Classic Poetry

With more than 80 of the most popular and loved poems in the English language, this collection is one of the most comprehensive anthologies of its kind. It covers a remarkable range, from the striking visions of Blake and Shelley and the insights of Keats to lighter but equally memorable verse by Tennyson.

Widely known as the master of horror, Edgar Allan Poe has held the world enraptured for more than 150 years with his dark and powerful works. This collection will sweep you away into a world of literary brilliance.

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born in 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts. Rightly regarded as a major American poet, her life was sheltered, introverted, and reclusive. Despite writing over 1800 poems, only a dozen or so were published during her lifetime. Her structures and wordings are at times difficult to get to grips with, though recurring themes of religion and death certainly shadow many of her works.

Richard Burton, the multi-award winning actor, reads the finest work of Thomas Hardy.

Una historia irresistible y un mensaje al puro estilo de Roald Dahl: no crezcas nunca, aunque te hagas mayor.

The remarkable Gertrude Bell, one of the great scholars/adventurers of the late 19th and early 20th century, translated the poems of Hafiz of Persia and introduced the English world to one of the great minds of the 15th century. This is her work in an inexpensive and highly understandable new edition.

Paradiso is the third and final part of The Divine Comedy, Dante's epic poem describing man's progress from hell to salvation. In it, the author progresses through nine concentric spheres of heaven. Corresponding with medieval astronomy, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn deal with the four cardinal virtues Prudence, Fortitude, Justice, and Temperance. The remaining two spheres are the fixed stars and the Primum Mobile, containing the purely virtuous and the angels, followed by the Empyrean, or God itself.

Two hundred years since Jane Austen completed her last novel, Alison Larkin, a witty and always original voice, brings Persuasion and a selection of lesser-known poems by Jane Austen to a new audience.

Noble Prize winner T. S. Eliot wrote some of the best-known, most widely discussed poetry of the past 100 years. He was a daring and uncompromising innovator. With dramatic, original music, and expressive interpretation, this recording dramatizes why his works continue to influence literature - and touch contemporary listeners.

Included are "The Love Son of J. Alfred Prufrock", "The Hollow Men", "Preludes", and "Portrait of a Lady".

This is a story from the Chilling Ghost Stories collection. The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe, tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow fall into madness. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere.

“If music be the food of love, play on" was one of Shakespeare’s finest lines. If music is food then poetry is the wine. In this volume of classic love poetry the flavoured capture of words and rhythms makes us think more carefully of words and their value to us. They also surprise us with their structure and meaning, layering in thoughts and emotions that we might otherwise shy away from. Poems are wonderful ways to express what we feel for a very special someone.

November - the 11th month of the year in the Gregorian calendar, when the land becomes bleaker, harsher but no less beautiful for that. For our poets, including Hood, Arnold, Melville, Alford, and Hardy, there is much to write and comment on.

This epic poem by Edmund Spenser is the longest poem in the English language. It is an allegorical work, written in praise of Queen Elizabeth I. Michael MacLiammoir reads a selection from Book III.

Where does inspiration originate? Some find it in flowers, true love, the ocean, or perhaps a scenic mountain. For Thomas Gray the inspiration for this story poem originated - elsewhere. In this piece Thomas wrestles with his mortality and invites the listener to join the journey. Narrated by Glenn Hascall.

A wonderful selection of classic Christmas poetry from G. K. Chesterton, Henry Vaughan, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Burns, Lord Tennyson, and many more.

Achilles has quarrelled with Agamemnon and sulks in his tent while Hector brings his Trojans to the brink of victory; but fate will have the last word. While the heroes fight before the walls of Troy the gods have also drawn up battle lines, and it is their disagreements as much as the heroes' efforts which will decide the conflict. Despite the poem's antiquity, the very real, human qualities of the protagonists and their dilemmas make The Iliad immediately accessible.

When I am grown to man’s estate. I shall be very proud and great. And tell the other girls and boys. Not to meddle with my toys. Thus reads the whimsical, “Looking Forward,” of this delightful collection. From the sweetness of “Land of Nod,” to the imaginative dreams of “Pirate Story” and “Travels,” Robert Louis Stevenson’s beloved poems celebrate childhood in all its simplicity and joy.

A collection of classic literature that features erotic dreams including "The Eve of St. Agnes", "Erotica Romana", and "A Last Confession".

As a young child, I always enjoyed the magic, the wonder, and rhythmic storytelling of nursery rhymes, from around the world. Now as an adult, some of those memorized verses, can be interpreted differently than I remember, however, I cannot help but be transported back to a time of childhood innocence, whenever they come to mind. I have selected several of my favorites verses for this book, and I hope that they will continue to delight and inspire, young and old, for generations to come.

Universally admired and quoted, Shakespeare’s Sonnets have love, beauty and the passing of time at their heart. Featuring some of the best-known and best-loved lines in the history of poetry (‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’, ‘Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds’), these evocative sonnets explore passion, the fleeting nature of beauty and the essence of true and everlasting love.