The World's Best Poetry, Volume 5: Nature (Part 2)


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The fifth of ten volumes of poetry edited by Canadian poet laureate Bliss Carman (1861-1929). This collection, the second of two parts, includes a range of poems dealing with the natural world, covering subjects such as trees; flowers; plants; birds; insects; mammals; and the sea. - Summary by Tomas Peter

Chapters

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The Primeval Forest: From the Introduction of 'Evangeline' by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1:14 Read by Jason in Panama
The Greenwood Tree: From 'As You Like It,' Act II. Sc. 5 by William Shakespeare 1:34 Read by Leanne Yau
The Wind and the Pine-Tree: From 'Edwin the Fair' by Sir Henry Taylor 1:42 Read by Leanne Yau
The Brave Old Oak by Henry Fothergill Chorley 2:34 Read by Tomas Peter
The Holly-Tree by Robert Southey 2:26 Read by Leanne Yau
A Forest Hymn by William Cullen Bryant 7:15 Read by Craig Franklin
The Arab to the Palm by Bayard Taylor 2:42 Read by Jason in Panama
The Palm-Tree by John Greenleaf Whittier 2:39 Read by Sonia
The Grape-Vine Swing by William Gilmore Simms 1:46 Read by Craig Franklin
The Planting of the Apple-Tree by William Cullen Bryant 4:27 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Among the Redwoods by Edward Rowland Sill 4:25 Read by Sonia
The Voice of the Grass by Sarah Roberts 3:15 Read by Tomas Peter
Flowers by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 3:51 Read by Leanne Yau
The Use of Flowers by Mary Howitt 1:26 Read by Craig Franklin
Hymn to the Flowers by Horace Smith 3:43 Read by Leanne Yau
The Life of Flowers by Walter Savage Landor 1:25 Read by Craig Franklin
The Early Primrose by Henry Kirke White 1:22 Read by Jason in Panama
To Daffodils by Robert Herrick 1:07 Read by Sonia
Daffodils by William Wordsworth 1:42 Read by Leanne Yau
To the Dandelion by James Russell Lowell 3:24 Read by Craig Franklin
Trailing Arbutus by Rose Terry Cooke 1:48 Read by Sonia
The Woodspurge by Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1:32 Read by Leanne Yau
The Rhodora: Lines on Being Asked, Whence Is the Flower? by Ralph Waldo Emerson 1:19 Read by Jason in Panama
Early June: From 'Thyrsis' by Matthew Arnold 1:51 Read by Tomas Peter
To Violets by Robert Herrick 0:50 Read by Jason in Panama
A September Violet by Robert Underwood Johnson 1:46 Read by Sonia
The Wreath by Meleager 0:55 Read by Leanne Yau
The Death of the Flowers by William Cullen Bryant 3:36 Read by Tomas Peter
Sunrise: A Hymn of the Marshes by Sidney Lanier 8:54 Read by Sonia
The Ivy Green by Charles Dickens 1:46 Read by Jason in Panama
The Mountain Fern by Arthur Gerald Geoghegan 3:34 Read by Sonia
The Maize by William W. Fosdick 4:24 Read by Jason in Panama
The Pumpkin by John Greenleaf Whittier 3:06 Read by Jason in Panama
The Question by Percy Bysshe Shelley 3:15 Read by Tomas Peter
Sassafras by Samuel Minturn Peck 1:58 Read by Tomas Peter
The Daisy: From the 'Legend of Good Women' by Geoffrey Chaucer 3:24 Read by Sonia
To a Mountain Daisy by Robert Burns 2:56 Read by Tomas Peter
To Blossoms by Robert Herrick 1:05 Read by Craig Franklin
The Mariposa Lily by Ina Donna Coolbrith 1:15 Read by Jason in Panama
The Water-Lily by John Banister Tabb 0:54 Read by Craig Franklin
Copa de Oro (California Poppy) by Ina Donna Coolbrith 1:28 Read by Tomas Peter
The Moss Rose by F.W. Krummacher 1:32 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Flowers by Thomas Hood 1:41 Read by Tomas Peter
'T Is the Last Rose of Summer: From 'Irish Melodies' by Thomas Moore 2:33 Read by Sonia
To the Fringed Gentian by William Cullen Bryant 1:27 Read by Jason in Panama
The Sea-Poppy by Robert Seymour Bridges 1:01 Read by Craig Franklin
Goldenrod by Elaine Goodale Eastman 1:57 Read by Jason in Panama
The First Blue-Bird by James Whitcomb Riley 1:25 Read by Tomas Peter
