The World's Best Poetry, Volume 6: Fancy and Sentiment (Part 1)


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The sixth of ten volumes of poetry edited by Canadian poet laureate Bliss Carman (1861-1929). This collection, the first of two parts, includes a range of notable poems that deal with both the realm of the fantastic and our own sensibilities, covering subjects such as the imagination; fairies; elves; sprites; myths; mysticism; legends; time; and human life. It also includes an introductory essay to the volume by poet and literary historian Charles Francis Richardson (1851-1913). - Summary by Tomas Peter

Chapters

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The Place of Poetry in Life by Charles Francis Richardson 34:29 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Fantasy: From 'The Vision of Delight' by Ben Jonson 1:02 Read by Leanne Yau
Hallo, My Fancy by William Cleland 6:52 Read by Tomas Peter
Ideality by Hartley Coleridge 1:18 Read by Tomas Peter
Fancy by John Keats 4:31 Read by Jason in Panama
Imagination: From 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' Act V. Sc. 2 by William Shakespeare 1:11 Read by Jason in Panama
Queen Mab: From 'Romeo and Juliet,' Act I. Sc. 4 by William Shakespeare 3:04 Read by Leanne Yau
Oberon's Feast by Robert Herrick 3:13 Read by Craig Franklin
Fairy's Song: From 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' Act II. Sc. 1 by William Shakespeare 1:13 Read by Leanne Yau
Compliment to Queen Elizabeth: From 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' Act II. Sc. 2 by William Shakespeare 1:48 Read by Jason in Panama
The Fairies' Lullaby: From 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' Act II. Sc. 3 by William Shakespeare 2:56 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Fairies' Song by Thomas Randolph 1:09 Read by Jason in Panama
The Fairies by William Allingham 2:40 Read by Tomas Peter
Kilmeny: From 'The Queen's Wake' by James Hogg 17:17 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Fairy Child by John Anster 1:55 Read by Jason in Panama
Garden Fairies by Philip Bourke Marston 3:39 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Culprit Fay by Joseph Rodman Drake 34:05 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Oh! Where Do Fairies Hide Their Heads? by Thomas Haynes Bayly 1:30 Read by Leanne Yau
Songs of Ariel: From 'The Tempest,' Act I. Sc. 2 by William Shakespeare 3:23 Read by Tomas Peter
Airy Nothings: From 'The Tempest,' Act IV. Sc. 1 by William Shakespeare 1:13 Read by Craig Franklin
The Erl-King by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 3:15 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Djinns by Victor Marie Hugo 5:10 Read by Sonia
The Lady Lost in the Wood: From 'Comus' by John Milton 3:55 Read by Leanne Yau
The Nymph of the Severn: From 'Comus' by John Milton 8:39 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Tam o' Shanter: A Tale by Robert Burns 11:52 Read by Sonia
The Lore-Lei by Heinrich Heine 1:26 Read by Jason in Panama
The Fisher by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 2:01 Read by Leanne Yau
The Sirens' Song: From 'Inner Temple Masque' by William Browne 1:20 Read by Leanne Yau
The Forsaken Merman by Matthew Arnold 7:33 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Flitting of the Fairies: From 'The End of Elfintown' by Jane Barlow 1:16 Read by Leanne Yau
A Musical Instrument by Elizabeth Barrett Browning 2:46 Read by Sonia
A Transformation: From 'The Metamorphoses' by Ovid 2:00 Read by Tomas Peter
The Comet by Charles Sangster 3:16 Read by Craig Franklin
