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Hunting of the Snark, The (version 2)

Carroll, Lewis
The Hunting of the Snark is a long nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll describing the adventures of ten weirdly assorted characters as they pursue an elusive creature known as a snark.
Chamber Music

James Joyce
Chamber Music is a collection of poems by James Joyce, first published in May of 1907. The collection originally comprised thirty-four love poems, but two further poems were added before publication ("All day I hear the noise of waters" and "I hear an army charging upon the land").

Although the poems did not sell well, they received some critical acclaim. Ezra Pound admired the "delicate temperament" of these early poems, while Yeats described "I hear an army charging upon the land" as "a technical and emotional masterpiece". In 1909, Joyce wrote to his wife, "When I wrote [Chamber Music], I was a lonely boy, walking about by myself at night and thinking that one day a girl would love me."
Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Annie Coleman
Hunting of the Snark, The

Carroll, Lewis
This is a whimsical poem that takes the reader on a sailing hunt for the mythical Snark. The Bellman, the Butcher, the Baker, the Beaver and others named and unnamed provide a fast-paced, almost maniacal, romp to find the ellusive Snark. In the reading, you begin to suspect that Dr. Seuss may have found some inspiration from Carroll. The reading is a fast ride of thirty minutes and is suitable for children and adults alike.
Island, The

Byron, George Gordon, Lord
Written late in his career, Byron's narrative poem The Island tells the famous story of the mutiny on board the Bounty, and follows the mutineers as they flee to a South Sea island, "their guilt-won Paradise."
Spell of the Yukon, The

Service, Robert W.
Volunteers bring you 13 recordings of The Spell of the Yukon by Robert W. Service. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for December 27th, 2009.
Ottawa Folk Festival Robert Service Collection

Service, Robert W.
On August 13-15, 2010, A hearty band of volunteers, led by Bob Ledrew and Sean McGaughey, recorded selections from the Spell of the Yukon by Robert Service with patrons, musicians and organizers of the festival. We chose Robert Service because he is an iconic Canadian poet. It was our intention to record the whole volume, but the festival was disrupted by torrential rains on its final day.
Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses, The

Service, Robert W.
Known as the Bard of the Yukon and as a people's poet, Robert Service immortalized his experience with the Yukon and its gold rush and this collection of poetry. While some poems are anecdotal and amusing, others capture the raw brilliance that frontiers evoke and the ever pioneering spirit of man. Alternately titled Songs of a Sourdough in the United Kingdoms.
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O Hollow Hollow Hollow

Gilbert, W. S.
Volunteers bring you 17 recordings of O Hollow Hollow Hollow by W.S. Gilbert. This was the Weekly Poetry project for January 8, 2012.
Here is a poem by the "fleshly" poet, Bunthorne, from the opera Patience, by Gilbert and Sullivan. Who better to introduce it than the poet himself:
BUNTHORNE. It is a wild, weird, fleshy thing; yet very tender, very yearning, very precious. It is called, "Oh, Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!"
PATIENCE Is it a hunting song?
BUNTHORNE. A hunting song? No, it is not a hunting song. It is the wail of the poet's heart on discovering that everything is commonplace. To understand it, cling passionately to one another and think of faint lilies.
Bunthorne was considered to have been modelled on Oscar Wilde, but more recent reseach has suggested that this claim is not correct.
Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation

Anonymous
Volunteers bring you 7 recordings of A Selection from Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation by Anonymous. This was the Weekly Poetry project for November 20, 2011.
'Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation' contains the famous 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper's' tongue twister, although this twister was tripping tongues for many years before it first appeared in print. The book also contains a tongue twister of a similar style for every letter of the alphabet. This selection contains the verses for C, F and K.
Birches

Frost, Robert
Volunteers bring you 12 recordings of Birches by Robert Frost. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for February 21st, 2010.
Giaour, The

Byron, George Gordon, Lord
"The Giaour" is a poem by Lord Byron first published in 1813 and the first in the series of his Oriental romances. "The Giaour" proved to be a great success when published, consolidating Byron's reputation critically and commercially.
How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers

Robert Williams Wood
How do you tell apart a parrot from a carrot? A plover from a clover? A bay from a jay? Although there are several ways of differentiating, R. W. Wood’s use of pun and rhyme is one of the most entertaining!
Essay on Criticism, An

Pope, Alexander
An Essay on Criticism was the first major poem written by the English writer Alexander Pope (1688-1744). However, despite the title, the poem is not as much an original analysis as it is a compilation of Pope's various literary opinions. A reading of the poem makes it clear that he is addressing not so much the ingenuous reader as the intending writer. It is written in a type of rhyming verse called heroic couplets.
Home

