995.
(Summary from Wikipedia)
17 episodes
Librivox volunteers bring you seven different readings of John McCrae’s In Flanders Field, a weekly poetry project. (Summary by Annie Coleman)
7 episodes
Williams spent his life as a doctor practicing pediatric medicine in northern New Jersey, a few miles west of New York City. During the work day, between seeing patients, he often dashed off poems on the backs of blank prescription pads that he kept in his pocket. This particular poem was written in just such a spontaneous way, after seeing the Russian Ballet perform in Manhattan. Each of the 16 readers in this collection took the challenge to make the same kind of leap - reading it spontaneously.(Summary by Alan Davis-Drake.)
16 episodes
Librivox volunteers bring you fifteen different readings of Mother Night, by James Weldon Johnson. This weekly poetry project (for the week of 2/26/2006) was selected to celebrate Black History Month.(Summary by Annie Coleman)
15 episodes
In honor of President’s Day, LibriVox brings you thirteen versions of O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman. This classic poem was written by Whitman following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. It appears in Leaves of Grass, Whitman’s masterpiece of a poetry collection and is considered by many to be one of his greatest poems. This was the LibriVox Weekly Poetry Project for the week of February 19th, 2006.(Summary by Annie Coleman)
13 episodes
In celebration of Juneteenth, LibriVox volunteers bring you five different versions of O Southland!, by James Weldon Johnson. This was the weekly poetry project for 18 June 2006.(Summary by Annie Coleman)
5 episodes
Hyakunin isshu (百人一首) is a traditional style of compiling Japanese waka poetry where each contributor writes one poem for the anthology.
(Summary from Wikipedia)
10 episodes
Librivox volunteers bring you eight different readings of William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 23, a weekly poetry project.(Summary by Annie Coleman)
8 episodes
Shakespeare’s sonnets comprise a collection of 154 poems in sonnet form that deal with such themes as love, beauty, politics, and mortality. (Summary from wikipedia.org)
17 episodes
Spirits in Bondage is C.S. Lewis’s first book and the first of his works to be available in the public domain. It was released in 1919 under the pseudonym of Clive Hamilton and was written in a period of darker thought for C.S. Lewis than was later evidenced in his Christian apologist writings.
The darkness of the verse is most evident in Part One (The Prison House), begins to change in the short transitional Part Two (Hesitation) and attains a more hopeful tone in the final Part Three (Escape). Yet a dreamy effect, influenced by Celtic and Druid mythology, persists throughout.
Spirits in Bondage consists of forty poems that provide an intriguing insight into the youthful heart of C.S. Lewis and occasionally provides interesting lyrical foreshadowing of some of the landscapes portrayed in his famous Chronicles of Narnia series.
(Summary by Robert Garrison)
3 episodes
Struwwelpeter (Slovenly Peter) is an illustrated collection of humorous children’s poems describing ludicrous and usually violent punishments for naughty behavior. Hoffmann, a Frankfurt physician, wanted to buy a picture book for his son for Christmas in 1844. Not impressed by what the stores had to offer, he instead bought a notebook and wrote his own stories and pictures. While Struwwelpeter is somewhat notorious for its perceived brutal treatment of the erring children, it has been influential on many later children’s books, most notably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (Summary by Catharine and wikipedia.org)
1 episodes
Struwwelpeter (Slovenly Peter) is an illustrated collection of humorous children’s poems describing ludicrous and usually violent punishments for naughty behavior. Hoffmann, a Frankfurt physician, wanted to buy a picture book for his son for Christmas in 1844. Not impressed by what the stores had to offer, he instead bought a notebook and wrote his own stories and pictures. While Struwwelpeter is somewhat notorious for its perceived brutal treatment of the erring children, it has been influential on many later children’s books, most notably Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (Summary by Catharine, Kara, and wikipedia.org)
1 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 001: a collection of 29 public-domain poems.
29 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 002: a collection of 22 public-domain poems.
22 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 003: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
To celebrate Easter, LibriVox volunteers bring you nine different recordings of various psalms from the World English Bible. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of April 9th, 2006.(Summary by Annie Coleman)This collection includes:
Psalm 5
Psalm 23
Psalm 27
Psalm 88
Psalm 96
Psalm 98
Psalm 123
Psalm 131
9 episodes
Poem XXI: "A Book", read by the wonderful podcasters at the Podcasters Across Borders 2006 conference, in Kingston, Ontario, June 23-24, 2006.
