How to Listen to Poetry the Right Way

Poetry the way it was meant to be - heard

Don’t Simply Read Poetry—Experience It.

Audio books of poetry are certainly not impossible to find. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who already knows the importance of hearing poetry as opposed to reading it; poetry is also meant to be heard. And it has never been uncommon for poets to recite their works before others. Edgar Allan Poe is said to have done the same; in fact, he attracted many a lady in the process! Poets had groupies, too. There is also a recording of T.S. Eliot reciting his own works—it’s in the Voice of the Poet audio book series—and it is one of the oldest known audio recordings of a poet. For anybody who loves poetry, it must be exciting to look for all the audio books available in regards to poetry—there are so many.

Here are some poetry collections that will undoubtedly benefit from being heard. Let the reader take note that the following list contains titles by only American poets.

1. The Maya Angelou Poetry Collection. This is a set consisting of two compact discs with over a hundred of her poems--a critically-acclaimed set by one of America’s (and Oprah’s) favorite contemporary poets. Even longtime fans of Angelou’s poems say that finally hearing her recite her poetry in her own voice makes all the difference in the world. Among the poems in the recording are “Times Square Shoe Shine” and “To a Freedom Fighter”.

2. Classic American Poetry. This is also a two-disc set and it contains about 65 poems by some well-known American poets such as Poe, Dickinson, Cummings, and Frost, among others, as well as some lesser-known poets. There are about six different performers on this recording. What’s interesting is that The Star-Spangled Banner is included in the collection, yet it’s read in a more poetical style.

3. The Nikki Giovanni Poetry Collection. As was the case with Maya Angelou’s, this collection is also read by its author—and the result is equally impressive. Giovanni’s poetry can tend towards the political at times, though she does provide commentary alongside her poems. Those interested in African-American history may want to check out this title considering that much of her poetry (she’s been writing for some 30 years) came out of the American Civil Rights Movement during the 1960’s.

Even if you don’t particularly care for the collections just mentioned, but you like poetry, there are many others, including classic British poetry recordings, available at http://www.jiggerbug.com. Whatever your tastes in poetry, it’s often the case that when readers take poetry they’ve enjoyed many times before, and then listen to it on audio book format, new meanings are interpreted that weren’t noticed before.

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