Brontë, Anne
Volunteers bring you 18 recordings of Home by Anne Bronte. This was the weekly poetry project for January 11th, 2009.
Parting

Brontë, Charlotte
Volunteers bring you 15 recordings of Parting by Charlotte Brontë. This was the Weekly Poetry project for October 25th, 2009.
Past Days

Brontë, Anne
Volunteers bring you 12 recordings of Past Days by Emily Brontë . This was the Weekly Poetry project for November 28th, 2010
Anne Brontë was a British novelist and poet, the youngest member of the Brontë literary family. She wrote a volume of poetry with her sisters (Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, 1846) and in short succession she wrote two novels. Agnes Grey, based upon her experiences as a governess, was published in 1847. Her second and last novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall appeared in 1848. Anne's life was cut short with her death of pulmonary tuberculosis when she was 29 years old. She published under the androgynous pen name Acton Bell.
Please note, at the time of this poetry project, the Gutenburg index was mis-interpreted and this poem was mistakenly attributed to Emily Brontë / Ellis Bell. The recorded LibriVox introductions will reflect this mistake.
Consolation, The

Brontë, Anne
Volunteers bring you 11 recordings of The Consolation by Anne Brontë. This was the Weekly Poetry project for March 14th, 2010.
Lines Written From Home

Brontë, Anne
Volunteers bring you 13 recordings of Lines Written From Home by Anne Brontë. This was the Weekly Poetry project for October 3rd, 2010.
Merry Autumn

Dunbar, Paul Laurence
Volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Merry Autumn by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for October 10th, 2010.
Appeal

Brontë, Anne
Volunteers bring you 24 recordings of Appeal by Anne Brontë. This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 5, 2012.
Appeal appears in 'Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell,' the first book ever published by the Bronte sisters. This book, a collection of poems by all the sisters, was first published in 1846 but did not sell at that time. After the sisters had made their names as novelists (and, sadly, after the deaths of Anne and Emily) a second edition was published in 1850 and became a commercial success.
In order to be taken seriously as poets and authors all three sisters adopted male pen names. Anne's particular pseudonym was Acton Bell.
Visionary, The

Brontë, Emily
Volunteers bring you 18 recordings of "The Visionary" by Ellis Bell (Emily Brontë). This was the weekly poem for January 1, 2012.
The first 12 lines originally appeared in one of a large group of Gondal poems, the word coming from the name of a fictitious island kingdom in a fantasy created by Emily and her sister Anne. When Emily finally consented to have some of her poems published in 1846, along with those of sisters Charlotte and Anne, she selected parts of the Gondal poems and removed all reference to the fantasy land. However, this poem first appeared in a new, expanded edition of the sisters' poetry (in 1850, after both Emily and Anne had died) and was apparently derived as follows:
"The Visionary (October 9, 1845)
This poem is part of the same Gondal poem from which Emily carved "The Prisoner. A Fragment." Charlotte Brontë took lines 1-12 of Emily's original poem, "Julian M. and A.G Rochelle," and added 8 lines of her own. Thus, the positive ending in which the watcher has a spiritual experience is Charlotte's and the watcher may be seen as Emily rather than a Gondal character. In Charlotte's version, it is hard to explain the guiding light in the window of stanze 2.
This account is fully supported by other sources. So the poem, as it was published in 1850, is a combination of work by Emily and Charlotte. Charlotte is accused by critics of using a heavy hand in editing some of Emily's formerly unpublished poems for the 1850 volume.
Pool, The

Dunbar, Paul Laurence
Volunteers bring you 20 recordings of The Pool by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 20, 2012.
Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906) was an African American poet, novelist, and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Much of his popular work in his lifetime used a Negro dialect, which helped him become one of the first nationally-accepted African American writers. Much of his writing, however, does not use dialect; these more traditional poems have become of greater interest to scholars.
Winter (Stevenson)

Stevenson, Robert Louis
Volunteers bring you 20 recordings of Winter by Robert Louis Stevenson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for November 22nd, 2009.
Raven, The

Poe, Edgar Allan
Perhaps Edgar Allen Poe's most famous poem, the "Raven" is a macabre exploration of a man, his memories of Lenore, and the black bird that interrupts his studies on a dark December night, with tap-tap-tapping at his chamber door.
Geography and Plays

