This annotated edition of Roy Cook’s 101 Famous Poems includes an appendix of author / poet biographies, which:

• Was designed as a quick reference guide for listeners desiring deeper insights into the poet behind the prose
• Includes anecdotes and fascinating tidbits about the poets and poems in this audiobook. 

Originally published in 1916, Roy Cook’s 101 Famous Poems is one of the finest collections of poetry ever assembled. The book seems to include a poem for just about everyone. There are poems of encouragement, poems to delight children, and light-hearted poems. There are poems related to the Revolutionary War, American Civil War, and World War I - plus an epic poem narrating the defense of Rome by Horatius and his comrades. There are also poems about Abraham Lincoln, poems about death, and The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

Story lovers will enjoy the story of Bess, the innkeeper’s daughter, so tragically told in Alfred Noyes’ The Highwayman. The book also includes patriotic poems, a classic about conservation, and Hiawatha’s Childhood by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. There are poems that moved the world for social change, such as Thomas Hood’s Song of the Shirt, which so powerfully described the hopeless lot of an overworked, underpaid seamstress.

Some of the best works of William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Robert Frost are featured in this classic tome. The prose supplement at the end includes the Gettysburg Address, the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, and the Ten Commandments.

Though poetry has fallen out of favor in some circles today, there is much to be gained by listening to the verses of yesteryear. 101 Famous Poems provides a great variety of many of the very best poems ever written. For those who aren’t familiar with the world’s greatest poets, the short poet biographies at the end of the audiobook lay the groundwork for an even better understanding of each poem.