Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0739308068, Audio CD)

W.H. Auden describes the experience of poems read aloud:

The formal structure of a poem is not something distinct from its meaning but as intimately bound up with the latter as the body is with the soul. When one reads a poem in a book one grasps the form immediately, but when one listens to a recitation, it is sometimes very difficult to "hear" the structure.

Thankfully, the throaty growlings unearthed on this rare audio collection are accompanied by text for each of the 23 selections. The handsome booklet also includes a substantial introduction by editor J.D. McClatchy. Highlights from Voice of the Poet--which is being released along with works by Sylvia Plath and James Merrill--include three sonnets from Auden's judicial "In Time of War," "The Wanderer," the elegy "In Memory of W.B. Yeats," and the ballad "As I Walked out One Evening." Listen to Auden read from "As I Walked out One Evening." Visit our audio help page for more information. Used with permission of the estate of W.H. Auden. All rights reserved. (Running time: 1 hour, 1 cassette)