Birds: From 'The Pelican Island' by James Montgomery 3:19 Read by Tomas Peter
To the Cuckoo by John Logan 1:39 Read by Sonia
To the Cuckoo by William Wordsworth 1:54 Read by Leanne Yau
Hark, Hark! The Lark: From 'Cymbeline,' Act II. Sc. 3 by William Shakespeare 0:57 Read by Jason in Panama
The Lark Ascending by George Meredith 6:11 Read by Jason in Panama
To the Skylark by William Wordsworth 1:23 Read by Craig Franklin
To the Skylark by Percy Bysshe Shelley 4:59 Read by Sonia
The Skylark by James Hogg 2:25 Read by Tomas Peter
The Little Beach Bird by Richard Henry Dana 1:49 Read by Sonia
The Sandpiper by Celia Thaxter 2:00 Read by Craig Franklin
To a Waterfowl by William Cullen Bryant 2:06 Read by Jason in Panama
To the Nightingale by John Milton 1:22 Read by Leanne Yau
The Nightingale's Song: From 'Music's Duel' by Richard Crashaw 4:05 Read by Sonia
Philomena by Matthew Arnold 2:22 Read by Tomas Peter
Unmusical Birds: From 'The Task,' Book I by William Cowper 1:14 Read by Leanne Yau
Robert of Lincoln by William Cullen Bryant 3:28 Read by Tomas Peter
The O'Lincoln Family by Wilson Flagg 2:16 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
To the Lapland Longspur by John Burroughs 3:04 Read by Tomas Peter
The Bobolinks by Christopher Pearse Cranch 3:46 Read by Jason in Panama
The Mocking-Bird by Frank Lebby Stanton 1:32 Read by Leanne Yau
The Blackbird by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1:36 Read by Craig Franklin
The Eagle (A Fragment) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 0:49 Read by Leanne Yau
The Owl by Bryan Waller Procter (Barry Cornwall) 2:36 Read by Sonia
The Dying Swan by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 2:52 Read by Leanne Yau
The Heath-Cock by Joanna Baillie 1:38 Read by Jason in Panama
The Belfry Pigeon by Nathaniel Parker Willis 3:22 Read by Tomas Peter
The English Robin by Harrison Weir 1:09 Read by Leanne Yau
Asian Birds by Robert Seymour Bridges 1:53 Read by Leanne Yau
The Scarlet Tanager by Joel Benton 1:12 Read by Sonia
The Winged Worshippers by Charles Sprague 1:58 Read by Leanne Yau
The Departure of the Swallow by William Howitt 1:00 Read by Jason in Panama
The Flight of the Geese by Charles G.D. Roberts 1:18 Read by Craig Franklin
Lines to the Stormy Petrel by Anonymous 1:23 Read by Sonia
Ode to Mother Carey's Chicken by Theodore Watts 8:42 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Grasshopper and Cricket by John Keats 1:13 Read by Jason in Panama
To the Grasshopper and Cricket by Leigh Hunt 1:24 Read by Leanne Yau
A Soliloquy: Occasioned by the Chirping of a Grasshopper by Walter Harte 1:55 Read by Tomas Peter
To an Insect by Oliver Wendell Holmes 1:23 Read by Jason in Panama
The Fly: Occasioned by a Fly Drinking Out of the Author's Cup by William Oldys 1:03 Read by Craig Franklin
To the Humblebee by Ralph Waldo Emerson 3:24 Read by Jason in Panama
Wild Honey by Maurice Thompson 1:52 Read by Tomas Peter
A More Ancient Mariner by Bliss Carman 4:07 Read by Sonia
To a Louse by Robert Burns 2:28 Read by Sonia
To a Mouse by Robert Burns 2:33 Read by Craig Franklin
The Housekeeper by Charles Lamb 1:17 Read by Jason in Panama
Remonstrance with the Snails by Anonymous 2:39 Read by Craig Franklin
The Tiger by William Blake 1:58 Read by Tomas Peter
The Lion's Ride by Ferdinand Freiligrath 4:10 Read by Leanne Yau
Fodder-Time: From 'Songs of Toil' by Carmen Sylva, Queen of Roumania 1:48 Read by Craig Franklin
The Ox: From the 'Poesie' by Giosuè Carducci 1:28 Read by Sonia
Folding the Flocks by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher 1:57 Read by Jason in Panama
Beth Gêlert by William Robert Spencer 3:22 Read by Tomas Peter
To a Dog's Memory by Louise Imogen Guiney 2:13 Read by Tomas Peter
Helvellyn by Sir Walter Scott 3:26 Read by Craig Franklin
The Arab to his Favorite Steed by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton 4:38 Read by Craig Franklin
