The Poems of T.S. Eliot

by T.S. Eliot, Jeremy Irons (Narrator), Eileen Atkins (Narrator)

Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Jeremy Irons's perceptive reading illuminates the poetry of T. S. Eliot in all its complexity. Major poems range from 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock', through the post-war desolation of 'The Waste Land' and the spiritual struggle of 'Ash-Wednesday', to the enduring charm of 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'. The Spectator praised Jeremy Irons's interpretation as 'so accessible, reading Eliot as if finding his words for the first time, grappling with them, relishing them, using them to express feelings that we all share as we struggle to accept, to recognise or relinquish'. Dame Eileen Atkins also appears alongside Jeremy Irons in the reading of 'The Waste Land'.

These are the readings, as heard on BBC Radio 4 over Christmas 2016/17.

Six programmes gather together the verse: Prufrock and Other Observations; Poems (1920); The Waste Land; The Hollow Men, Ash Wednesday and Ariel Poems; Four Quartets; and Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.

Genres: Poetry, Audiobook, Classics, Fiction, Literature, British Literature, Anthologies

Audible Audio

Published April 10, 2018

About the author

Thomas Stearns Eliot was a poet, dramatist and literary critic. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948 "for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry." He wrote the poems The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, Ash Wednesday, and Four Quartets; the plays Murder in the Cathedral and The Cocktail Party; and the essay Tradition and the Individual Talent. Eliot was born an American, moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 (at the age of 25), and became a British subject in 1927 at the age of 39.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.S._Eliot

Reviews

[Shile (Hazard's Version) on-hiatus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio - 5+++ stars

Poems - 4.25 stars

I enjoyed most of the poems.

The cats part was the best.

The naming of cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter,
But I tell you, a Cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

This part was hilarious.

But above and beyond, there’s still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover—
But BUT BUT
BUT the Cat himself knows, and will never confess.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time stopped still, as I listened to Jeremy Irons read these beautiful poems in his sublime voice. My favorite of these poems is Four Quartets for its wonderful phrases and deep meaning. The following examples are from Little Gidding (No. 4 of 'Four Quartets'):
"The parched eviscerate soil
Gapes at the vanity of toil,
Laughs without mirth.
This is the death of earth."

"And as I fixed upon the down-turned face
That pointed scrutiny with which we challenge
The first-met stranger in the waning dusk
I caught the sudden look of some dead master
Whom I had known, forgotten, half recalled
Both one and many; in the brown baked features
The eyes of a familiar compound ghost
Both intimate and unidentifiable."

"Last season's fruit is eaten
And the fullfed beast shall kick the empty pail.
For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice."

Then, the poems about cats were truly delightful and added a sense of whimsy! "The Naming of Cats" in particular was lighthearted and lovely. This collection of poetry was so enjoyable that I am sure I will listen to it again.

[Rosemary Standeven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this audio version of T S Elliot’s poems. I would first read the poems, then listen to each one while following the words in print – all except for “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”, for which I did not have a printed copy.
Jeremy Irons was an excellent narrator. Most poems he read without much added emotion – as apparently T S Elliot preferred. It allowed you to concentrate more on the words and poetry, and to imprint your own emotional interpretation. “The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock” – my all-time favourite poem – I listened to several times over.
Again, the exception was the cat poems – which were read in character. They were so much fun – I had a smile throughout. I have seen the musical “Cats”, but not read the poems before. I now know how much I have been missing out on. For any-one who is a cat-person, these poems are a must. Although fantastical, they really sum up CATS. You can recognise the essence of personalities of cats you have known within the poems, though maybe not all the larger-than-life attributes.
Highly recommended

[Amy (Other Amy)]

I have to tell you all, I listened to Jeremy Irons read me "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" last night and I am over the moon about this find.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio #36

Sorry
Nothing beats Tim Curry singing Rum Tum Tugger
EVER

Irons does a gorgeous job until it gets to the cats. His voice just isn't whimsical it's made for passion, which is perfect for Prufrock or Wastelands. This book is actually a BBC broadcast. It's a beautiful program

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeremy Irons may read T. S. Eliot to me whenever he pleases, and please may it be often.

[Kerianne Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet more proof that poetry truly sings when read aloud.

