Publisher, Hachette Audio (November 2007)

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This unique package provides a multi-media poetry experience from one of today's most beloved performers. John Lithgow has compiled an outstanding collection of memorable poetry, accompanied by a bonus CD of revelatory poetry readings. The wide variety of carefully selected poems in this book provides the perfect introduction to reel in readers who are new to poetry, and for poetry lovers to experience beloved verses in a fresh, vivid way. Lithgow offers insightful and sometimes poignant commentary to accompany each poem.

His essential criterion is that "each poem's light shines more brightly when read aloud." William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, and Dylan Thomas are just a few names among Lithgow's comprehensive list of poetry masters. Family members can take turns reciting or listening to these poems, and enjoy how each one comes to life through the spoken word in this engaging poetry collection.

TRACK LISTINGS:

The Poets' Corner: CD 1

1. Hachette Audio presents: The Poets' Corner / Read by John Lithgow (Introduction)
2. One of the Childcraft Books (introduction not a poem) / Read by John Lithgow
3. Matthew Arnold: The Serious Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
4. Dover Beach, by Matthew Arnold / Read by Eileen Atkins
5. W.H. Auden: The High/Low Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
6. Musée des Beaux Arts, by W.H. Auden / Read by Jodi Foster
7. John Berryman: The Alter Ego (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
8. Henry's Confession, by John Berryman / Read by Gary Sinise
9. Elizabeth Bishop: The Poet's Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
10. Filling Station, by Elizabeth Bishop / Read by Gary Sinise
11. William Blake: The Mystical Visionary (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
12. The Tyger, by William Blake / Read by Helen Mirren
13. The Lamb, by William Blake / Read by John Lithgow
14. Gwendolyn Brooks: The Visionary (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
15. We Real Cool, by Gwendolyn Brooks / Read by Morgan Freeman
16. Elizabeth Barrett Browning: The Beloved (introduction) / John Lithgow (introduction)
17. Sonnett 43, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning / Read by Helen Mirren
18. The Best Thing in the World, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning / Read by Helen Mirren
19. Robert Burns: The Ploughman Poet (introduction) / John Lithgow (Introduction)
20. To A Mouse, by Robert Burns / Read by Bill Connolly
21. A Red Rose, by Robert Burns / Read by John Lithgow

The Poets' Corner: CD 2

1. George Gordon, Lord Byron: The Romantic (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
2. I Would I Were a Careless Child, by Lord Byron / Read by Robert Sean Leonard
3. She Walks in Beauty, by Lord Byron / Read by John Lithgow
4. Lewis Carroll: The Storyteller (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
5. Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll / Read by Eileen Atkins
6. Geoffrey Chaucer: The Knight Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
7. The General Prologue, by Geoffrey Chaucer / Read by Lynn Redgrave
8. Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Imagineer (introduction) /Read by John Lithgow
9. Kubla Khan, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge / Read by Robert Sean Leonard
10. Hart Crane: The Lost Optimist (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
11. To Brooklyn Bridge, by Hart Crane / Read by Sam Waterston
12. Chaplinesque, by Hart Crane / Read by John Lithgow
13. E.E. Cummings: The Rule Breaker (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
14. if everything happens that can't be done, by E.E. Cummings / Read by Eileen Atkins
15. Emily Dickinson: The Cloistered Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
16. 1263, by Emily Dickinson / Read by Glenn Close
17. 1265 by Emily Dickinson / Read by John Lithgow
18. John Donne: The Metaphysical Poet / Read by John Lithgow
19. Song, by John Donne / Read by John Lithgow
20. The Sun Rising, by John Donne / Read by John Lithgow

The Poets' Corner: CD 3

1. T.S. Eliot: The Modernist (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
2. Rhapsody on a Windy Night, by T.S. Eliot / Read by Morgan Freeman
3. Robert Frost: The Naturalist (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow, by Robert Frost
4. Birches, by Robert Frost / Read by John Lithgow
5. William S. Gilbert: The Topsy-Turvy Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
6. Love Unrequited or The Nightmare Song by William S. Gilbert / Read by John Lithgow
7. Allen Ginsberg: The Beat Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
8. A Supermarket in California, by Allen Ginsberg / Read by Gary Sinise
9. Robert Herrick: The Cavalier Poet / Read by John Lithgow
10. The Beggar to Mab, the Fairy Queen, by Robert Herrick / Read by Billy Connolly
11. Be My Mistress Short or Tall, by Robert Herrick / Read by John Lithgow
12. Gerard Manley Hopkins: The Reluctant Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
13. Pied Beauty, by Gerard Manley Hopkins / Read by Kathy Bates
14. God's Grandeur, by Gerard Manley Hopkins / Read by John Lithgow
15. A.E. Housman: The Scholar Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
16. XIII — When I was 1 and 20, by A.E. Housman / Read by Robert Sean Leonard
17. Reveille, by A.E. Houseman / Read by John Lithgow
18. Langston Hughes: The Jazz Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
19. The Weary Blues, by Langston Hughes / Read by Morgan Freeman
20. Randall Jarrell: The War Poet / Read by John Lithgow
21. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner, by Randall Jarell / Read by Gary Sinise
22. Ben Jonson: The Passionate Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
23. Inviting a Friend To Supper, by Ben Jonson / Read by Robert Sean Leonard
24. Here is To Celia, by Ben Jonson / Read by John Lithgow

