Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

81 Famous Poems

By: William Shakespeare, John Donne, Robert Herricks
Narrated by: Alexander Scourby, Nancy Wickwire, Bramwell Fletcher
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $11.66

Buy for $11.66

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Listen to the sound of English as it was meant to be heard.

This collection of timeless British and American poems is an experience to be treasured. The readings, by brilliant classic actors Alexander Scourby, Nancy Wickwire, and Bramwell Fletcher, are presented in the order they appear in The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Third Edition, and are selected for their ability to delight. The poetry is also among the most anthologized verse in the English language.

Included are such best-loved works as Shakespeare's "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?", John Donne's "Go and Catch a Falling Star", Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", Robert Burns' "A Red, Red Rose", John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn", Walt Whitman's "O Captain, My Captain", and William Butler Yeats' "The Wild Swans at Coole", a total of 81 major poems from 39 poets. It is simply a collection of the best.

Public Domain (P)1992 The Audio Partners
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"The readings are seamlessly and expertly delivered with sensitive interpretations." ( Booklist)

What listeners say about 81 Famous Poems

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    172
  • 4 Stars
    70
  • 3 Stars
    26
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    146
  • 4 Stars
    61
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    150
  • 4 Stars
    54
  • 3 Stars
    26
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Narration

Great to listen to in lowlight or by a fire. The narrator Alexander Scourby has a superb voice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Followed easily with the Norton Anthology of Poetry

After decades I got out my Norton anthology I studied at U of Michigan and took this as a review. It stops at Yeats and wished it could continue.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

listen over & over, sumptuous voices, lyrical

superb choice of poems, had it in other formats, like piece of music, can listen over and over and still hear something new, enchanting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Poems

Classic poems that are good to read/listen to. Haven’t heard of some of these, but it was nice to jump back in time and feel the era. William Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe are among these famous poets in this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

No wonder

This collection of “famous poems” explains why classic poetry is one of the least appreciated art forms. There are so many great poems, yet few managed to sneak their way into this collection.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The classics of the classics.

Shakespeare, Campion, Herrick, Blake, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Shelley, and more.
A small but essential selection from the Norton Anthology of poetry.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent collection, well done.

With 81 poems, I thought sure that I might cull, but I didn't find a single one that I'd consider dull,
There were some that spoke more to me than others might have done , but when I listen to them again (in a minute) I want to hear each one.
Thank you for presenting this, the readers were quite fine, and quite unlike most things these days, I hung on every line.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

No chapter titles

With a total of 81 poems they should have the chapters titled with the name of the poem and author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The best narrated classic English language poems

The three narrators are all excellent, and know how to read poetry, long way from your random YouTube attempt. Great selection as well, a good place to start if you’re dipping your toes, and supplement it with information found online, such as Wikipedia.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Untitled Chapters Make An Audiobook Hard To Use

The audio quality is quite good, but because this is a book of many short poems, the untitled chapters make the book hard to use. This is important because listening to a poem just once or twice is never enough.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

36 people found this helpful