This is not my first time reading (or in this case listening to) Eliot and it won’t be my last. “The Four Quartets” remain a favorite after years and years of re-reading (“You say I am repeating/ Something I have said before. I shall say it again.” Yes!)

Surprisingly it was “The Cultivation of Christmas Trees” which caught my attention in a fresh way on this go around. Maybe it’s because Christmas is no longer an easy, joyful season for me but one where joy has to be fought for that I found myself grateful for the poet’s advice that the child be allowed to “continue in the spirit of wonder” so that it “May not be forgotten in later experience/ In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium/ The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure.” Let us (sorrowful, tired adults) not stand in the way of our own children who still need those spiritually fortifying experiences of childhood.

And it was good to hear a warning about “the piety of the convert/ Which may be tainted with a self-conceit”. That’s all of us at some point, whether or not the conversion is a religious one. Eliot was full of years and wisdom when he wrote those words. I hope they continue to stick with me.

Some New Year’s resolutions: read more poetry out loud. Listen to more poetry in audiobook format.

[Ellen-Arwen Tristram · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of the audio rather than the poetry - there is just SO much to say about Eliot's poetry that I'd be writing a dissertation. Needless to say, I really enjoy Eliot (despite thinking he's sort of an arrogant twat) and it's definitely rereading and relistening and just persisting to get as much as you can out of the poetry. It's not necessarily easy, but it is so worth it.

As for the audio version, Jeremy Irons is FANTASTIC. Really, really good - particularly in The Four Quartets, The Lovesong of Alfred Prufrock, The Wasteland, and Marina (okay, lots more). He reads with immense gravity and it's just wonderful.

HOWEVER, reading Eliot's cat poems... it doesn't work. I'm sorry Jeremy, but it's basically cringy. He doesn't have the lively rhythm and the liveliness needed, and I ended up not listening to some and just rereading them again. Never mind - can't be good at everything!

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a big fan of poetry-but I do appreciate hearing it read. I hear things, understand the symbolism and imagery so much better when I listen. Perhaps it's because I've trained myself to read quickly--and I don't always attend carefully to the text, as one really must with poetry. This is a fine collection that highlights the diversity of Eliot's verse. From the somber (Prufrock, Waste Land, and many more) to the purely delightful (Ole Possum's Book of Practical Cats), this excellent reading by Jeremy Irons, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, hits all the highlights. It's always satisfying to return to his best known poems; there's more to gain with every re-reading (or re-hearing) but I was especially pleased with the cat poems. Of course they're all familiar from Andrew Lloyd Webber's fabulous musical, but Irons' reading was even better. I'd never heard the echoes of Casey at the Bat in the rhythms of Growtiger's Last Stand--and it made me appreciate both poems more. Something for every mood here.

[Billie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeremy. Irons. Reads. You . Poetry.

'Nuff said?

[Dylan Perry · Rating 2 out of 5]

My favorite part: Jeremy Irons reading poetry.

My least favorite part: The poems.

2.5/5

[Chelsea Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent audiobook of all of TS Eliot’s poems in published order. I began it in January with the intention of listening to one a day. I remembered a few of his poems very vividly from college (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Hollow Men, The Wasteland) and was pleased to find each one just as enjoyable now. When I arrived at the Four Quartets, in early April… I was completely captivated. I’ve spent the last 3 months or so re-reading them very slowly alongside Thomas Howard’s Dove Descending. It’s difficult to find the words to express what a rewarding experience it has been to dive deep into the Four Quartets with Howard as my guide over the last few months.
The cat poems are just plain fun and have been enjoyed by my daughters for sometime now. I’ve fallen in love with Eliot’s poetry and will return to it all my life. I plan to begin his plays soon.

[victoria marie]

always a favorite poet, especially this beauty: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poet...

[in the mood for poetry & short stories & novellas to start off this second half of 2025, it seems! this narration is so lovely too. just prefer reading this particular poet in print]

[Science and Fiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, audiobooks of poetry require more attention than audiobooks of prose. With a story there is a continuity of narrative that the brain is used to in its daily conversations. With poetry an entire phrase may turn on one word, or even one change of inflection. So I almost had to turn down the lights, sit still, and just listen; no fidgeting doing anything else. Even then it helped if I already knew the outline of the poem. So my best experience was to follow along with the text while Jeremy Irons did his performance. I say performance because this is not just reading of a text, but has a full range of emphatic declarations, inward thoughts that fade out to near inaudibility, pauses for breath as if pondering the next thought, repeated phrases that each have their own nuance.