The Poets' Corner: CD 4

1. John Keats: The Tragic Romantic (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
2. To Autumn, by John Keats / Read by Lynn Redgrave
3. La Belle Dame Sans Merci, by John Keats / Read by John Lithgow
4. Philip Larkin: The Librarian / Read by John Lithgow
5. Days, by Philip Larkin / Read by Susan Sarandon
6. Edward Lear: The Trickster (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
7. The Owl and the Pussy-Cat, by Edward Lear / Read by Connolly
8. The Jumblies, by Edward Lear / Read by John Lithgow
9. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: The Fireside Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
10. A Psalm of Life, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow / Read by John Lithgow
11. The Children's Hour, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow /Read by John Lithgow
12. Robert Lowell: The Confessional Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
13. The Public Garden, by Robert Lowell / Read by Bill Connolly
14. Andrew Marvell: The Posthumous Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
15. To His Coy Mistress, by Andrew Marvell / Read by John Lithgow
16. The Mower's Song, by Andrew Marvell / Read by John Lithgow
17. Edna St. Vincent Millay: The Bohemian (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
18. Love Is Not All, by Edna St. Vincent Millay / Read by John Lithgow
19. Marianne Moore: The Genuine Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
20. Poetry, by Marianne Moore / Read by John Lithgow
21. Ogden Nash: The Worsifier (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
22. No Doctors Today, Thank You, by Ogden Nash /Read by John Lithgow

The Poets' Corner: CD 5

1. Dorothy Parker: The Caustic Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
2. Afternoon, by Dorothy Parker / Read by Glenn Close
3. Edgar Allan Poe: The Macabre Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
4. Annabel Lee, by Edgar Allan Poe / Read by John Lithgow
5. Alone, by Edgar Allan Poe / Read by John Lithgow
6. Ezra Pound: The Imagist (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
7. The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter, by Ezra Pound / Read by Jodi Foster
8. In a Station of the Metro, by Ezra Pound / Read by John Lithgow
9. Christina Rossetti: The Victorian (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
10. Up-Hill, by Christina Rossetti / Read by Helen Mirren
11. An Apple Gathering, by Christina Rossetti / Read by John Lithgow
12. Carl Sandburg: The Patriot (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
13. Chicago, by Carl Sandburg / Gary Sinise
14. Honky Tonk, by Carl Sandburg / Read by John Lithgow
15. William Shakespeare: The Bard (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
16. No More the Heat of the Sun, by William Shakespeare / Read by Lynn Redgrave
17. Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day, by William Shakespeare / Read by John Lithgow
18. Percy Bysshe Shelley: The Radical (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
19. To a Skylark, by Percy Bysshe Shelley / Read by Glenn Close
20. Mutability, by Percy Bysshe Shelley / Read by John Lithgow

The Poets' Corner: CD 6

1. Edmund Spenser: The Faerie Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
2. Sonnet LXXV, by Edmund Spenser / Read by Susan Sarandon
3. Sonnet VIII from Amoretti, by Edmund Spenser / Read by John Lithgow
4. Gertrude Stein: The Salon Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
5. If I Told Him, by Gertrude Stein / Read by Kathy Bates
6. Wallace Stevens: The Businessman (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
7. The Emperor of Ice-Cream, by Wallace Stevens / Read by Kathy Bates
8. Dylan Thomas: The Modern Romantic (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
9. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, by Dylan Thomas / Read by Susan Sarandon
10. Walt Whitman: The Voice (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
11. There Was a Child Went Forth, by Walt Whitman / Read by Sam Waterston
12. Passage From Song of Myself, by Walt Whitman / Read by John Lithgow
13. William Carlos Williams: The Doctor Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
14. The Red Wheelbarrow, by William Carlos Williams / Read by Jodie Foster
15. This Is Just To Say, by William Carlos Williams / by John Lithgow
16. William Wordsworth: The Lake Poet (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
17. Here is I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, by William Wordsworth / Read by Helen Mirren
18. Surprised by Joy, by William Wordsworth / Read by John Lithgow
19. William Butler Yeats: The Nationalist (introduction) / Read by John Lithgow
20. The Lake Isle of Innisfree, by William Butler Yeats / Read by Eileen Atkins
21. Sailing to Byzantium, by William Butler Yeats / Read by John Lithgow