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Poetic License 100 Poems
Why Poetry? Easy answer: I love poetry. I love reading it. I love memorizing it. I love hearing great actors recite it. As the poet Mark Strand wrote, "Ink runs from the corners of my mouth / There is no happiness like mine / I have been eating poetry."
In the past, when I was full from the eating, I have had the audacity to set poetry to music. But, in this production, you will hear the music of the poems. Poetry unadorned. Words. Because in truth, great poetry needs nothing but a great actor, a voice as eloquent and expressive as the poem itself, to lift the poem off the page and into the heart. I have never done a project which has elicited so much enthusiasm. From the actors arriving at the studio who thanked me for inviting them to participate, "Are you kidding?" I'd say, "Thank you!" to the engineers who would say, "I never got this stuff, but these guys make it so beautiful." This production has been a joy from beginning to end, a true labor of love. And whenever I heard my stomach rumbling during the production process, I always knew I could find something delicious to eat in the studio. Mmmm. Yeats? That hits the spot. —from Glen Roven, Producer
In the past, when I was full from the eating, I have had the audacity to set poetry to music. But, in this production, you will hear the music of the poems. Poetry unadorned. Words. Because in truth, great poetry needs nothing but a great actor, a voice as eloquent and expressive as the poem itself, to lift the poem off the page and into the heart. I have never done a project which has elicited so much enthusiasm. From the actors arriving at the studio who thanked me for inviting them to participate, "Are you kidding?" I'd say, "Thank you!" to the engineers who would say, "I never got this stuff, but these guys make it so beautiful." This production has been a joy from beginning to end, a true labor of love. And whenever I heard my stomach rumbling during the production process, I always knew I could find something delicious to eat in the studio. Mmmm. Yeats? That hits the spot. —from Glen Roven, Producer
Audiobook
First published March 3, 2013
6 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
A.A. Milne
1,836 books3,678 followersAlan Alexander Milne (pronounced /ˈmɪln/) was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems.
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. He was discharged on February 14, 1919.
After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
He was 74 years old when he passed away in 1956.
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. He was discharged on February 14, 1919.
After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
He was 74 years old when he passed away in 1956.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 1, 2019
An enjoyable collection of poetry, some more memorable than others, but that's always the case with anthologies. Recommended!
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
February 26, 2020
I've always enjoyed poetry. This audiobook brought me a few of my favorites, as well as introducing me to a whole bunch of writers I'd never heard of.
September 17, 2025
A wonderful collection of beautiful poems!
Listened to the audio version and the poems are performed by 100 different narrators which was really neat.
Listened to the audio version and the poems are performed by 100 different narrators which was really neat.
January 16, 2018
Beautiful set of poems. I listened to all of them, some of them several times. Enjoyable experience.
December 30, 2014
An enjoyable collection of poems but I preferred the Poets Corner collection by Lithgow with its mini summary of each poet and poem to give context.
May 26, 2017
It was alright, a couple good poems I hadn't encountered before. Unfortunately, as a collection it felt a little aimless, with some clear themes arcing sections of poems while other sections seemed less clearly organized, and there was a fair bit of in-between the poems that stood out which didn't really catch my interest.
February 7, 2018
If you are new to poetry, this collection really encompasses such a wide variety of artists. I would have liked a little more diversity in the selection and poems that I had never heard before. But, it was a nice collection to revisit.
December 15, 2025
This was a delightfully accessible collection of poetry. 100 classic poems read dramatically by 100 different actors. The variety and my own familiarity with many of the poems kept me engaged, and I discovered a few new favorites.
March 5, 2020
Surprisingly good, especially since I never read poetry.
December 3, 2022
A transformative experience.
January 30, 2016
Hands down my favorite (and totally unexpected) reading was by Kathleen Turner. OH. MY. GOD....that woman should read poetry for a living. Her voice is so rich, sexy, raspy, and meant for reading poetry. I must have listened to the poem 6 or maybe 8 times just to hear her read it. Also, it was a good poem. I don't recall the name of it, but it was about a child who had gone away. An adult child who was not in the house I believe because she became involved in some dangerous politics and had to go into hiding. Anyway, someone kept writing her - a lover. Kathleen Tuner was the mother and claimed that she wouldn't open the letters, but one day when her daughter returned, they would sit and read them together. And if her lover stopped by, she would invite him in for tea. She would never open these letters without permission because that was not "good breeding". Ugh! I want to know what that poem was, but this is one of the frustrations of reading audio books. :-)
Another good poem that I had never read before was about having a job interview for a minimum wage job. The kind of job that you really DON'T want, but you must get to pay the bills. I think it was working in a shoe store or some kind of retail environment. The woman who was interviewing had a college degree and it would take 1.5 hours each way on the subway for this minimum wage job. She was enthusiastic in her interview, but in her thoughts was relaying the ridiculousness of having to work such a menial job just to pay the bills despite having a college degree. I could relate to that feeling of just needing to get a job to pay the bills, even if the commute was ridiculous or I didn't really want the job, but needed it. Haven't many of us been there?
Another good poem that I had never read before was about having a job interview for a minimum wage job. The kind of job that you really DON'T want, but you must get to pay the bills. I think it was working in a shoe store or some kind of retail environment. The woman who was interviewing had a college degree and it would take 1.5 hours each way on the subway for this minimum wage job. She was enthusiastic in her interview, but in her thoughts was relaying the ridiculousness of having to work such a menial job just to pay the bills despite having a college degree. I could relate to that feeling of just needing to get a job to pay the bills, even if the commute was ridiculous or I didn't really want the job, but needed it. Haven't many of us been there?
December 20, 2013
Fun collection of poems. The lack of a consistent message, and varying lengths of prose, made transition between poems difficult. The audiobook has each poem read by a different person. They even added occasioanl orchestral interludes to remind the listener ... "moving along, now..."
November 3, 2017
This audiobook helped me get into poetry after a 6 year hiatus.
October 14, 2015
finished 2015-10-13
January 7, 2017
A wide array of poems with thoroughly enjoyable performances.
Read
June 17, 2017this audiobook got me through several mini-road trips, stints between sleep on planes, and marks the first and only audible audiobook I've ever read to completion. Cheers.
Read
January 1, 2019a good contemporary collection of poetry
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews