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The Ode Less Travelled

Unlocking the Poet Within

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About this listen

Random House presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of The Ode Less Travelled, written and read by Stephen Fry.

Stephen Fry believes that if you can speak and read English you can write poetry. But it is no fun if you don't know where to start or have been led to believe that Anything Goes.

Stephen, who has long written poems, and indeed has written long poems, for his own private pleasure, invites you to discover the incomparable delights of metre, rhyme and verse forms.
Whether you want to write a Petrarchan sonnet for your lover's birthday, an epithalamion for your sister's wedding or a villanelle excoriating the government's housing policy, The Ode Less Travelled will give you the tools and the confidence to do so.

Brimful of enjoyable exercises, witty insights and simple step-by-step advice, The Ode Less Travelled guides the reader towards mastery and confidence in the Mother of the Arts.

 Literary History & Criticism Poetry Words, Language & Grammar Writing & Publishing Witty Funny Feel-Good

Critic reviews

Fry's extraordinary book is an idiots' guide to the writing of poetry, a primer, a tutorial with funny turns, an earnest textbook... You can't but marvel at Fry's easy familiarity with the rictameter and the rondeau redoublé and applaud the energy of his evangelistic zeal
With his usual wit and occasional obscenity, he takes us through an array of metrical forms and poetic structures, talking to us like a cajoling hearty teacher
Intelligent and informative, a worthy enterprise well executed
A smart, sane and entertaining return to basics
Funny and instructive
All stars
Most relevant
As a teacher of poetry, I constantly read and look for books to help me communicate with my students and/or recommend books to help them develop their skills; this is one such book. This book has a super layout and sets a super foundation for further study. I would also argue it is a great book for seasoned writers to reflect and become inspired again.

Well structured, incredibly reflective

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Brilliant for anyone trying to learn/develop poetry. I used this in my university studies in creative writing. Really helped.

Well Worth a Listen!

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obviously Stephen at his best. loved it. I'll best re-reading again after not too long

Top of Stephen Fry

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Fantastic audio book! As someone that didn't do poetry at school (or at least, not that I remember) I've never understood poetry, and could never see the point in poetry that doesn't rhyme. Blank verse poetry (as I now know) just seemed like lazy poetry. I always thought I might be missing something though, so downloaded this book as I had a shiny new credit.

This book is great for people like me. It's a good introduction to poetry in general and specifics like meter, feet, iambic pentameter, blank verse, etc. It starts by assuming the listener knows nothing about poetry. Stephen Fry is brilliant as the reader. As he's also the author it's as though he's telling the jokes and opinions to you live, one-to-one, rather than reading from a book (he also has a great range of accents). Yes, there are lots of new technical words to learn, but it's a witty, funny and a very engaging listen that explains the subtle nuances of poetry and why they're important in a very accessible way.

Each chapter has an exercise (like in an old school text book), that gets you writing a short poem in whatever form/technique is being talked about. I ignored these the first time but have subsequently gone back and slowly done each one. I've even written a Sapphic Ode! :) I've now listened to this book quite a few times! :)

Finally, the foreword in this book is the BEST I've ever heard. Usually forewords are slightly dry and dull (and played at x2 speed by me) but this one is very funny and actually motivational!

Very engaging, witty and informative

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I absolutely loved this, I knew I would, It’s incredibly informative I felt like I was in a series of high quality lectures, and he adds humour into it, a thoroughly good purchase, highly recommend

Stephen Fry is Such a talent

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