The Ballad of Judas Iscariot by Robert Buchanan 9:49 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Blessèd Damozel by Dante Gabriel Rossetti 7:32 Read by Leanne Yau
The King's Highway by Harriet Waters Preston 1:51 Read by Sonia
Rhœcus by James Russell Lowell 8:28 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Una and the Red Crosse Knight: From 'The Faërie Queene,' Book I. Canto I by Edmund Spenser 4:12 Read by Leanne Yau
Una and the Lion: From 'The Faërie Queene,' Book I. Canto III by Edmund Spenser 3:54 Read by Leanne Yau
The Bower of Bliss: From 'The Faërie Queene,' Book II. Canto XII by Edmund Spenser 4:38 Read by Jason in Panama
The Cave of Sleep: From 'The Faërie Queene,' Book I. Canto I by Edmund Spenser 1:35 Read by Craig Franklin
The Castle of Indolence (from Canto I) by James Thomson 16:20 Read by Tomas Peter
Outward Bound by Thomas Bailey Aldrich 1:20 Read by Sonia
The Lady of Shalott by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 8:37 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 33:49 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Ulalume by Edgar Allan Poe 5:59 Read by Sonia
The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe 8:35 Read by Sonia
Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 5:24 Read by Tomas Peter
The Haunted Palace by Edgar Allan Poe 2:35 Read by Sonia
The Sunken City by Wilhelm Müller 2:04 Read by Sonia
The Walker of the Snow by Charles Dawson Shanly 3:05 Read by Craig Franklin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning 16:39 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Quatrains by William Hamilton Hayne 1:18 Read by Leanne Yau
A Yellow Pansy by Helen Gray Cone 1:17 Read by Leanne Yau
Echo and Silence by Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges 1:27 Read by Leanne Yau
Sherwood by Alfred Noyes 4:16 Read by Jason in Panama
Far-Away by Dr. George Sigerson 2:02 Read by Sonia
Time the Supreme: From 'Night Thoughts,' Night I by Dr. Edward Young 4:11 Read by Tomas Peter
To-morrow: From 'Irene' by Samuel Johnson 1:24 Read by Sonia
Three Days by James Roberts Gilmore 1:13 Read by Tomas Peter
Procrastination: From 'Night Thoughts,' Night I by Dr. Edward Young 3:06 Read by Leanne Yau
Ave atque Vale by Rosamund Marriott Watson 1:49 Read by Sonia
The Ballad of Dead Ladies by François Villon 2:10 Read by Tomas Peter
The Approach of Age: Sonnet XII by William Shakespeare 1:24 Read by Craig Franklin
The Old Year and the New by William Cleaver Wilkinson 3:02 Read by Jason in Panama
The Death of the Old Year by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 3:35 Read by Tomas Peter
A Fancy from Fontenelle by Austin Dobson 1:26 Read by Leanne Yau
What Is the Grass?: From 'The Song of Myself' by Walt Whitman 3:38 Read by Tomas Peter
The Petrified Fern by Mary L. Bolles Branch 2:38 Read by Leanne Yau
The Making of Man by John White Chadwick 1:25 Read by Jason in Panama
The Ascent of Man by Rossiter W. Raymond 2:00 Read by Sonia
Rubáiyát by Omar Khayyám 24:52 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Time (An Enigma) by Jonathan Swift 0:43 Read by Craig Franklin
This Life by William Drummond 1:01 Read by Sonia
The Character of a Happy Life by Sir Henry Wotton 1:44 Read by Jason in Panama
Retribution by Friedrich von Logau 0:53 Read by Tomas Peter
The Lye by Sir Walter Raleigh 3:31 Read by Craig Franklin
The Generous Air by Palladas 1:03 Read by Leanne Yau
Good Life, Long Life by Ben Jonson 0:59 Read by Sonia
Life by Richard Henry Wilde 1:41 Read by Leanne Yau
Where Lies the Land? by Arthur Hugh Clough 2:10 Read by Tomas Peter
Life by George Herbert 1:25 Read by Jason in Panama
Life by Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1:23 Read by Sonia