Stein, Gertrude
Geography and Plays is a 1922 collection of Gertrude Stein's "word portraits," or stream-of-consciousness writings. These stream-of-consciousness experiments, rhythmical essays or "portraits", were designed to evoke "the excitingness of pure being" and can be seen as literature's answer to Cubism, plasticity, and collage. Although the book has been described as "a marvellous and painstaking achievement in setting down approximately 80,000 words which mean nothing at all," it is considered to be one of Stein's seminal works.
Smile, Smile, Smile

Owen, Wilfred
Volunteers bring you 9 recordings of Smile, Smile, Smile by Wilfred Owen. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of November 9th, 2008.
Eclogues, The

Vergilius Maro, Publius
This book of poems, written between 42 en 39 BC, was a bestseller in ancient Rome, and still holds a fascination today. Held to be divinely inspired not only by the Romans themselves, but by the Medieval Catholic church, The Eclogues is one of the most beloved collections of Latin short poetry.
Eirik the Red's Saga

Anonymous
In this saga, the events that led to Eirik the Red's banishment to Greenland are chronicled, as well as Leif Eirikson's discovery of Vinland the Good (a place where wheat and grapes grew naturally), after his longboat was blown off-course. By geographical details, this place is surmised to be present-day Newfoundland, and is likely the first European discovery of the American mainland, some five centuries before Christopher Columbus's journey.
Jabberwocky of Authors, The

Taber, Harry Persons
Volunteers offer you 12 different recordings of The Jabberwocky of Authors by Harry Persons Taber. This parody of Carroll's Jabberwocky consists almost entirely of authors' names. See how many you can spot!
Chorus of Women

Aristophanes
Volunteers bring you 16 recordings of Chorus of Women by Aristophanes. This was the Weekly Poetry project for October 21, 2012.
Aristophanes was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. This poem is from the Thesmophoriazusae; meaning Women Celebrating the Festival of the Thesmophoria, sometimes also called The Poet and the Women)
Legend of Heinz von Stein, The

Leland, Charles Godfrey
Volunteers bring you 15 recordings of The Legend of Heinz von Stein by Charles Godfrey Leland. This was the Weekly Poetry project for November 11, 2012.
Charles Godfrey Leland was an American humorist who traveled extensively throughout Europe and the US. Leland worked in journalism, and became interested in folklore and folk linguistics, publishing books and articles on American and European languages and folk traditions. He worked in a wide variety of trades, achieved recognition as the author of the comic Hans Breitmann’s Ballads, fought in two conflicts, and wrote what was to become a primary source text for Neopaganism half a century later, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches.
To Lesbia

Catullus, Caius Valerius
Volunteers bring you 13 different recordings of To Lesbia by Caius Valerius Catullus (translation by Richard Burton.) This was the weekly poetry project for the week of August 5th, 2007.
Soldier, The

Brooke, Rupert
Volunteers bring you 20 recordings of The Soldier by Rupert Brooke. This poem was written, as the concluding part of a series of sonnets, on the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Brooke, himself, died the following year on his way to a battle at Gallipoli.

This was the Weekly Poetry project for November 8th, 2009.
Channel Passage, A

Brooke, Rupert
Volunteers bring you 10 recordings of A Channel Passage by Rupert Brooke. This was the weekly poetry project for August 30th, 2009.
Success

Brooke, Rupert
Volunteers bring you 15 recordings of Success by Rupert Brooke. This was the weekly poetry project for April 19th, 2009.
Hill, The

Brooke, Rupert
Volunteers bring you 15 recordings of The Hill by Rupert Brooke. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 15, 2011.
Rupert Chawner Brooke was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War (especially The Soldier). He was also known for his boyish good looks, which prompted the Irish poet William Butler Yeats to describe him as "the handsomest young man in England".
Wild Swans at Coole, The

Yeats, William Butler
The Wild Swans at Coole is a collection of poems by William Butler Yeats, first published in 1917. It is also the name of a poem in that collection. The Wild Swans at Coole is in the "middle stage" of Yeats' writing and is concerned with, amongst other themes, Irish nationalism and the creation of an Irish aesthetic.
Diary of an Old Soul

MacDonald, George
George MacDonald, a Scottish pastor, wrote these short poems, one for each day of the year, to help him with the severer misfortune he was experiencing. The poems are filled with hope and promises of Christ, yet, he also writes about his doubts. These poems are wonderful to listen to for people of any religion.
Ballad of Reading Gaol, The

