Poetry audiobooks

Loose Woman and Woman Hollering Creek

By: Sandra Cisneros

Narrated by: Sandra Cisneros

Length: TBA

Abridged: No

Loose Woman

Seductive, earthy, and at times confessional, Sandra Cisneros's vibrant collection of poetry celebrates the females aspects of love--from the reflective to the overtly erotic--in a voice recognizable from her powerful works of fiction.

These poems offer narratives as formally elegant as they are emotional and accessible. They are... Read more

Amazing Peace

By: Maya Angelou

Narrated by: Maya Angelou

Length: 29 minutes

Abridged: No

This dazzling Christmas poem by Maya Angelou is powerful and inspiring for people of all faiths.

In this beautiful, deeply moving poem, Maya Angelou inspires us to embrace the peace and promise of Christmas, so that hope and love can once again light up our holidays and the world. “Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers, look... Read more

And Still I Rise

By: Maya Angelou

Narrated by: Maya Angelou

Length: 22 minutes

Abridged: No

Maya Angelou’s unforgettable collection of poetry lends its name to the documentary film about her life, And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters.
 
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my... Read more

Oh, Say Can You Say?

By: Dr. Seuss

Narrated by: Michael McKean

Length: 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Tongue twisters abound in this classic Dr. Seuss Beginner Book!

"Bed Spreaders spread spreads on beds.

Bread Spreaders spread butter on breads.

And that Bed Spreader better watch out how he's spreading . . .

or that Bread Spreader's sure going to butter his bedding."

This riotous collection weaves together a wonderment of words designed to... Read more

Celebrations

By: Maya Angelou

Narrated by: Maya Angelou

Length: 42 minutes

Abridged: No

Grace, dignity, and eloquence have long been hallmarks of Maya Angelou’s poetry. Her measured verses have stirred our souls, energized our minds, and healed our hearts. Whether offering hope in the darkest of nights or expressing sincere joy at the extraordinariness of the everyday, Maya Angelou has served as our common voice.

Celebrations is a... Read more

The Knopf National Poetry Month(TM) Collection

By: Various

Narrated by: Various

Length: 54 minutes

Abridged: No

Since 1998, the Alfred A. Knopf Publishing Group has celebrated National Poetry Month™ by emailing a poem-a-day throughout the month of April to over 25,000 devoted poetry fans. In April 2006, Knopf introduced the Poem-a-Day podcast, which featured poets including Kevin Young and James Merrill reading their own poems, as well as Knopf ... Read more

Many Miles

By: Mary Oliver

Narrated by: Mary Oliver

Length: 41 minutes

Abridged: No

Following the success of At Blackwater Pond, this second audio reccording from bestselling poet Mary Oliver contains a selection of thirty-seven previously published poems and four new, read by the poet in her steady, magnetic voice. Oliver recites from the full range of her poetry—from her classic nature writing to her verses for her... Read more

Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts

By: Roald Dahl

Narrated by: Stephen Mangan, Tamsin Greig & Miriam Margolyes

Length: 1 hour 9 minutes

Abridged: No

“Roald Dahl sometimes shared a tonal kinship with Ogden Nash, and he could demonstrate a verbal inventiveness nearly Seussian…[His] stories work better in audio than in print.” –The New York Times


REVOLTING RHYMES

Did you think Cinderella married the prince and lived happily ever after, or that the three little pigs outsmarted the wolf? Think... Read more

Dante

By: R. W. B. Lewis

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 5 hours 23 minutes

Abridged: No

In Dante, Lewis traces the life and complex development—emotional, artistic, philosophical—of this supreme poet-historian, from his wanderings through Tuscan hills and splendid churches to his days as a young soldier fighting for democracy, to his civic leadership and years of embittered exile from the city that would fiercely reclaim him a... Read more

The Odyssey

By: Homer

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 11 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: No

In this classic epic chronicle of the Greek Hero on his travels home from the Trojan War, Odysseus survives storm and shipwreck, the cave of the Cyclops, and the isle of Circe. He withstands the lure of the Sirens’ song and a trip to the Underworld, only to find his most difficult challenge at home, where treacherous suitors seek to steal his... Read more

A Time To Live And A Time To Die

By: Ron E. Hignite

Narrated by: Ron E. Hignite

Length: 11 minutes

Abridged: No

Ronald E. Hignote demonstrates in "A Time To Live And A Time To Die" his poetic skills and gives greater understanding and meaning to God's seasons for man as revealed by Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Listeners will be inspired by the manner in which Hignite presents the contrasts of the ever-changing seasons of man in poetry and rhyme. Read more

Great African American Literary Voices

By: Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen,...

Narrated by: Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen,...