Readers:
1: Andy Doan
2: Arthur Masters
3: Bob Goyetche
4: Ben Kenney
5: Bruce Murray
6: Betty Rock
7: Cat
8: Cathi Bond
9: Craig Newell
10: Charlotte Scott
11: Dave Delaney
12: Matt
13: Dan Meisner
14: David Newland
15: Evan Thornton
16: Hugh McGuire
17: Isabelle Michaud
18: Joe Chisholm
19: John Bignell
20: Jay Moonah
21: Julien Smith
22: Krash Coarse
23: Leesa Barnes
24: Maurizio Ortolani
25: Michael Bhardwaj
26: Mark Blevis
27: Matthew Forsythe
28: Neil Gorman
29: Nora Young
30: Sonya Buyting
31: Samuel Genera
32: Sylvain Grand-Maison
33: Sarah McGreggor
34: Shane
35: Tim Campbell
36: Tristan Homer
37: Tom Luscher
38: Tod Maffin
39: Tony Piper
40: Wendy Elliot
40 episodes
Librivox's Long Poems Collection 001: a collection of 5 public-domain poems longer than 5 minutes in length.(Summary by Alan Davis-Drake)
5 episodes
Librivox’s Long Poems Collection 002: a collection of 7 public-domain poems longer than 5 minutes in length.
7 episodes
The Vernal Equinox signals the time when the winter’s cold mantle begins to succumb to the warming influences of the oncoming spring. Fay Inchfawn (nee Elizabeth Rebecca Ward) took the springtime of 1920 as her inspiration for the bright promise of beauty and new life described in Early Spring. LibriVox volunteers bring you eight different readings of this magical work to celebrate the Vernal Equinox. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of March 19, 2006.
(Summary by Chip)
8 episodes
One of the earliest works by the American parodist, Guy Wetmore Carryl, these fables are adapted from Jean de La Fontaine’s original writings. The fables are written in verse, and are light-hearted re-tellings of fables from two centuries before, each ending with a moral and a pun. Among the more celebrated of the fables are The Persevering Tortoise and the Pretentious Hare, The Arrogant Frog and the Superior Bull, and The Sycophantic Fox and the Gullible Raven. (Summary written by Chriss)
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 004: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 005: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 006: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 007: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 008: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 009: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 010: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 011: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 012: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 013: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 014: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
LibriVox’s Short Poetry Collection 015: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox’s Short Poetry Collection 016: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.
20 episodes
Librivox volunteers bring you seven different readings of the short poem Song by John Donne, a weekly poetry project. Song is a bitter little poem on the falsity of women: search the world for ages, see mythical wonders, but you’ll not find a true woman. Deep hurt is the bane of the loving heart. (Summary by Peter Yearsley)
7 episodes
"The First Book of the Faerie Queene Contayning The Legende of the Knight of the Red Crosse or Holinesse".
The Faerie Queene was never completed, but it continues to be one of the most beautiful and important works of literature ever written. Spenser wrote it as a paean to the Virgin Queen Elizabeth, and to the golden age which she had brought to England. Sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh and commended by the foremost literary minds of his day, Spenser's book remains one of the crowning poetic achievements of the Elizabethan period.(Summary by Annise)
13 episodes
LibriVox volunteers bring you eight different recordings of Psalm 133, to celebrate United Nations Day. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of October 22nd, 2006.
8 episodes
This is a collection of poems, in the form of an entire community speaking from beyond the grave about their lives, and, in some cases, gossiping about their neighbors' lives. It's interesting to hear how other people perceive a particular character, and how that character responds.
246 episodes
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89) was an English poet, educated at Oxford. Entering the Roman Catholic Church in 1866 and the Jesuit novitiate in 1868, he was ordained in 1877. Upon becoming a Jesuit he burned much of his early verse and abandoned the writing of poetry. However, the sinking in 1875 of a German ship carrying five Franciscan nuns, exiles from Germany, inspired him to write one of his most impressive poems “The Wreck of the Deutschland.” Thereafter he produced his best poetry, including “God’s Grandeur,” “The Windhover,” “The Leaden Echo,” and “The Golden Echo.” (Summary by Bartleby)Editor: Robert S. Bridges (1844-1930)
19 episodes
In this DIRECTORY you'll see just what you never ought to be; and so, it should direct your way to Good Behavior, every day. The children of whose faults I tell are known by other names, as well, so see that you aren't in this group of Naughty Ones. Don't be a Goop!
(The author's introduction)
1 episodes
LibriVox volunteers bring you nine different readings of The Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay, by William McGonagall, to celebrate April Fool's Day. Scottish poet William McGonagall is widely considered to be one of the worst poets of the English language. He wrote this poem in honor of The Tay Rail Bridge which was opened in 1878 and which subsequently collapsed a year later, causing the death of 75 train passengers, and inspiring McGonagall to write yet famously bad poem entitled The Tay Bridge Disaster. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of March 26, 2006.(Summary by Annie Coleman)
9 episodes