The Blood Horse by Bryan Waller Procter (Barry Cornwall) 2:11 Read by Jason in Panama
The Chariot of Cuchullin: From 'The Breach of the Plain of Muirhevney' by Anonymous 1:35 Read by Sonia
Chiquita by Bret Harte 3:26 Read by Tomas Peter
The Sea by Ralph Waldo Emerson 1:52 Read by Leanne Yau
The Sea: From 'Childe Harold,' Canto IV by Lord Byron 4:53 Read by Tomas Peter
The Sea by Bernard Barton 1:23 Read by Craig Franklin
The Disappointed Lover: From 'The Triumph of Time' by Algernon Charles Swinburne 2:36 Read by Leanne Yau
Ocean: From 'The Course of Time,' Book I by Robert Pollok 1:28 Read by Craig Franklin
The Sea by Bryan Waller Procter (Barry Cornwall) 2:20 Read by Sonia
Address to the Ocean by Bryan Waller Procter (Barry Cornwall) 2:38 Read by Jason in Panama
The Gravedigger by Bliss Carman 2:59 Read by Craig Franklin
The Treasures of the Deep by Felicia Hemans 2:47 Read by Sonia
Flotsam and Jetsam by Anonymous 2:36 Read by Tomas Peter
A Forsaken Garden by Algernon Charles Swinburne 5:16 Read by Tomas Peter
Gulf-Weed by Cornelius George Fenner 1:37 Read by Craig Franklin
Sea-Weed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 2:35 Read by Tomas Peter
The Coral Insect by Lydia Huntley Sigourney 2:48 Read by Craig Franklin
The Coral Reef: From 'The Pelican Island' by James Montgomery 3:12 Read by Leanne Yau
The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes 2:26 Read by Jason in Panama
A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea by Allan Cunningham 1:25 Read by Sonia
Song of the Emigrants in Bermuda by Andrew Marvell 2:29 Read by Sonia
My Brigantine: From 'The Water Witch' by James Fenimore Cooper 1:20 Read by Craig Franklin
The Heaving of the Lead by Charles Dibdin 1:49 Read by Sonia
The Minute-Gun by R.S. Sharpe 1:12 Read by Sonia
All's Well: From 'The British Fleet' by Thomas Dibdin 1:27 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Bay of Biscay by Andrew Cherry 2:40 Read by Tomas Peter
Tom Bowling by Charles Dibdin 1:36 Read by Sonia
Ye Mariners of England by Thomas Campbell 2:07 Read by Tomas Peter
The White Squall by Bryan Waller Procter (Barry Cornwall) 1:26 Read by Sonia
Our Boat to the Waves by William Ellery Channing 0:55 Read by Craig Franklin
A Life on the Ocean Wave by Epes Sargent 1:35 Read by Leanne Yau
To Sea! by Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1:23 Read by Jason in Panama
Twilight at Sea by Amelia B. Welby 1:42 Read by Tomas Peter
Tacking Ship Off Shore by Walter Mitchell 4:03 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Storm by George Alexander Stevens 3:22 Read by Craig Franklin
The Wreck: From 'Don Juan,' Canto II by Lord Byron 1:35 Read by Leanne Yau
The Shipwreck by William Falconer 3:16 Read by Sonia
The Rock and the Sea by Charlotte Perkins Gilman 4:22 Read by Leanne Yau
The Polar Quest by Richard Burton 1:14 Read by Craig Franklin
The Shore: From 'Ariadne' by Charles G.D. Roberts 0:57 Read by Leanne Yau
The Kearsarge by James Jeffrey Roche 1:59 Read by Leanne Yau
The Buoy-Bell by Charles Tennyson Turner 1:14 Read by Sonia
Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold 2:37 Read by Leanne Yau
With a Nantucket Shell by Charles Henry Webb 1:57 Read by Leanne Yau
The Sea Shell: From 'The Excursion,' Book IV by William Wordsworth 1:24 Read by Jason in Panama
The Shell: From 'Gebir,' Book I by Walter Savage Landor 1:21 Read by Sonia
Hampton Beach by John Greenleaf Whittier 4:56 Read by Tomas Peter
Among the Rocks by Robert Browning 1:12 Read by Sonia
The Inchcape Rock by Robert Southey 4:20 Read by LibriVox Volunteers
How's My Boy? by Sydney Dobell 2:08 Read by Sonia
The Sailor's Consolation by William Pitt 1:52 Read by Sonia
Poor Jack by Charles Dibdin 3:09 Read by Jason in Panama
The Mariner's Dream by William Dimond 4:20 Read by Tomas Peter
The Sea-Limits by Dante Gabriel Rossetti 2:14 Read by Leanne Yau