The Rose-Bush by Johann Ludwig Uhland 1:38 Read by Craig Franklin
History of a Life by Bryan Waller Procter (Barry Cornwall) 1:25 Read by Craig Franklin
My Quaker Grandmothers by Oliver Huckel 1:00 Read by Jason in Panama
Address to the Mummy at Belzoni's Exhibition by Horace Smith 5:17 Read by Sonia
London Bridge by Frederic Edward Weatherly 2:06 Read by Craig Franklin
The Crowded Street by William Cullen Bryant 2:50 Read by Sonia
L'Allegro by John Milton 7:36 Read by Jason in Panama
Dining: From 'Lucile' by Robert, Earl of Lytton (Owen Meredith) 2:01 Read by Craig Franklin
The Family Skeleton: From 'Modern Love' by George Meredith 1:40 Read by Tomas Peter
The Epicure by Anacreon 2:16 Read by Craig Franklin
The Indian Weed by Anonymous 1:30 Read by Jason in Panama
Smoking Spiritualized by Ralph Erskine 1:30 Read by Craig Franklin
Without and Within by Pietro Metastasio 0:51 Read by Jason in Panama
Il Penseroso by John Milton 9:02 Read by Tomas Peter
Excelsior by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 2:56 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Wild Ride by Louise Imogen Guiney 2:18 Read by Jason in Panama
The Vagabonds by John Townsend Trowbridge 6:12 Read by Craig Franklin
Fame: From 'An Essay on Man,' Epistle IV by Alexander Pope 1:48 Read by Sonia
Pelters of Pyramids by Richard Henry Hengist Horne 2:31 Read by Tomas Peter
Enid's Song: From 'Idyls of the King' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1:22 Read by Leanne Yau
Fortune: From 'Fanny' by Fitz-Greene Halleck 2:00 Read by Leanne Yau
Opportunity by William Blake 0:50 Read by Sonia
Opportunity by John James Ingalls 1:23 Read by Leanne Yau
Undeveloped Lives by William E.H. Lecky 2:03 Read by Sonia
Augury by Edith M. Thomas 1:17 Read by Craig Franklin
'Keep Sweet and Keep Movin'' by Robert J. Burdette 2:41 Read by Tomas Peter
A Tear by Samuel Rogers 1:47 Read by Tomas Peter
The Jester's Sermon by George Walter Thornbury 3:47 Read by Tomas Peter
The Fool's Prayer by Edward Rowland Sill 2:44 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
At Midsummer by Louise Chandler Moulton 1:34 Read by Leanne Yau
A Sunrise Song by Sidney Lanier 1:17 Read by Craig Franklin
Illusions by Robert Underwood Johnson 1:20 Read by Sonia
Proem: From 'The Isles of the Amazons,' Part III by Joaquin Miller 1:40 Read by Tomas Peter
A California Christmas by Joaquin Miller 1:19 Read by Jason in Panama
Yussouf by James Russell Lowell 2:33 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Beauty: From 'An Hymne in Honor of Beautie' by Edmund Spenser 2:35 Read by Sonia
Beauty Unadorned: From 'Elegies,' Book I, II by Propertius 1:55 Read by Craig Franklin
Fortune by Sophocles 1:00 Read by Jason in Panama
Greatness: From 'An Essay on Man,' Epistle IV by Alexander Pope 2:20 Read by Sonia
Perseverance by Leonardo da Vinci 1:03 Read by Craig Franklin
The One White Hair by Walter Savage Landor 1:33 Read by Leanne Yau
Growing Gray by Austin Dobson 2:01 Read by Tomas Peter
Healthful Old Age: From 'As You Like It,' Act II. Sc. 2 by William Shakespeare 1:02 Read by Jason in Panama
Quack Medicines: From 'The Borough' by George Crabbe 4:03 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Three Warnings by Hester Lynch Thrale 7:02 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Old Age and Death: From 'Verses Upon His Divine Poesy' by Edmund Waller 1:16 Read by Sonia
The Ruling Passion: From 'Moral Essays,' Epistle I by Alexander Pope 3:53 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Will by Dr. John Donne 3:56 Read by Tomas Peter
To a Skeleton by Anonymous 2:53 Read by Jason in Panama
The True Philosophy of Life by William Dunbar 2:36 Read by Craig Franklin