Classic American Poetry

by Garrick Hagon (Compiler)

This wide-ranging 2 disc anthology reflects the changing pre-occupations and visions of Americans from the 16th century to the present day. Here are 65 poems by the leading classic figures in American poetry, including Longfellow, Poe, Dickinson, Whitman, Frost and E. E. Cummings as well as popular anonymous works such as Frankie and Johnny which are an integral part of American consciousness.

Track Listing

The Author to Her Book
Upon a Spider Catching a Fly
Navajo Mountain Song
The Indian Student
The Wild Honeysuckle
The Star-Spangled Banner
The Prairies
The Snow-Storm
Whittier, John Greenleaf
The Song of Hiawatha from the Wooing: At the Doorway of His Wigwam
My Lost Youth
A Dream Within a Dream
Annabel Lee
To Helen
The Raven
Old Ironsides
The Indian's Retort
Sic Vita
Pray to What Earth Does This Sweet Cold Belong
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The Martyr
Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking
Science and Poetry
Frankie and Johnny
An Upper Chamber in a Darkened House
A Narrow Fellow in the Grass
My Life Closed Twice Before Its Close
I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed
Because I Could Not Stop for Death
I Like to See It Lap the Miles
The Wind Begun to Rock the Grass
Bury Me in a Free Land
The Stirrup-Cup
The New Colossus
I Sometimes Think I'd Rather Grow
A Newspaper Is a Collection of Half-Injustices
Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind
Sympathy
A Lesson in a Picture
Miniver Cheevy
The Road Not Taken
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
The Death of the Hired Man
Meeting-House Hill
Chicago
They All Want to Play Hamlet
The Flower-Fed Buffaloes
The Emperor of Ice-Cream
Peter Quince at the Clavier
Wild Peaches
Pretty Words
Hurt Hawks
Rendezvous
What My Lips Have Kissed, And Where, And Why
De Profundis
Resumee
General Review of the Sex Situation
Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town
Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond
American Names

Genres: Poetry, Literature, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published August 3, 2000

Reviews

[Willow · Rating 2 out of 5]

One particular reader wins the Most Memorable Performance award for his fierce delivery of Carl Sandburg's "Chicago." Yikes! Just about scared my socks off. (This is NOT a good recording to fall asleep to. 😂)

A swing and a miss for me. The selections, the readers, the music--nearly all of it turned out to be the opposite of my tastes. There were some oddities included, for sure.

Don't get me wrong, there were good ones in here, too. It's just that the unpleasant/strange ones seemed to overwhelm and dominate.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with another reviewer. These 65 poems aren't the greatest and seems like they were the result of pulling numbers out of a hat rather than painstaking hours of analysis by the world's leading poetry scholars.

On the other hand, these poems are a bit old. I mean if a 1970s Shaft movie can feel dated I guess these melodramatic poems about trees and crap can feel dated too. The first half of the book was lots of men feeling macho about supposedly macho things (at least that's how it felf). As the book incorporates more women and people of color in the second half it does give it more variety, allowing each piece to stand out. Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Wallace Stevens, and Alice Walker were a few standouts. How Poems Are Made, Sympathy, and Bury Me in a free land were stand out poems also.

So, yes, while these aren't the best poems, there are enough there for everyone to get something out of this book. Since this started horrible and ended up ok, I give it a three.

[Janell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This worked pretty well for solo road trip entertainment. A couple of the readers were too over-dramatic for my taste. This is a well-curated collection of famous American poems, read (I believe) in chronological order, which give an interesting look at the shifting American landscape.

[Rebecca]

I felt adequately introduced to a wide variety of poets, as that was my goal of reading this collection. However, if I were to judge this collection as a whole, then I would think the selected poems were rather random. But, I have little experience with poetry collections, so take that with a grain of salt.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection, though a bit dated as it only goes from Anne Bradstreet to Maya Angelou and includes but a couple of anonymous/vernacular rhymes. Everyone reads in a clear, loud voice.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s always interesting to see what editors deem “classic” and also how readers will phrase it. I think these editors decided that such poems should rhyme and contain quotable lines.

[Trina Urfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good variety, had my favorites of Dickinson and Poe.

[James Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of American poets work. I’m inspired to dabble in poetry reading and perhaps writing again.

[Becky L Long · Rating 3 out of 5]

audiobook. never been much for poetry. this book didn't change my opinion. I'm sure if you like poetry it's a great collection. decent narration. just not my thing.

[Casey Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good poems, and a refresher for why many were taught in school, but definitely a random assortment of styles and themes.

[Patty Marvel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm only giving this two out of five stars largely because I've no idea what the criteria was for choosing these particular sixty-five poems. Were they all cheap or even free to republish? Were these chosen by unnamed American poetry scholars? Were they chosen for their historical value? I could understand this last argument in light of such poems as "The Indian Student or Force of Nature" by Phillip Preno and "The Prairies" by William Cullin Bryant, the former having a very condescending attitude towards Native Americans who try attending college.

Since the book never explained the selection process, I Googled the name Garrick Hagon, who edited this AND reads some of the poems. What I found out didn't help me personally, but it sure amused the heck out of my geekier friends: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrick_... . I'm assuming this is the same guy behind this audiobook simply because the Wikipedia page mentions "The Story Circle, Hagon's production and creative audio recording company." So...probably not a whole lot of scholarly though put into this work. For that, you'd want to get your hands on "The Classic Hundred Poems," http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Hundred... . Both the hard copy and the sound versions have background on the poems AND the authors AND the reason for picking them is given on the back of the book/container.

[Siem Lowis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this a try and it was much better than I expected!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those of us who admire good poetry, but just can't take the time to savor it, this two-disc audio presentation of 65 famous American poems from Naxos Audiobooks is delightful. The poems are read by multiple narrators and are interspersed with excerpts of American music by Ferde Grofe, George Gershwin and others. Some highlights here include three great Robert Frost poems, Wallace Stevens'"The Emperor of Ice-Cream", the original poems of The Star Spangled Banner (all verses) and The Battle Hymn of the Republic, 4 poems by Poe (including the Raven), works by Oliver Wendall Holmes, Dickinson, Thoreau, Whitman, Hughes, Emerson and more. A great introduction to the art form for beginners and doubtless a treat for those who are familiar with the works.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting compilation of sixty-five poems by American authors, “[a]rranged in chronological order by poet from Anne Bradstreet to Alice Walker,” and framed by instrumental interludes. The readings of Poe and Dickinson and the anonymous folk ballads are particularly effective. The readings of “The star-spangled banner” and “Chicago,” were a bit too strident for my taste, and I would have picked different poems for Longfellow rather than the excerpt from “The song of Hiawatha.” Nevertheless overall it’s a pleasant two-and–a-half hours of oral poetry.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Playaway audiobook. Poetry from well-known authors such as Longfellow, Poe, Whitman and Cummings, and anonymous pieces from Native and African American cultures.
I particularly liked the reading of 'The Death of the Hired Man' by Robert Frost. The poem is in two voices, the farmer and his wife. A man and woman read this poem alternately and it is very well done.

[sch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't care for American lit. very much, so this is a risk.