Bookverdict.com

The English Romantic poets, discussed in Volume 4, have much in common with the French Impressionist painters. Both were less of a school than a succession of individuals who were mutually inspired to change the face of an art form. Both situated Man within Nature and freed themselves from classical motifs. And the work of both groups is extremely well known. Poems as familiar as Blake's "The Tyger," Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn," Wordsworth's "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways," Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" and "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner," Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind," and Burns's "A Red Red Rose" need to be interpreted with fresh verve and power or those who know them will tune out and those who are making their first acquaintance won't renew it. Although there are nine good professionals on this program, Penguin should have hired a single great one. It has also played it safe in its selections. Still, in conjunction with more interesting recordings of these poets--e.g., Ralph Richardson's Blake (The Poetry of William Blake, HarperAudio, 1966), Frederick Davidson's Byron (Lord Byron: Selected Poems, Blackstone Audio Bks., 1992), Keats, and Wordsworth--this program makes a valuable addition to larger collections. Listening to the fi...Log In or Sign Up to Read More