Great Poetry

Here are some of the finest narrative poems in the English language, dating from an age of rich inspiration.

These iconic works explore the depths of human suffering, identity, and transformation, showcasing some of the most profound voices of the 20th century. From the haunting reflections on war in All Quiet on the Western Front and A Farewell to Arms to the poetic expression of inner conflict in the works of Owen, Rosenberg, and Brooke, this collection provides a window into the world of writers who grappled with the aftermath of trauma and the search for meaning.

No poet is more closely identified with the First World War than Wilfred Owen. His striking body of work, grim to the point of brutality yet, at the same time, majestic and awe-inspiring, defines the war for us. It is in each of these famous poems that Owen reflects on the four terrible months that he lived through; he conveys the experience of war, the death, the destruction and the filth, through a unique poetic language and a bold artistic vision.

Discover the heartbeat of American poetry through 101 Great American Poems — a carefully curated collection that spans centuries of voices. From the reflective verses of Anne Bradstreet to the bold rhythms of Langston Hughes, this anthology captures the soul of a nation through themes of love, loss, freedom, and hope. Tracing a journey from Puritan resolve to the artistic fervor of the Harlem Renaissance, these poems invite readers to explore America's evolving identity across generations and genres.

John Clare was the forgotten Romantic poet, until the late 20th century. Known by his contemporaries as the Peasant Poet, he recorded in his poems the natural landscape of rural England before the Industrial Revolution. His poems rival Wordsworth’s for their sensitivity to nature and pantheism: ‘I feel a beautiful providence ever about me,’ Clare wrote. But his life was a long struggle against poverty and mental collapse. Some of his finest poems were written in the local asylum

When he graduated from Columbia in 1958, John Giorno was handsome, charismatic, ambitious, and eager to soak up as much of Manhattan's art and culture as possible. Poetry didn't pay the bills, so he worked on Wall Street, spending his nights at the happenings, underground movie premiers, art shows, and poetry readings that brought the city to life. An intense romantic relationship with Andy Warhol - not yet the global superstar he would soon become - exposed Giorno to even more of the downtown scene, but after starring in Warhol's first movie, Sleep, they drifted apart.

With lyrical prose and striking verse, beloved poet Nikita Gill (Fierce Fairytales, Wild Embers) uses the history of Ancient Greece and beyond to explore and share the stories of the mothers, warriors, creators, survivors, and destroyers who shook the world. In pieces that burn with empathy and admiration for these women, Gill unearths the power and glory of the very foundations of mythology and culture that have been too-often ignored or pushed aside. Gill's poetry and stories weave old and forgotten tales of might and love into an empowering collection.

A dive into one of China's great poets by the first great populariser of Chinese literature, Arthur Waley.

Poems about Carnival, Job Search, Theatre Acting, Life at Hotel.

This book compiles both the first (1855) and final (1892) versions of Walt Whitman's masterpiece Song of Myself in one volume, making it unique and valuable for students of American literature.

Discover a collection of Rudyard Kipling’s poems written during the Great War. Depicting the war from the perspective of a patriotic citizen who struggles between his duty to his country and the outrage of the horrors that were coming out of the Western Front.

"101 Great American Poems" is a thoughtfully curated anthology that brings together a diverse collection of classic American poetry. Spanning over two centuries, the book features works from some of the nation's most celebrated poets, including Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, and Langston Hughes.

Naxos AudioBooks begins its new series of Great Poets with William Blake. This program contains all of his most popular works - including "Tyger", "The Auguries of Innocence", and "Jerusalem" - as well as some lesser-known poetry that demonstrates the range and power of his verse.

Though by profession a doctor (he coined the word anesthesia) Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894) was one of the leading 19th century American poets and a member of the famous Saturday Club with Emerson, Longfellow, and Lowell. The 200th anniversary of his birth occurs in 2009. Here are his major poems, including "Old Ironsides" and "The Last Leaf" in a rare audiobook collection read by Peter Marinker.

Here are 35 of the greatest poems in the French language, carefully selected and read in French by Bill Homewood, the bilingual English classical actor who has spent half his life in France. To help those English speakers with just a little French to appreciate the glories of these poems, he provides his own clear English translations.

This is a book of short stories and poetry of medieval themes, especially the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons. There is a delightful story called "The Owl, the Witch, and the Wizard" featuring the wizard Merlin. There is also a major new Arthurian poem concerning Excalibur, with a very surprising new twist upon the old story that brings Guinevere into the forefront as an equal of King Arthur. There are poems of heroes and knights, warriors and kings in the heroic age, a lot of it based upon the viking sagas, as well as new poems about King Alfred the Great.

This selection includes Tales and Poems: Tales. The Murders in the Rue Morgue ; The Gold-Bug ; The Black Cat ; The Pit and the Pendulum ; The Tell-Tale Heart ; The Fall of the House of Usher ; The Masque of the Red Death ; The Cask of Amontillado ; The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar ; Hop-Frog ; Ligeia ; Morella ; The Oval Portret. Poems. The Raven ; Al Aaraaf ; Annabel Lee ; The Bells ; The City in the Sea ; The Conqueror Worm ; A Dream Within a Dream ; Eldorado ; Eulalie ; The Haunted Palace ; To Helen ; Lenore ; Tamerlane ; Ulalume.

Willa Cather's early poem, "April Twilights," serves as a precursor to themes of love and nature that appear in her later novels. This collection also includes poems by poetesses Christina Rossetti, Sarah Teasdale, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Amy Lowell, as well as a sampling of works by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

历史长河滚滚而去，多少英雄豪杰已湮灭于尘埃之中，唯有那些才子的腕底波澜、笔底明珠仍然留存于世……歷史長河滾滾而去，多少英雄豪傑已湮滅於塵埃之中，唯有那些才子的腕底波瀾、筆底明珠仍然留存於世……

For students of Middle English, Andrew and Waldron's The Poems of the Pearl Manuscript has been the key edition of the four Pearl poems for over 30 years. With the changing needs of today's students in mind, the editors produced a complete prose translation of the four poems - the best known of which is "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". The near-literal translations are intended to facilitate understanding of the four poems - to lead readers to, rather than away from, the original texts.