The Classic Hundred Poems: A Columbia Granger's Multimedia Anthology CDROM [Audio CD]

William Harmon (Author), Cindee Scott (Editor), Alice Quinn (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0231109741 | ISBN-13: 978-0231109741 | Publication Date: June 1998 | Edition: Cdr

This CD-ROM offers the text of the top 100 poems onscreen and audio readings of every poem specially recorded by contemporary poets, artists, and performers. The selection of poems is determined by the frequency they appear in the 700 anthologies and 75 collected works cited in "The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry". The poets range from Shakespeare to Frost and Blake to Roethke. Works of art accompany each poem, with photographs and illustrations of each poet. Features include: commentary by William Harmon setting each poem in context, describing the poem's verse form, and explaining unfamiliar proper names and terms; a comprehensive user's manual available both online and in print; pop-up windows with notes on proper names of difficult terms; a full glossary of poetic terms; a timeline showing when each poet lived and when the poems were composed; and maps showing each poet's place of birth, and the location of places mentioned in the poems.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The hundred poems on this disc are those that have been most often included in anthologies indexed in The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. Poems such as Coleridge's "Kubla Khan," and Shelley's "Ozymandius" can be located by author, subject, genre, verse form, or title and first line. The system offers sections on the poems and the poets (with text and audio recordings), as well as biographies, a glossary of poetic terms with links to poems, commentaries with further suggested reading, a time line (placing poets within a historical context), and maps. Bottom Line: This disc is a highly efficient, functional work of art. Beautiful to look at, a pleasure to use, and an educational treasure for students and teachers of poetry. Enthusiastically recommended for all libraries.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The Classic Hundred is fascinating, and I have much enjoyed just turning pages.... [The poems are] charmingly presented by a very perspicacious host and poet, William Harmon.

(Robert Creeley )

"It's fascinating to open this book and discover which... poems have been favored over the years.... William Harmon's comments on the poems are just right: bright, brief, and appreciative."

(Richard Wilbur ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; Cdr edition (June 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231109741
• ISBN-13: 978-0231109741
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,990,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad readings, January 19, 2006

By 

Aging Boomer (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Classic Hundred Poems: A Columbia Granger's Multimedia Anthology CDROM (Audio CD)

This review is addressed solely to the oral readings in this "multimedia anthology," not to the choice of poems, their presentation on the electronic "page," or the supplementary material. In this age of sight and sound, one might hope for a renewed interest in poetry read aloud. After all, your average Ipod can store all the world's great poetry. Any such prospect will quickly be extinguished if there are many productions as bad as this one. At first I thought the readers had been chosen in accordance with some manic diversity template, without the slightest concern for whether they could actually read poetry with even minimal competence. In fact, this project was not ruined by political correctness (though that would be typical these days). Instead, the readers are poets themselves. This is a perennially tempting, and invariably bad, idea. The gift of writing poetry is utterly distinct from the gift of reading it. (Perhaps this is the one arena where the deconstructionists are right: here, the "reader" is as important as the writer.) The truths, and the feelings embodied in these poems would be far better conveyed by professional actors or readers; o for a Derek Jacoby, or a Kenneth Branagh, or a Michael York, to substitute for these awful readers. Introducing poetry to your child in high school through these readings will ensure that he or she will never, ever want to read, or hear, another poem.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars To Strive, to Seek, to Find, and not to Yield, August 30, 2001

By 

"ocherdraco" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Classic Hundred Poems (Paperback)

Hallelujah! I found an anthology of poetry that is actually helpful to the high school student! Nearly every poem an English teacher has ever mentioned is in this book, making it easy to get to know these poems. I have an older copy (1990 I think) and it is indispensable. Yes, I don't necessarily like all the poems, but it's a fantastic resource. Frost, Shakespeare, Tennyson, Byron, Dickinson, Eliot-- all the biggies are here. The brief explanations of the poems are helpful as well; much less verbose than my Ph.D. British Lit teacher. I recommend "Jabberwocky" as the first poem to read. It'll loosen you up a bit.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great collection of favorites, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Classic Hundred Poems (Paperback)

This was an enlightening look at some classic poems that I was already familiar with, and a number of new ones. The editor's notes about the poet and poem were very helpful. I also like another poetry anthology, "Poetry for a Lifetime", which has a much larger selection of old favorites to which the editor has added comments and illustrations. And it also has a beautiful Maxfield Parrish painting on the cover.