AuthorWilliam Wordsworth
NarratorIan Mckellen
SeriesThe Prelude, Book 2
Duration57m
CategoriesAdult Fiction, Poetry
PublisherAudio Go Ltd
VersionUnabridged
William Wordsworth's autobiographical poem The Prelude is arguably the most important piece of poetic writing in our language. Recorded in Wordsworth's home in Grasmere, Cumbria, Wordsworth looks back over events in his early life. Wordsworth believed that poetry should be written in the natural language of common speech, and in that way it was revolutionary in its time. Parts of the poem are famous, with lines quoted often such as the description of the young Wordsworth stealing a boat. Other parts are more introspective. The young poet leaves Grasmere to go to University in Cambridge, and is homesick. Wordsworth grapples with his political feelings - travelling to France at the time of the French revolution. He enjoys the hustle and bustle of London, and is euphoric when crossing the Alps. All the time this poem is accessible, bursting with colour and description, full of gripping storytelling. The Prelude is read by Sir Ian McKellen with specially composed music by John Harle, performed by John Harle on Saxophone and Neill MacColl on guitar. The Prelude is directed in Manchester by Susan Roberts.
Author: Various
Author Various
Narrator Various
Duration 1h 2m
A delightful collection from around the British Isles including Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold, Leisure by W. H Davis and To Autumn by John Keats. Featuring classic recordings by Richard Burton, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson.
View Book
Author: William Wordsworth
Author William Wordsworth
Narrator Ian Mckellen
Duration 1h 53m
William Wordsworth's autobiographical poem The Prelude is arguably the most important piece of poetic writing in our language. Recorded in Wordsworth's home in Grasmere, Cumbria, Wordsworth looks back over events in his early life. Wordsworth believed that poetry should be written in the natural language of common speech, and in that way it was re...
View Book
Author: William Wordsworth
Author William Wordsworth
Narrator Jasper Britton
Duration 1h 18m
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born in Cockermouth, in the Lake District. His Lyrical Ballads, written in collaboration with Coleridge, was published in 1798, and shortly afterwards he settled in Dove Cottage, Grasmere, with his sister Dorothy. Inspired in his early manhood by the French Revolution, he grew disillusioned with revolutionary poli...
View Book
Author: Leonard Cohen
Author Leonard Cohen
Narrator Leonard Cohen
Duration 3h 12m
Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Book of Longing written and read by Leonard Cohen. Book of Longing is Leonard Cohen's first book of new poetry since Book of Mercy was published two decades ago. It collects Cohen's poetry written between the 1980s and 2006, when this book was first published. Book of Longing demonstrates the range and dept...
View Book
Author: By Benedict Flynn Translated
Author By Benedict Flynn Translated
Narrator Crawford Logan
Duration 2h 24m
The oldest long poem in Old English, written about 1000 A.D., Beowulf tells the story of a great warrior in Southern Scandinavia in both youth and maturity. The monster Grendel terrorises the Scyldings of Hrothgar's Danish Kingdom until Beowulf defeats him. As a result he has to face her enraged mother. Beowulf dies after a battle against a fierce...
View Book
Author: Ian Sansom
Author Ian Sansom
Narrator Ian Sansom
Duration 9h 44m
This a book about a poet, about a poem, about a city, and about a world at a point of change. More than a work of literary criticism or literary biography, it is a record of why and how we create and respond to great poetry.This a book about a poet - W. H. Auden, a wunderkind, a victim-beneficiary of a literary cult of personality who became a scap...
View Book
Author: George Mpanga
Author George Mpanga
Narrator George Mpanga
Duration 1h 8m
Search Party is a thought-provoking and deeply autobiographical collection. From the overtly political 'Go Home' to the deeply personal 'Full-time'; the narrative poems that offer vivid and unapologetic snapshots of inner-city life, such as 'His Mistakes', 'Believer' and the anthemic 'My City'; to the provocative social commentary in 'Lazy Dog' and...
View Book
Author: Fiona Sampson
Author Fiona Sampson
Narrator Fiona Sampson
Duration 1h 9m
Rough Music is the old English name for a custom of public scapegoating. This collection, read here by the author, is full of disturbing musical echoes, in which brilliant renewals of carol, charm, folksong and ballad explore themes of violence, loss and belonging. Fiona Sampson's characteristic lyric intensity deftly fuses metaphysics and politics...
View Book
Author: William Wordsworth
Author William Wordsworth
Narrator Ian Mckellen
SeriesThe Prelude, Book 1
Duration 56m
William Wordsworth's autobiographical poem The Prelude is arguably the most important piece of poetic writing in our language. Recorded in Wordsworth's home in Grasmere, Cumbria, Wordsworth looks back over events in his early life. Wordsworth believed that poetry should be written in the natural language of common speech, and in that way it was re...
View Book
Old Toffer's Book of Consequential Dogs
Author: Christopher Reid
Author Christopher Reid
Narrator Robert Bathurst
Duration 51m
T. S. Eliot's best-selling collection of practical cat poems has been one of the most successful poetry collections in the world. For the first time in company history a companion volume will be published. Originally conceived by Eliot himself, Old Toffer's Book of Consequential Dog poems are a witty, varied and exquisitely compiled as Eliot's cats...
View Book
