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The Poems of T. S. Eliot cover art

The Poems of T. S. Eliot

By: T. S. Eliot
Narrated by: Jeremy Irons,Dame Eileen Atkins
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Summary

Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Jeremy Irons' perceptive reading illuminates the poetry of T. S. Eliot in all its complexity. Major poems range from 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' through the post-war desolation of 'The Waste Land' and the spiritual struggle of 'Ash-Wednesday', to the enduring charm of 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'. 

The Spectator praised Jeremy Irons' interpretation as 'so accessible, reading Eliot as if finding his words for the first time, grappling with them, relishing them, using them to express feelings that we all share as we struggle to accept, to recognise or relinquish'. Dame Eileen Atkins also appears alongside Jeremy Irons in the reading of 'The Waste Land'. 

UPDATED EDITION WITH POEM TITLES FOR EASY NAVIGATION.

©2015 BBC (P)2016 BBC

Critic reviews

"For such a major poet, Eliot left a fairly sparse body of work, and all his mature poems are here. And while many consider him to be a fairly austere modernist, these readings by Jeremy Irons bring out the human passion (and sometimes the intellectual passion) that lurks in the poems.... His versions are simply more human, as beautifully crafted as the poems themselves." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Poems of T. S. Eliot

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I hope this helps........

POEMS OF T.S.ELIOT
Read by Jeremy Irons

Prufrock and other Observations 1917
1/ The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
2/ Portrait of a Lady
3/ Preludes
4/ Rhapsody on a Windy Night
5/ Morning at the Window
6/ The ‘Boston Evening Transcript’
7/ Aunt Helen
8/ Cousin Nancy
9/ Mr. Apollinax
10/ Hysteria
11/ Conversation Galante
12/ La Figlia Che Piange

Poems, 1920
13/ Gerontion
14/ Burbank with a Baedeker: Bleistein with a Cigar
15/ Sweeney Erect
16/ A Cooking Egg
17/ The Hippopotamus.
18/ Whispers of Immortality
19/ Mr Eliot’s Sunday Morning Service
20/ Sweeney Among the Nightingales

The Waste Land. 1922
21/ The Burial of the Dead
22/ A Game of Chess
23/ The Fire Sermon
24/ Death by Water
25/ What the Thunder Said
——
26/The Hollow Men. 1925

Ash-Wednesday. 1930
27/ Because I do not hope to turn again
28/ Lady, three white leopards sat under a juniper-tree
29/ At the first turning of the second stair
30/ Who walked between the violet and the violet
31/. If the lost word is lost, if the spent word is spent
32/ Although I do not hope to turn again

Ariel Poems
33/ Journey of the Magi, 1927
34/ A Song for Simeon. 1928
35/ Animula, 1929
36/ Marina, 1930
37/ The Cultivation of Christmas Trees 1954

The Four Quartets
38/ Burnt Norton 1935
39/ “”. II
40/. “” III
41/. “”. IV
42/ “”. V
43/ East Coker 1940
44/ “”. II
45/ “”. III
46/ “”. IV
47/ “”. V
48/ The Dry Salvages. 1941
49/ “”. II
50/ “”. III
51/ “”. IV
52/ “”. V
53/ Little Giddings. 1942
54/ “”. II
55/ “”. III
56/ “”. IV
57/ “”. V

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats
58/ The Naming of Cats
59/ The Old Gumbie Cat
60/ Growltiger’s Last Stand
61/ The Rum Tum Tugger
62/ The Song of the Jellicles
63/ Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer
64/ Old Deuteronomy
65/ The Pekes and the Pollicles
66/ Mr. Mistoffeles
67/ Macavity: the Mystery Cat
68/ Gus: the Theatre Cat
69/ Bustopher Jones: the Cat about Town
70/ Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat
71/ The Ad-dressing of Cats
72/ Cat Morgan Introduces Himself

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



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312 people found this helpful

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A great recording marred by crappy metadata

Any additional comments?

This is a wonderful recording of some of the greatest poetry of the 20th century. But, as often, Audible ruins it with crappy metadata. How do I know which poem is Chapter 1, or Chapter 2, and so on? If I want to find specific poems - such as the Four Quartets - how do I find them? This is simply contempt for listeners. I feel cheated.

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140 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Why no titles to the chapters?

Downloaded as I love TSE and thoroughly enjoyed listening to Jeremy Irons Reading 4Q on R4. But completely impossible to navigate this audible compilation as there is no indication as to what each of the 72 chapters contains.

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64 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Thank you Mr Clinch!

Jeremy Irons is pitch perfect and interprets the poems imaginatively yet faithfully and with the style, veracity and acumen we have come to hugely respect from the consumate interpreter of verse.

Chapter titles are woefully missing but you will find them all listed on this page in a review by Mr Peter Clinch for which he deserves much credit and I for one am very thankful.

Exactly why I needed to rely upon the kindliness of this stranger for a very basic function I do not know. Without Mr Clinch's generous help this download would be all but worthless. Not because of the quality of the content - but if you can't find the one you want what's the bloody point??

The readings are wonderful. Mr Clinch did a better job at the packaging! Give the man some free books and a job!

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60 people found this helpful

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Impossible to navigate

The reading is excellent although as mentioned there should be a longer pause between poems as you have hardly digested the ending of one before you are into the next .

However... I am mystified how Audible can produce this and other audio books without anyway to navigate the poems , there are purely numerical chapter titles which means you have absolutely no idea which of the poems is about to be read and no way of going back to or forward to the one you want .

For a linear novel this layout maybe this is adequate however with poetry or short stories there MUST be a better way of laying out the menus so listeners can select from a menu the poem they wish to hear

I have no idea whether Audible reads these reviews but if so please action this problem which has been commented on by virtually every reviewer

Thank you !

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Very good, but...

Excellent narration, but no index with poem titles. This means that one is unable to select a piece by title.

Another gripe is that there is too short a pause after each piece, giving no time for reflection or contemplation.

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35 people found this helpful

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Impossible

How can a poetry collection work if you have no way of finding a poem or navigating the book? The performances are superb. The poems sublime. But there is no way of finding the one you want when all you have is an numerical chapter list which even splits poems. so this is a useless audio book

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17 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Dull, unimaginative, wit-lacking performances.

The most varied, exciting. Provocative and memorable poetry of the last hundred years delivered in the manner of the Warsaw telephone directory
Reader seems to have very little understanding of what he's reading. Gross disservice to our. Finest post war poet.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One Of The Greatest Recordings Of A Great Poet

Jeremy Irons understands the music in Eliot's poetry like no other reader I have heard, Including the poet himself. This is an outstanding recording and I recommend it enthusiastically.

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15 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic... :-)

In my view this is one of the best audiobooks I have ever enjoyed. Jeremy Irons reading T. S. Eliot is really as good as it gets. Highly recommended.

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