Poetry On Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work (1888-2006) [Box set]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 18, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Shout! Factory
• ASIN: B000EU1PGO
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,683 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #49 in Music > Miscellaneous > Poetry, Spoken Word & Interviews > Poetry

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. The Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Lord Tennyson

2. How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix [Excerpt] - Robert Browning

3. America [Excerpt] - Walt Whitman

4. The Lake Isle of Innisfree - WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

5. The Song of the Old Mother - WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

See all 33 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Those Winter Sundays - Robert Hayden

2. The Ballad of Orange and Grape - Muriel Rukeyser

3. To Be a Jew in the Twentieth Century - Muriel Rukeyser

4. #23 (The Lay of Ike) - John Berryman

5. #36 (The High Ones Die...) - John Berryman

See all 32 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Even in Paris [Excerpt]

2. Diving into the Wreck

3. Lovesong

4. Omeros [Excerpt]

5. The Song of the Taste

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Wonder

2. The Lost Pilot

3. Puerto Rican Obituary [Excerpt]

4. Uh Oh Plutonium

5. The Fine Printing on the Label of a Beer of Non-Alcohol Beer

See all 28 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

THE ULTIMATE POETRY BOX

Poetry On Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work (1888-2006) is an engrossing collection of poems read by the people who wrote them, from the dawn of sound recording to the current day. Over the course of four CDs and an info-packed book, it tells the story of the past 120 years of poetry in English, from Romanticism (Dylan Thomas) to Modernism (T.S. Eliot), from the Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes) to Black Arts (Amiri Baraka), from rhyme and meter (Alfred, Lord Tennyson) to free verse (Adrienne Rich) and beyond. Equally important, it allows listeners to understand exactly how poets intended their poems to be read aloud. With 128 poems read by 98 poets, Poetry On Record is the most comprehensive collection of its kind, covering such famous poets as Walt Whitman, William Butler Yeats, Robert Frost, Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, E.E. Cummings, Dorothy Parker, Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsburg, and Sylvia Plath, as well as a plethora of lesser-known but highly regarded poets.

Poetry On Record is a must-have for any fan of poetry, or for anyone who wants an expertly chosen overview as a starting point.

Produced and compiled by noted poetry expert Rebekah Presson Mosby

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, mainly for the 1st and 2nd CDs, May 18, 2006

By 

H. Sansom "huw_the_book" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Poetry On Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work (1888-2006) (Audio CD)

This is an excellent collection, worth having, but primarily for the first two CDs. (I wasn't aware any recording of Walt Whitman existed at all.)

Many of the recordings are surprising for the style of reading. Whitman's is one -- his accent made me gape. Likewise, the style of Yeats or Eliot is a real insight into how poetry was received in a different time.

I give the collection 4 stars instead of 5 for its unevenness. I can think of vastly more interesting people than Rebekah Presson Mosby to compile such a collection. And the selection of contemporary poets is erratic with glaring omissions and curious (even pointless) inclusions. Why three selections of Amiri Baraka (whose work I do like) but only one of Seamus Heaney? Or A.R. Ammons or John Ashberry or Adrienne Rich?

Sadly missing (a partial list and in no particular order): Louise Gluck, Nikki Giovanni, Mark Doty, Thomas Hardy, Marianne Moore, Philip Larkin, W.S. Merwin, Michael Ondaatje. (Of course, I have my own biases.)

And it would have been wonderful to hear some poets back to back on the same work. For example, William Butler Yeats and Galway Kinnell reading "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" (Yeats's work and one of Kinnell's favorites). Admittedly, this might be asking too much.

So, on balance, very worth having for the recordings of the late poets.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have if you love or even like poetry, January 20, 2007

By 

D. Hill "know what I like" (Clovis, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Poetry On Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work (1888-2006) (Audio CD)

This set was nominated for a Grammy and I certainly think it is worthy of winning. Rebekah Presson Mosby has compiled and produced an outstanding collection of some of the most important poets to date. To hear Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot and Gertrude Stein in their own voices is truly amazing. It's easy to get lost in the poetry, much nicer than listening to music while driving. I have all of Rebekah Presson Mosby's works and I think this set and Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like The Rivers are my two favorites.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome if you can hear it...., September 28, 2009

By 

F. Chambers (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Poetry On Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work (1888-2006) (Audio CD)

It's awesome hearing the poetry in the voices of the poets, and I understand that these are amazingly rare and old recordings, but maybe it wasn't worth including pieces that just can't be understood? Or relate that fact to the customer so that they understand that the quality is diminished because of the oldness and rarity of the pieces.

A follow up reading by a contemporary poet on those pieces would add value to the set, and allow the customer two views of the written work.