Length: 10 minutes

Abridged: No

Hear rare recordings from five of the most-respected African American poets reading their own works: Langston Hughes, The Negro Speaks of Rivers; Arna Bontemps, Nocturne At Bethesda; Countee Cullen, Heritage; Gwendolyn Brooks, The Vacant Lot; and Sonia Sanchez, Black Magic. Recording obtained and published by Rick Sheridan. Read more

Heartland Inspirations

By: Ronald Franklin Saia

Narrated by: Ronald Franklin Saia

Length: 2 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

Heartland Inspirations, a compilation of 147 poems written and read by Ronald Franklin Saia, is divided into five sections, including Country Cruzin (inspirations from travels, experiences, and observations), He Speaks to Me (inspirations born out of faith and living), It’s Amore (inspirations born out of real life and hope for sharing of true... Read more

Kentucky Wonder

By: Ronald Franklin Saia

Narrated by: Ronald Franklin Saia

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: No

Kentucky Wonder is a compilation of 70 poems written and read by Ronald Franklin Saia about love, family experiences, and the wonders of God. Some poems will bring tears, some poems will make you laugh, and some will draw you closer to our Lord. Most of all, this audiobook will bring you joy. Read more

The Beatitudes In Poems

By: Ron E. Hignite

Narrated by: Ron E. Hignite

Length: 8 minutes

Abridged: No

"The Beatitudes In Poems" reflects the message of Jesus Christ from His Sermon on the Mount found in the Bible in the Book of Matthew. These poems will inspire their listeners through greater meaning and understanding of the Beatitudes. They describe how the human heart should be and how man should live his life. Read more

The Ten Commandments In Poems

By: Ron E. Hignite

Narrated by: Ron E. Hignite

Length: 13 minutes

Abridged: No

Ronald E. Hignite demonstrates in "The Ten Commandments In Poems" his poetic skills and provides greater understanding and meaning for God's laws for mankind. Listeners will be inspired by the manner and design by which the events at Mt. Sinai are described in poetry and rhyme. This audiobook contains twelve poems, with one on each of the ten... Read more

Voices of Poetry - Volume 1

By: J.R.R. Tolkien, ee cummings, Archibald Macleish...

Narrated by: J.R.R. Tolkien, ee cummings, Archibald Macleish...

Length: 20 minutes

Abridged: No

Hear rare recordings from some of the world's most-respected poets reading their own works: J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hoard; ee cummings, Prose Jottings; Archibald Macleish, The Old Man To The Lizard; Ted Hughes, Six Young Men; May Swenson, Naked In Borneo; Marilyn Hacker, The Dark Twin; Kenneth Patchen, 23rd Street Runs Into Heaven; Edith Sitwell, An... Read more

Voices of Poetry - Volume 2

By: Ezra Pound, William Butler Yeats, Robert Graves...

Narrated by: Ezra Pound, William Butler Yeats, Robert Graves...

Length: 17 minutes

Abridged: No

Hear rare recordings from some of the world's most-respected poets reading their own works: Ezra Pound, Old Men With Beautiful Manners; William Butler Yeats, The Lake Isle Of Innisfree; Robert Graves, A Last Poem; Edna St. Vincent Millay, The Harp-Weaver; Richard Eberhart, The Groundhog; Philip Levine, Blasting From Heaven; Marianne Moore, The... Read more

John Keats: Poems

By: John Keats

Narrated by: Douglas Hodge

Length: 1 hour 23 minutes

Abridged: No

This well-edited recording contains Keats's most famous works. Read more

Shakespeare's Sonnets

By: William Shakespeare

Narrated by: Simon Callow

Length: 2 hours 17 minutes

Abridged: No

The bard's sonnets read by a leading actor of stage and screen Simon Callow.



Savor the most celebrated love poems in the English language. Written almost 400 years ago, the sonnets of William Shakespeare are passionate and exalted, rich in imagery and alliteration, and full of mystery and intrigue.



This selection presents all 154 sonnets composed... Read more

W. B. Yeats: Poems

By: William Butler Yeats

Narrated by: T.P. McKenna

Length: 1 hour 9 minutes

Abridged: No

This compelling collection spans Yeats's career: from the poems of his early years, which display his interest in Irish myths and his hopeless passion for Irish patriot Maud Gonne, to the soaring, majestic poems of his old age. Works of precision, economy and sensuous, lyrical beauty, they include "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," "The Wild Swans at... Read more

77 Love Sonnets

By: Garrison Keillor

Narrated by: Garrison Keillor

Length: 1 hour 37 minutes

Abridged: No

“When I was 16, Helen Fleischman assigned me to memorize Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 29, ‘When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state’ for English class, and fifty years later, that poem is still in my head. Algebra got washed away, and geometry and most of biology, but those lines about the redemptive power of... Read more

3 Dozen Poems

By: author

Narrated by: Garrison Keillor

Length: 1 hour 13 minutes

Abridged: No

The favorite poems from Garrison Keillor's daily radio program The Writer's Almanac.

Selections include:
  Ge Mig En Dag (Scandinavian traditional)
Abecedary (Thomas Disch)
Old Mother Hubbard (traditional)
Frankenstein (Edward Field)
Names of Horses (Donald Hall)
To One Who Asked Me Why I Love J.G. (Ephelia)
What I Learned from... Read more

The Inferno of Dante

By: Dante Alighieri

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 4 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

Dramatic, intense, and gripping, The Inferno of Dante is an astonishing masterpiece that no listener can afford to miss. Robert Pinsky, the distinguished American poet, preserves the burning clarity and universal relevance of this 13th century literary masterpiece in a triumphant new translation for our times. Line by line, canto by canto,... Read more