Poetry’s highlights through the years, as read by distinguished actors

Rediscover the music of the spoken word as John Gielgud (Arthur) conducts a grand tour of English-language poetry through the centuries. Compiled by poet and literary critic Anthony Thwaite, these works show the power of verse to stir the emotions and fire the imagination. They include not only classics by Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Byron, Whitman, and Yeats, but also surprising, often-overlooked gems. Gielgud provides the literary and historical context for each, while readings by outstanding British and American actors reveal the rich textures and seductive rhythms in every line.

The performers include Peggy Ashcroft (A Passage to India), Lee Remick (Days of Wine and Roses), Stacy Keach (Mike Hammer, Private Eye), Ralph Richardson (Doctor Zhivago), Ian Richardson (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy), Julian Glover (By the Sword Divided), and Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs), among others.

One of the finest Shakespearean actors of his generation, John Gielgud won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tonys during his long career. An accomplished poet and writer, Anthony Thwaite received the Order of the British Empire for his services to poetry in 1992.