English Poetry Literature

Sound interesting? The authors think so too! Listen to ABC Nursery Rhymes and experience the compelling world of children's nursery rhymes.

All his life, William Stanley searched for a wild place of his own. Growing up in the straightened-out city blocks of his childhood and finding some respite in summer trips to a cabin in the woods, he yearned for space, fragrant soil, tall trees, and the silence that surrounds them. In Hawaii, he learned of acres of land depleted from toxic agricultural practices, and he became determined to restore that land and create one of the most comprehensive palm gardens in the world.

Listeners learn the steps of planting seeds and caring for them as they grow in a story told in verse.

From rain and puddles to flowers and bugs, the wonders of spring are all around us!

Listeners learn about the importance of keeping water clean in a story told in verse.

Children learn that sorting, recycling, and giving new life to old things is not only good for the environment. It is a whole lot of fun, too!

Sailboats, seagulls, and picnics are just a few of the joys of summer.

Snowflakes, sleds, and skates are just the beginning of the joys of winter.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born in Cockermouth, in the Lake District. His Lyrical Ballads, written in collaboration with Coleridge, was published in 1798, and shortly afterwards he settled in Dove Cottage, Grasmere, with his sister Dorothy. Inspired in his early manhood by the French Revolution, he grew disillusioned with revolutionary politics and in later life became decidedly conservative. He left a vast body of work, ranging from delicately simple lyrics to deeply meditative odes.

In this volume we listen to the world through the eyes and words of the English Romantics. This very special poetical period is filled with the loving and tender verse of poets who still beguile us all with their beauty.

Volume one of the definitive collection of Seamus Heaney reading his own work, recorded in 2009 by RTE. Volume one contains four collections published between 1966 and 1975: Death of a Naturalist, Door into the Dark, Wintering Out and North.

The only thing more beautiful than Beyoncé is God, and God is a black woman sipping rosé and drawing a lavender bath, texting her mom, belly laughing in the therapist's office, feeling unloved, being on display, daring to survive. Morgan Parker stands at the intersections of vulnerability and performance, of desire and disgust, of tragedy and excellence. Unrelentingly feminist, tender, and ruthless, these poems are an altar to the complexities of black American womanhood in an age of non-indictments and déjà vu.

Dante’s Purgatorio follows the pilgrim as he emerges from the grit and grime of Hell, and comes to the shores of sanctification, the mountain where souls are made holy and beautiful. Join Dante as he climbs the various terraces of the mountain; encounter with him the various trials and hardships that refine God’s redeemed, preparing them for glory; learn what it means to hunger for righteousness and to rest in mercy; join the communion of saints who rejoice in their light, momentary afflictions, and find solace in the trials, as they are conformed to the image of their Lord.

Paradiso gives our imagination a hint of the beauty to come, by uncovering the deepest reality of the life we are living now. God is the same, eternity past to eternity future; He is the same God today. The great crescendo that is His beauty, dance, song, joy, holiness, and glory we hear but dimly, as from a distance land; but it undergirds and gives meaning to everything we know and experience.

This audiobook of poetry, unlike A Poet’s Journey: Emotions, is a more thought provoking book. In its audio, Marta Moran Bishop covers everything from God, to life after death, war, and the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Still she is able to bring to life the beauty and grandeur of her surroundings and make us laugh, cry, think, and feel.

A Poet’s Journey: Emotions is Ms. Bishop’s first collection of adult poetry. In it, you will find the good, bad, and beautiful of being human. It is divided into six categories: Love, Death, Betrayal, Nature, Villain or Hero, and Silly Me. The verses include a glimpse into the heart and soul of one woman who lived through a year full of a roller coaster of emotions, yet she retained her ability to see the silly side to things and beauty in the world around her.

Wee Three is guaranteed to make you smile, laugh, and remember the days of your own youth. It is a highly entertaining listen for both children and adults and will delight the listener with its simple verses.

A powerful story of love, loss, and redemption. The slow fall from grace. The search for spirit. A journey back to light. A Week of Years takes listeners on a poetry-driven excursion into a young man's soul. Divided into seven days, each day serves as a life chapter. The author captures the pain of love lost and the struggle to find purpose and meaning beyond the end of innocence. A deeply personal journal, encompassed and enhanced by poetry that dances intimately with life’s many faces.

Saris and a Single Malt is a moving collection of poems written by a daughter for and about her mother. The audiobook spans the time from when the poet receives a phone call in New York City that her mother is in a hospital in New Delhi to the time she carries out her mother's last rites. The poems chronicle the author's physical and emotional journey as she flies to India, tries to fight the inevitable, and succumbs to the grief of living in a motherless world.

In this lively book, children discover a world of colors all around them: red is spices and swirling skirts, yellow is masa, tortillas, and sweet corn cake. Many of the featured objects are Latino in origin, and all are universal in appeal. With rich, boisterous illustrations, a fun-to-listen-to rhyming text, and an informative glossary, this playful concept book will reinforce the colors found in every child's day!