I have no idea how long it took Jeremy Irons to prepare for this project but I was really amazed at how much more depth it brought to the experience of listening and reading along. Thus inspired I spent an afternoon on YouTube exploring various readings: Sir Alec Guinness, Sir John Gielgud, Irene Worth, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Fiennes, and of course, Eliot himself. What this underscored for me is that poetry may be enjoyed silently, to understand its structure and meaning, but, like music, it must be sounded forth to truly come to life. Obviously reading aloud at a first glance isn’t going to be as polished as these professional readings achieve, which is why I appreciate the effort all these actors have put into their interpretations.

Of the various recordings of readings I most enjoyed Gielgud and Irene Worth in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, and Ralph Fiennes in Four Quartets. I would say Irons was the best option for Prufrock, The Hollow Men, The Waste Land, and also very enlivened in Old Possum’s Book. Other listeners may respond differently, but I found it helpful to review the entire oeuvre from one person’s perspective.

What about Eliot’s own readings? Surely those must be considered definitive? Yes and no. The first issue I had upon hearing his voice was what seems to me an artificial “aristocratic oration” manner with forced sustain and quavering tone to convey emphasis, and that just isn’t what I imagined in my head. His reading of Old Possum seemed more natural, less contrived, and I did enjoy that. On the plus side, he understands the pacing of his own words – an important performance quality in which I think Sir Anthony Hopkins was misgauged. Without the right pacing the listener doesn’t always readily grasp the full meaning (not just of the words, but of the “hidden meaning”). In this sense, Ralph Fiennes (in the studio reading, not the theatrical version), initially seemed too slow and deliberate in the Four Quartets, but, importantly, while the tempo is slow, the relation of timing between phrases quite often matches Eliot’s own pacing. Therefore, I prefer it over Sir Alec Guinness. As for Fiennes singular event casting the Four Quartets as a theatrical extravaganza I can say that it is a veritable tour de force, the likes of which I know no equal.

verdict: for audio readings I highly recommend Jeremy Irons for the complete works, and for a special treat I would say that Ralph Fiennes' theatrical realization of the Four Quartets must be seen by all lovers of poetry.

[Mahdieh Ebrahimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this one:
I do not know much about gods; but I think that the river
Is a strong brown god—sullen, untamed and intractable,
Patient to some degree, at first recognised as a frontier;
Useful, untrustworthy, as a conveyor of commerce;
Then only a problem confronting the builder of bridges.
The problem once solved, the brown god is almost forgotten
By the dwellers in cities—ever, however, implacable.
Keeping his seasons and rages, destroyer, reminder
Of what men choose to forget. Unhonoured, unpropitiated
By worshippers of the machine, but waiting, watching and waiting.
His rhythm was present in the nursery bedroom,
In the rank ailanthus of the April dooryard,
In the smell of grapes on the autumn table,
And the evening circle in the winter gaslight.

    The river is within us, the sea is all about us;
The sea is the land's edge also, the granite
Into which it reaches, the beaches where it tosses
Its hints of earlier and other creation:
The starfish, the horseshoe crab, the whale's backbone;
The pools where it offers to our curiosity
The more delicate algae and the sea anemone.
It tosses up our losses, the torn seine,
The shattered lobsterpot, the broken oar
And the gear of foreign dead men. The sea has many voices,
Many gods and many voices.

[ANDREW · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always surprised at a friend or colleagues reaction when they find out I read poetry, it's as though poetry is for the bohemian elite or hippies at festival. I love poetry and as music is the food of love poetry feeds the soul.

T.S. Eliot, the 1948 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, is one of the giants of modern literature, highly distinguished as a poet, literary critic, dramatist, and editor and publisher. And is along with Dylan Thomas and Tennyson by far my favourite poet. This collection of poems is no exception, and if you listen to it on Audible it is wonderfully narrated by Jeremy Irons. A must read!!

[Adam Balshan · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars [Poetry]
(W 2.3, P 1.92, O 1.72, T 1)
Exact rating: 1.74

Drollness and banality improved only, ironically, by the 19% devoted to inane poems about cats. Themes include growing old in the Victorian or post-Victorian age, death (which isn't as interesting as nihilists or hedonists imagine), time, cats.

