English Poetry Literature

A stunning new volume from the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States, informed by her tribal history and connection to the land. In the early 1800s, the Mvskoke people were forcibly removed from their original lands east of the Mississippi to Indian Territory, which is now part of Oklahoma. Two hundred years later, Joy Harjo returns to her family’s lands and opens a dialogue with history. Harjo finds blessings in the abundance of her homeland and confronts the site where her people, and other indigenous families, essentially disappeared.

The poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke addresses the issues of God, death, and "destructive time." Rilke tries to transform these problems into an inner world, what he calls "a whole inner world as if an angel, comprehending all space, were blind and looking into himself." Eminent author and translator Stephen Mitchell brings these ideas vividly to life in this new translation of Rilke's most transcendent works.

The three books that compose this audiobook are collections of Gibran's aphorisms, parables, and poetic essays. The works include his masterpiece, The Prophet, The Forerunner, and The Madman.

Walt Whitman explores the freedom of the wanderer, the sorrow of the pallbearer, and the spirit of the adventurer in his remarkable collection of poems, Leaves Of Grass. Both an explorer of cultural thought and a lover of sensual pleasure, Whitman champions the cause of common men, and revels in emotional and physical love. In plain and beautiful language, Whitman redefined the world of poetry.

Angels are undeniably associated with religion and more usually Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Often they are seen as supernatural beings, benevolent celestial intermediaries interposed between God, Heaven and humanity. Obviously there are complications, a fact that our classic poets through the centuries, including Alexander Pope, Edmund Spenser, Radclyffe Hall and Hafiz, use as they write verse to explain, to reveal and to help us understand exactly why Angels are so prevalent amongst our thoughts.

Answering questions like "why are so many vegetables green?", "what's the difference between brown bread and white bread?", and "why do beans make you gassy?", cheerful haiku poems and a simple Q&A format make this book a nutritious treat. The information in this book aligns with both the USDA's MyPlate guidelines and the Harvard School of Public Health's Healthy Eating Plate guidelines.

Bhaskar Chakrabarti’s poetry is synonymous with the romantic melancholia inherent to Calcutta. His trenchant poetic voice was one of the most significant to emerge in the 1960s and ’70s—perhaps the most prolific period of modern Bengali poetry.

In the early 1960s, the Hungry Generation revitalized Bengali poetry in Calcutta, liberating it from the fetters of scholarship and the fog of punditry and freeing it to explore new forms, language, and subjects. Shakti Chattopadhyay was a cofounder of the movement, and his poems remain vibrant and surprising more than a half century later. In his ‘urban pastoral’ lines, we encounter street colloquialisms alongside high diction, a combination that at the time was unprecedented.

A collection of tabletop role-playing inspired poems for adventurers of all ages, written by Jerry Holkins and featuring illustrations by Mike Krahulik.

The 12 Lays of Marie de France offer one of the most striking collections of short narrative poems of the 12th century - two centuries before Chaucer. Written in Anglo-French, they contain beguiling and entertaining stories of love and romance, of chivalry and adventure with sometimes even a magical twist. They are especially unique in early literature by being ascribed to a female poet, Marie de France: in the very first Lay - 'Guigemar' - is the introductory line: ‘Hear my Lords, what Marie says, who does not wish to be forgotten in her time.’

The Gruffalo is a familiar and much-loved figure in nurseries, schools and homes everywhere. Now he returns in his very own song to offer truly monster music sessions! As well as being the UK's most successful picture book author, Julia Donaldson is a gifted songwriter for children, and this volume contains ten of her best-loved songs, sung by the author herself.

The gym is where Claire shines and she’s on her way to qualifying for the state championships. But at school, she’s known as a troublemaker—which is fine with her since it helps her hide her reading problem. Claire has never been able to make sense of the wobbling jumble of letters on a page. When a sympathetic principal wonders if she’s acting out because she may have dyslexia, she’s stunned. Claire has always assumed she’s dumb, so she’s eager to get evaluated. But her mother balks.

From the moment war broke out across Europe in 1914, the world entered a new, unparalleled era of modern warfare. Soldiers faced relentless machine gun shelling, incredible artillery power, flame throwers, and gas attacks. Within the first four months of the war, the British Army recorded the nervous collapse of ten percent of its officers; the loss of such manpower to mental illness left the army unable to fill its ranks. Soldiers Don't Go Mad tells for the first time the story of the soldiers and doctors who struggled with the effects of industrial warfare on the human psyche.

In this collection, the Mor Poets capture the draw of the ocean through the words of those who ride its waves. Seeking to understand what surfing truly means, these poems speak of universal hopes and fears, dreams and contradictions, all found in the transformative act of catching a wave.

It might be said of his words such are legends born. As Shakespeare is to England and Burns to Scotland then WB Yeats is to the Emerald Isle. In this audiobook we bring you not only some of his greatest works read by Cyril Cusack and Siobahn McKenna but also some narrated by the great man himself. He speaks as he would want his work to be heard.

The Rhyming Rabbit loves to make up entertaining poems, inspired by everything he sees, but the other rabbits don’t appreciate his talent for rhyme. Sad and lonely, the Rhyming Rabbit sets off one starry night all on his own - will he ever find someone to share his poems with? The Rhyming Rabbit is a clever rhyming adventure from the stellar picture book partnership of Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks, creators of What the Ladybird Heard. This delightful story is brought to life by much-loved actor David Tennant, in this brilliant audio edition.

From the two-term Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins comes his first compilation of new and selected poems in 12 years. Aimless Love combines new poems with selections from four previous books— Nine Horses, The Trouble with Poetry, Ballistics, and Horoscopes for the Dead. Collins’s unmistakable voice, which brings together plain speech with imaginative surprise, is clearly heard with every word, reminding us how he has managed to enrich the tapestry of contemporary poetry and greatly expand its audience.

Each pair of poems inspires a shift from the old way of thinking to the new: from guilt to gratitude, resistance to surrender, and fear to love. The first poem in each pair is dedicated to the old way. The second poem offers a shift in perspective that lovingly illuminates the new. Each seemingly simple poem instantly elicits a profound reset, and is coupled with beautiful line drawings that awaken not just the mind, but also the heart. The Shift’s unique poem pairings uplift the soul by offering a hopeful salve for our collective burnout.

After a century of civil strife in Rome and Italy, the poet Virgil wrote The Aeneid to honor the emperor Augustus by praising Aeneas, Augustus's legendary ancestor. As a patriotic epic imitating Homer, The Aeneid also set out to provide Rome with a literature equal to that of Greece.

Charlie Cook is reading a book about a pirate captain, who is reading a book about Goldilocks, who is reading about a knight, who is reading about a frog.... From kings and queens to aliens and ghosts, there's something for everyone in Charlie's amazing book of adventure! Perfect for listening to at home, in the car, at bedtime - or any time at all!