Classic Poetry

English Poetry, Volume 2 – An Introduction. The English language has grown into the Worlds pre-dominant spoken language. It’s estimated there are over one million words with which to do this. Its sources are rich and diverse, absorbing from other cultures and times without hesitation.

October - the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, and the land prepares to give up more it its colourful coverings. On this and other themes, our poets, including Wordsworth, Rossetti, Arnold, Bryant, and Alford, have much to say.

April - the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar heralds spring in earnest and, of course, April showers and perhaps other unsettled weather. For our poets, including Owen, Stevenson, Van Dyke, Hardy, and Shelley, the month provides a rich source for them to muse upon.

December - the 12th and closing month in the Gregorian calendar. Winter is upon the land, and the poets, including such as Keats, Shelley, Tennyson, Shakespeare, and Stevenson, share their views and thoughts.

A collection of Thomas Hardy's finest poetry read by Carleton Hobbs, John Glen, Richard Burton, and Edith Evans.

Widely regarded as one of the leading war poets, Owen's work is powerful and shocking, illustrating the true horror faced by soldiers during the First World War.

June - the sixth month of the year in our Gregorian calendar and the official byginning of summer. The days stretch to their longest, and many subjects and thoughts fill the minds of our poets, such as Dryden, Levy, Raleigh, Blunt and Dickenson, as they describy the warming days.

Beatrice Lillie, Boris Karloff and Cyril Ritchard amongst others read Lewis Carroll's finest poetry including Jabberwocky, The Hunting of the Snark and The Mock Turtle's Song

March - the third month of the year in the Gregorian calendar brings with it the Spring Equinox and the promise of warmer days and shorter nights. Our selected poets, including Swift, Yeats, Morris, Swinburne, and Austin, of course provide the words to match the mood.

May - the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar and popular for May Day and Workers Rights celebrations. for our poets, including Milton, Hopkins, Von Goethe, Wordsworth, and Longfellow, much else is on their minds, and of course, it's beautifully put.

A selection of Alexander Pope's finest poetry read by George Rylands, Peggy Ashcroft, and Emma Topping.

Whilst best remembered as the author of Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë was also a celebrated poet. Here, Emma Topping reads her finest poetry.

Robert Speaight, Anthony Quayle, and others read a selection of poetry by William Blake, Rudyard Kipling, John Gay, and D. H. Lawrence.

William Wordsworth was amongst the greatest of English Poets. Included here are selections that put into perspective his great talent. The works are brought beautifully to life by Sir Cedric Hardwicke.

January - the first month of the year in the Gregorian calendar ushers in the New Year. the cold and bleak landscape of winter nevertheless provides a rich background for our esteemed poets, such as Byron, Longfellow, Cowper, and Dickinson, to offer us their reflections and counterpoints.

With classics such as ‘My Last Duchess’ and ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’ Robert Browning’s status as one of the great Victorian poets will always be secure in popular culture, while for the more literary he is considered a master of dramatic verse and dramatic monologues. It is interesting to note that his career bloomed late. Indeed, it was only after the death of his wife Elizabeth in 1861 and his return to England from their life in Italy that his work came into wider acceptance and critical acclaim.

William Wordsworth was born on the 7th of April, 1770 and is rightly regarded as a major English poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature. His words have been proffered by many a tongue around the world. They stir, they inspire they create lyrical pictures and feelings as few others can. Wordsworth's was also Britain's Poet Laureate from his appointment by Queen Victoria in 1843 until his death in on the 23rd of April 1850.

Homer's epic poem in plain English, from the origin of the Siege of Troy, the deaths of Hector, Achilles, and Paris through to the Trojan Horse and the rescue of Helen, "the face that launched a thousand ships." Children and adults alike will enjoy this re-telling of this classic Greek legend of the Trojan War.

The Madman: His Parables and Poems, Gibran's first book published in English, is a collection of approximately 35 inspirational parables and poems on God, animals, human nature, and the meaning of life. These brief but memorable pieces serve as sources of contemplation and include "How I Became a Madman", "The Two Hermits", "The Wise Dog", "The Good God and the Evil God", "Night and the Madman", "When My Sorrow Was Born", and “When My Joy Was Born".

Digger Smith is an Australian soldier who has fought at Gallipoli. An old mate of Ginger Mick's (The Moods of Ginger Mick), he returns from the war to visit the family of a fellow solder, Jim Flood. Narrated by Bill (the protagonist of The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke and a neighbour of the Floods), the story is woven together with sobering reflections and emotive dynamics expressed within a community of neighbours - friends and families of Australia's soldiers.