One poem was about a hippopotamus going to Heaven while the church wallows in miasmic Hell. A lot of momentary, disconnected, random impressions about things of which we hear no background. The beginning of The Wasteland was interesting, but then became inane.

Its only utility might be as a period piece.

[Dani Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I'm usually not that into poetry, and I only started listening to this because I needed to read The Wasteland for uni and it was easier to listen to it while reading it, but I am so damn glad I continued it. Perhaps it wasn't the poems itself but rather that they were being read by Jeremy Irons; either way, I don't really care. It was brilliant, and I loved all of the cat poems being read by Scar (1994 version of the Lion King).

[Inga Grencberga · Rating 5 out of 5]

[..] where every word is at home [..]

Eliota dzeja un poēmas ... Džeremija Airona balsī ... jā! tieši tik IZCILA kombinācija un pieredze ...

[E Owen]

Jeremy's Iron

[Ryan Watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. My favorite poet read by one of my favorite narrators.

[Marjorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeremy Irons has an amazing voice for this collection

[Jamie Rose]

I have very fond memories of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, and those remain the highlight of this collection. The rest were very, very different. There were plenty of clever turns of phrase and some moving imagery, and some lines I'd heard before without knowing where they came from. Unfortunately, though, I can't say I was particularly impressed by any of the poems in their entirety. They were too full of fatalism, self-important ennui, and language tricks and flourishes that for me obscured the heart of the poems rather than helping it come through, and never quite hit the emotional notes I'd want from a darker set of poems.

Also, I found it incredibly jarring to find the poems scattered with instances of mysogyny - including a bizarre obsession with breasts - classism and racism, in particular a number of anti-Chinese phrases and slurs. Yes, I realise that at the time Eliot was writing those views would have been fairly widespread and perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised to find them here, but as a modern reader they definitely affected my enjoyment.

[Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever thought to yourself "You know what would be nice right now? Jeremy Irons reading me some poetry." WELL THEN DO I HAVE THE (audio)BOOK FOR YOU!

I read a lot of T. S. Eliot in high school (which I completely forgot before listening to this audiobook), and I have to say, I enjoyed it much more this time around. We can boil this down to two principle reasons: 1. I'm not being asked to interpret each goddamn word's meaning in the larger significance of the poem and 2. Did I mention that Jeremy Irons READS YOU POETRY?!?!

I gotta say, though, that T. S. Eliot sure has a way with words.

BUT. Some of those words are racist. He is not kind to Chinese folks in particular. I mean, it was all written ages ago, but still, it bears mentioning.

AND I forgot that T. S. Eliot wrote the weird mess that became the musical Cats. Or Old Possum's book or whatever but that is the way the book ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

[Max Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great collection! Irons is a pro who absolutely brings it in this narration, and the collection is powerful. What a powerful decision to close with the 4 Quartets and THEN the Cats poems. Having a home stretch with Skimbleshanks really rounded out my experience. But the reading of Little Giddy was by far the peak, Irons deserves a grammy for that reading alone. It's an incredible work that I can't believe I hadn't seen before.

About as good as a poetry audiobook can get, and probably better than either of the other Eliot books I've read (one physical and one audio).

[Rosy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been listening to this while dusting. Today was the grand finale -- it took me the entire Four Quartets to clean the living room.

I always remember how hard Eliot is and forget how sublime until I read him again (this time, listened to him). Need to pick up a text and feast on these words some more.

I listened to this at https://jeremyirons.net/2017/01/20/je..., but I highly recommend investing in the CD.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

POEMS OF T.S. ELIOT read by Jeremy Irons — holy wow. Do you know that name? Irons voices Scar in The Lion King. This collection was fantastic and solidified poetry in audiobook form as a new favorite way for me to relax. (Bonus: hearing Irons read Eliot’s hilarious poems about goofball cats.) “We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring. Will be to arrive where we started. And know the place for the first time.”

[Phebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeremy Irons makes even Eliot’s worst poems good, and his best, fantastic. I’m not just saying that because I love the aftermath of imagism, or Jeremy Irons.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a treat to have these iconic poems read by Jeremy Irons.

[Andrew Fendrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeremy Irons is an excellent reader. T.S. Eliot’s modernist poetry is delicious. He will always be near the top of my list of favorite poets.