English Poetry

The Kalevala provides a compelling insight into the myths and folklore of Finland. Compiled by Elias Lönnrot in the 19th century, this impressive volume follows a tradition of oral storytelling that goes back some 2000 years, and it is often compared to such epic poems as Homer's Odyssey. However, The Kalevala has little in common with the culture of its Nordic neighbors: It is primarily poetic, it is mythical rather than historic, and its heroes solve their problems with magic more often than violence.

Dive into a profound collection that intertwines evocative poetry and reflective passages. This book captures the essence of the human experience, offering poignant reflections that resonate deeply with themes of love, loss, resilience, and spiritual healing. "The Soul Spill" is more than a book — it's a sanctuary for the soul, inviting listeners into a space of solace and profound understanding.

Chris McAlister is currently one of the most prominent ambassadors of Shiatsu and the Asian way of life in the West. In this comprehensive and easy-to-digest book, he takes the listener on a journey right into the heart of Oriental medicine and how it overlaps with modern Western science and philosophy. The author’s profound knowledge and experience are conveyed by stories peppered with personal experiences, case studies and anecdotes. Sometimes poetic and sometimes straight from the heart, he explains how energy manifests itself.

If you've ever desperately wanted to memorize poetry but absolutely hate the slings and arrows, the sound and the fury of repeating the same lines hundreds of times until they've become more annoying than beautiful, then this may be the most important audiobook you will ever listen to. Believe it or not, it doesn't matter if you have a good memory or not. Frankly, if you can memorize a short email address or the name of a movie, then you can use this system to memorize poems as short as a sonnet or as long as an epic. But there's really no time to lose.

Robert Fitzgerald's translation of The Odyssey has been the standard translation for more than three generations of students and poets. Macmillan Audio is delighted to publish the first ever audio edition of this classic work, the greatest of all epic poems. Fitzgerald's supple verse is ideally suited for audio, recounting the story of Odysseus' long journey back to his wife and home after the Trojan War. Homer's tale of love, adventure, food and drink, sensual pleasure, and mortal danger reaches the English-language listener in all its glory.

Published to great acclaim in 1873, Walter Pater’s compendium of idiosyncratic, impressionistic essays on the Renaissance gained him a reputation as a daring modern philosopher. Oscar Wilde called it the “holy writ of beauty.” It was Pater’s cry of “art for art’s sake” that became the manifesto for the aesthetic movement. He believed that art should be sensual and that beauty should rank as the highest ideal. Marked by elegant fluency, Pater’s essays discuss Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and other artists who, for him, embodied the spirit of the Renaissance.

Divided into five chapters, this volume is a journey through the life cycle of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. It is a celebration of love in all its forms.

What feminine part of yourself did you have to destroy in order to survive in this world? At what point does femininity become synonymous with apology? Who hurt the people who hurt you? Let's figure it out. Femme in Public (2017) is the debut poetry collection by transfeminine writer Alok Vaid-Menon including work from 2014-2017. It is a meditation on anti-trans harassment, a ceremony for loss and grief, and an imagining of what could be if we weren’t taught to fear the very things that have the potential to set us free.

Herein lies a raw exploration of duality, darkness, and desire. A collection of sonnets, haikus, and free verse that brings to the surface our fractured pieces and celebrates how the light and the dark blend to make us whole. An invitation to embrace the shadow and give it its rightful place as a part of the self.

Painter and writer Calef Brown pours his boundless creative energy into his poetry. In Flamingos on the Roof, Brown crafts 29 nonsense poems conjuring mythic and contemporary images of everything from gatorflies to light-bulb-topped birthday cakes. Kids will revel in the lively wordplay, while parents and teachers will recognize the value in teaching kids alliterative and assonant sounds.

Carved close to the original Greek, acclaimed classicist Caroline Alexander's new translation is swift and lean, with the driving cadence of its source - a translation epic in scale yet devastating in its precision and power.

From Malawian storyteller Upile Chisala comes a collection of poetry and prose exploring the self, joy, Blackness, gender, matters of the heart, spirituality, the experience of Diaspora, and above all, how we survive. Told in five parts, soft magic is a shared healing journey.

Diane Seuss's signature voice—audacious in its honesty, virtuosic in its artistry, outsider in its attitude—has become one of the most original in contemporary poetry. Her latest collection takes its title, Modern Poetry, from the first textbook Seuss encountered as a child and the first poetry course she took in college, as an enrapt but ill-equipped student, one who felt poetry was beyond her reach. Many of the poems make use of the forms and terms of musical and poetic craft and contend with the works of writers overrepresented in textbooks and anthologies and those often underrepresented.

Mary is going to Spellzany Castle for a poetry contest. After many magical mishaps, Mary and her aunt, Queen Ursula, are hoping for a magic-free event. After a fairy becomes upset over losing the contest, she casts a spell to make all the party-goers only speak in rhyme. Will Mary be able to undo the spell? Or will they all be stuck speaking in rhyme?

Journey into the captivating world of poetic expression with renowned author and poet Zachary Phillips. Whether you are an aspiring poet or a seasoned writer looking to elevate your craft, this enlightening guide is your key to unlocking the power of words and creating evocative, soul-stirring poetry.

A wonderful selection of Yeats' finest work, read by the author himself along with Siobhan McKenna and others.

In this deeply intimate second poetry collection, Ocean Vuong searches for life among the aftershocks of personal and social loss, embodying the paradox of sitting in grief while being determined to survive beyond it. Shifting through memory, and in concert with the themes of his novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Vuong contends with the meaning of family and the cost of being the product of an American war in America. At once vivid, brave, and propulsive, these poems circle fragmented lives to find both restoration as well as the epicenter of the break.

Hush, Little Bunny is a heartwarming, lyrical love letter from a papa bunny to his little one - from David Ezra Stein, Caldecott Honor-winning creator of Interrupting Chicken and Leaves. "Hush Little Baby" is a lullaby that parents have sung to their children for generations. Now Caldecott Honor winner David Ezra Stein has reimagined the classic featuring an irresistible papa bunny and his little one.

In this collection of poems and song lyrics that have never been published before, we see the world through Johnny Cash's eyes and view his reflection on his own interior reality, his frailties and his strengths alike. In his hallmark voice, he pens verses about love, pain, freedom, and mortality, and expresses insights on culture, his family, his fame, even Christmas. Forever Words confirms Johnny Cash as a brilliant and singular American literary figure. His music is a part of our collective history, and here the depth of his artistry and talent become even more evident.

For the first time ever, 75 beloved songs from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and The Children's Corner are collected in this charming treasury, sure to be cherished by generations of children as well as the millions of adults who grew up with Mister Rogers. The audiobook includes the iconic song "Won't You Be My Neighbor", music and lyrics by Fred Rogers.