Wilde, Oscar
Wilde’s meditation on capital punishment, the Ballad of Reading Gaol comes after he was convicted and imprisoned under charges of gross indecency. The charges stemmed from his affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, the son of the Marquis of Queensberry. It relates the story of an execution of a man who murdered his wife which Wilde witnessed during his internment. Published in 1898, it was Wilde’s last published poem as he would die in 1900 from cerebral menengitis, caused by syphilis.
Ballad of Reading Gaol, The (version 2)

Wilde, Oscar
In 1895, Oscar Wilde was sentenced to 2 years of hard labor for acts of ‘gross indecency’. During his time at Reading Gaol, he witnessed a rare hanging, and in the three years between his release and his untimely death in 1900, was inspired to write the following poem, a meditation on the death penalty and the importance of forgiveness, even for (and especially for) something as heinous as murdering one’s spouse; for even the murderer, Wilde argues, is human and suffers more so for being the cause of his own pain, for ‘having killed the thing he loved’; for everyone is the cause of someone else’s suffering and suffers at the hands of another. It is this that Jesus Christ could see; he could continue to see the beauty of our humanity, despite all that we may do to each other, and encouraged us to love each other just the same.
“The Ballad of Reading Gaol” was published in 1898 and would gain Wilde greater recognition as a poet (in addition to being a great playwright); although his only other volume of poetry, one of his earliest works that he’d published, was also well-received. Sadly, ‘The Ballad’ would be his last.
Drinking Alone by Moonlight

Li Bai
Poems

Chesterton, G. K.
Originally published in 1916, this book of poetry by G.K. Chesterton includes 59 poems on a variety of subjects. Included in this are war poems, love poems, religious poems, ballades and more
Petals

Lowell, Amy
Volunteers bring you 15 recordings of Petals by Amy Lowell. This was the Weekly Poetry project for November 27, 2011.
Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school from Brookline, Massachusetts who posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Lowell was born into Brookline's prominent Lowell family, sister to astronomer Percival Lowell and Harvard president Abbott Lawrence Lowell.
She never attended college because her family did not consider that proper for a woman, but she compensated with avid reading and near-obsessive book collecting. She lived as a socialite and travelled widely, turning to poetry in 1902 after being inspired by a performance of Eleonora Duse in Europe. In the post-World War II years, Lowell, like other women writers, was largely forgotten, but with the renaissance of the women's movement in the 1970s, women's studies brought her back to light. According to Heywood Broun, however, Lowell personally argued against feminism. Her poem, “Petals” is published in her collection A Dome of Many-Colored Glass (1912).
All Round the Year

Nesbit, E. (Edith)
A light and whimsical collection of poems by the celebrated children's author E Nesbit, in collaboration with Saretta Nesbit.
Casey at the Bat

Thayer, Ernest Lawrence
Volunteers bring you 12 recordings of Casey at the Bat by Ernst Lawrence Thayer. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for December 16, 2012.
Ernst Thayer was an American writer and poet who wrote "Casey at the Bat", the "single most famous baseball poem ever written" according to the Baseball Almanac.
Passing of the Year, The

Service, Robert W.
Volunteers bring you 8 recordings of The Passing of the Year by by Robert W. Service. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for December 18, 2011.
Robert William Service was a poet and writer who has often been called "the Bard of the Yukon". This poem taken from Rhymes of a Rolling Stone, published in 1912.
Cheese Curd for Bait

McIntyre, James
Volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Cheese Curd for Bait by James McIntyre. This was the Weekly Poetry project for September 23, 2012.
James McIntyre, born in Scotland, came to Canada in 1841. He finally settled in Ingersoll (a town in central Ontario on the banks of the Thames River), the then-heart of Canadian dairy country.
He was well loved in the community, from which he often received aid in hard times, due in part to his poesy and oratorical skills — he was called on to speak at every kind of social gathering in Ingersoll. The region seems to have inspired him, and it was in celebration of the proud history of Canada, the natural beauty and industry of the region, and especially its cheese, that the majority of his oeuvre was written.
Jingle Book, The

Wells, Carolyn
A collection of silly poetry and limericks for children.
Book of Old English Ballads, A

Edwards, George Wharton
In this selection... the aim has been to bring within moderate compass a collection of these songs of the people which should fairly represent the range, the descriptive felicity, the dramatic power, and the genuine poetic feeling of a body of verse which is still, it is to be feared, unfamiliar to a large number of those to whom it would bring refreshment and delight.
Drinking Song, A

Yeats, William Butler
Volunteers offer you 12 different recordings of A Drinking Song from The Green Helmet and Other Poems (1912) by William Butler Yeats. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of April 11th, 2010.
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