Never is a performer's skill (or lack of) more evident than when reciting poetry. He or she must bring proper pacing, nuance, and depth to a work or risk compromising the meaning in garbled delivery. In the Naxos Edition of The Metaphysical Poets, Nicholas Boulton, Jonathan Keeble, Laura Paton, Geoffrey Whitehead, Roy McMillan, and Will Keen all seem to grasp the intricate metaphors that serve as vehicles for this philosophical and spiritual material. The result is stirring and effective poetry.

John Donne's poems are the most represented here, and his reader's quavering, sentimental yet scholarly voice adds dimension to the poet's abstract thoughts. The work of Andrew Marvell, George Herbert, Thomas Carew, Henry Vaughan, Edmund Waller, and others is also represented.