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The Classic Fifty Poems

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The Classic Fifty Poems

By: Various, William Harmon - Editor
Narrated by: Ensemble Cast
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About this listen

 Adopting the methodology of the music charts, The Classic Fifty Poems presents the "top 50" poems of all time. Determined by a consensus of over 1,000 compliers, and arranged in order of popularity, each author's work is illuminated by the informative notes of editor William Harmon, who offers insights into the historical period in which each author lived and the author's choice of verse form, tone, and style.

Newly revised, and read by an ensemble of contemporary poets, The Classic Fifty Poems is a feast for poetry lovers.

©1990, 1997 Columbia University Press (P)16 9; 1998 HighBridge Company Education Higher & Continuing Education Poetry Classic Poetry

Critic reviews

"Why did no one think of this before?" ( The New York Times Book Review)
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The introductions are good, the poems classic. The readings vary, they capture meaning but not always rhythm and spring. Poems basically late 1500s to pre WW1. Sequence dances about interestingly. Choices reasonable.

Classic means great but not 20 century

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the voices readimg the poetry sent me to sleep a few times. it was asmr but in poetry. the poetry itself was great.

nice and calming

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I loved this production it was beautifully narrated and introduced each poet and their verse.

Very nice introduction to each poet and verse.

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This is a good introduction to a wide selection of poems across the centuries, although they seem to be mainly from English speaking countries.

Great selection of poems and brief background

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Since this is included in membership, it seems churlish to make criticisms.
This offers an enjoyable collection of classic English and American poetry with interesting introductory notes to introduce each poet and poem. These really add to the enjoyment by putting the poetry into context of its creator and time.
Whether one loves the performances or not will be down to personal taste; in my opinion the good far outweigh any that I disliked.
One thing that would improve my experience would be indexing the poems to make it easy to return to favourites.

Interesting introductions and nice performances

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