Poetry audiobooks page 41

Illuminations (Poésies complètes)

Illuminations include some autobiographical allusions to his voyant (visionary) period, which began in 1869; but Illuminations is neither a confession nor an apology. Its several dozen short prose works and two free-verse poems transcend prose grammar by allowing their words to drift away from their dictionary definitions. Ever-elusive, relentless, overflowing with sinuous cadences, Illuminations transcends Une Saison en Enfer as it in turn had transcended Rimbaud’s early verses. Some scholars even propose that some of the Illuminations may have been written after Une Saison, which supposedly marked his farewell to literature.

Hymns of the Christian Church

A collection of classic Christian hymns spanning the centuries. Some of the hymns are read; others are sung.

Story of Rimini
A long poem telling the tragic story of Francesca da Rimini, the duped and adulterous bride, inspired by the character in Dante's Inferno. Published in 1816 and dedicated to Lord Byron, it is considered the pinnacle of Hunt's poetic achievements. Hunt, though having fine artistic sensibilities, was not placed among the first rank of lyric poets, many of whom he championed however. The Story of Rimini was written in prison, where he spent two years for slander of the Prince Regent, and is dramatically and vividly told, with much evocative scene-setting and careful portrayal of emotional conflicts. ( Peter Tucker)

Health
LibriVox volunteers bring you 9 recordings of A Health by Edward Coote Pinkney. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for February 19, 2012.Edward Coote Pinkney was an American poet, lawyer, sailor, professor, and editor. Born in London in 1802, Pinkney made his way to Maryland. After attending college, he joined the United States Navy and traveled throughout the Mediterranean and elsewhere. He then attempted a law career but was unsuccessful and attempted to join the Mexican army, though he never did. He died at the age of 26 in 1828. Pinkney published several lyric poems inspired primarily by the work of British poets. Critic and poet Edgar Allan Poe supported Pinkney's work after his...
At the Club
LibriVox volunteers bring you 14 recordings of At the Club by Richard Hovey. This was the Weekly Poetry project for August 3, 2013.Richard Hovey was an American poet. Graduating from Dartmouth College in 1885, he is known in part for penning the school Alma Mater, Men of Dartmouth. He collaborated with Canadian poet Bliss Carman on three volumes of "tramp" verse: Songs from Vagabondia (1894), More Songs from Vagabondia (1896), and Last Songs from Vagabondia (1900), the last being published after Hovey's death.
Christmas Duet
Joseph Ashby-Sterry was an English poet and novelist. He works include Boudoir Ballads, a collection of poetry, now out of print. This poem is taken from the 1888 edition of The Lazy Minstrel.

Songs of Action
This is a collection of poems by Arthur Conan Doyle centering around the theme of war, action and adventure.

Wine, Water and Song
A collection of 16 poems by G.K. Chesterton. All of the poems in this book, except for "The Strange Ascetic" are taken from "The Flying Inn", a book by the same author.
The Wanderings of Oisín
This narrative poem is composed in three parts, and consists of a dialogue between the aged Irish hero Oisín and St. Patrick.

Oisín relates his three-hundred year sojourn in the immortal isles of Faerie. In the isles, Oisín married the beautiful Sidhe Niamh: together they traveled, feasted, and quested. At last Oisín succumbs to the temptation to return and visit the lands of mortal men: inadvertently slipping from his faerie horse, his body touches the ground and instantly puts on the flesh of a decrepit old man.

Oisín describes various islands and what he did there: contrasting his noble deeds with the degenerate weakness of the present generation.

Bush Debate

In 1892, two of Australia's best poets came up with a scheme to make some money. They arranged to have an argument in the Weekly Bulletin, and since they were being paid by the word, this let them fire back and forth, being sent beer money with each salvo. A couple of other poets also joined in, and their work is seminal to the development of the Bush ethos in Australia.
The first eight files are the original form of the poems, and the second eight are later republications by the authors, in their own collections.