A collection of 48 prose and poetry selections written principally in the 18th Century. These works of world literature are written in the English language or are in English translation.

One of the Pseudepigrapha, the Psalms of Solomon is a group of eighteen psalms (religious songs or poems) that are not part of any scriptural canon (they are, however, found in copies of the Peshitta). The Psalms of Solomon were referenced in Early Christian writings, but lost to modern scholars until a Greek manuscript was rediscovered in the 17th century. Politically, the Psalms of Solomon are anti-Maccabee, and some psalms in the collection show a clear awareness of the Roman conquest of Jerusalem under Pompey in 63 BCE, metaphorically treating him as a dragon who had been sent by God to punish the Maccabees...

“The Keepsake, or, Poems and Pictures For Childhood and Youth”, is a collection of twenty pastoral poems published as one collection in London, 1818. The topics are moral encouragement for children, young and old alike.

As we get older, many of us return to youthful memories of poems once significant to us. Outside their association with our youth, we may wonder what significance they have to us now. There were other poems we’ve met along the way as well: some held no appeal while others were forgotten. And there were others we never had the opportunity to meet.This selection hopes to go beyond the experience of meeting old friends and on top opening the door to new ones —poems that might relate more significantly to our current lives...

As we get older, many of us return to youthful memories of poems once significant to us. Outside their association with our youth, we may wonder what significance they have to us now. There were other poems we’ve met along the way as well: some held no appeal while others were forgotten. And there were others we never had the opportunity to meet. This selection hopes to go beyond the experience of meeting old friends and on top opening the door to new ones — poems that might relate more significantly to our current lives...

A collection of Australian writing from the public domain.

Some day an enterprising editor may find time to glean from the whole field of Canadian literature a representative collection of wit and humour. . . . The present little collection obviously makes no such ambitious claim. It embraces, however, what are believed to be representative examples of the work of some of our better-known writers, many of which will no doubt be quite familiar to Canadian readers, but perhaps none the less welcome on that account.

This is, as the title already describes, the rhymed story of Chanticleer the Rooster, and his adventures. Follow the bird through his youth and school years, on a journey, through adventures, becoming a father and a family man and eventually a grandfather. - Summary by Carolin

This is a collection of stories in verse for children. Published in 1866 by an author only known by the initials F.F., these poems teach children the virtues, their duties, and what happens to ill-behaving little boys and girls. - Summary by Carolin

A collection of short stories and poems for children, filled with sweet but simple life lessons. - Summary by Campbell Schelp

This is the story of an intelligent, upright and generous rooster named Chanticleer. We follow his life from birth to death in this story written in verse. The story recounts his adventures during his childhood, his studies and his travels. He becomes a father and grandfather and tries to impart his wisdom to the next generation. - Summary by SweetHome

volunteers bring you 16 recordings of Drive the Cold Winter Away by an unknown poet. This was the Weekly Poetry project for December 13, 2020. ---- A delightful poem written sometime before ca. 1625. Sometimes erroneously attributed to Tom Durfey - Summary by KevinS

The Congo is one of the best-known poems by American poet Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931). It was revolutionary in its use of sounds and rhythms — as sounds and rhythms — and includes elaborate annotations to guide its spoken performance. Lindsay categorized The Congo as “higher Vaudeville” and was famous for his exuberant performances of it. The poem’s imagery is racist, but Lindsay was a product of his time — born 14 years after the end of the American Civil War in Abraham Lincoln’s hometown, he revered Lincoln and viewed himself as a friend and supporter of African-American culture.

This is a collection of poems on various topics by Vachel Lindsay. Please note that the Booker T. Washington trilogy had to be omitted from this collection.

LibriVox volunteers bring you 14 recordings of The Conscientious Deacon by Vachel Lindsay. This was the Weekly Poetry project for May 5th, 2013.Vachel Lindsay described this poem as "a song to be syncopated as you please". According to Wikipedia he is considered the father of modern singing poetry (as he referred to it) in which verses are meant to be sung or chanted. His extensive correspondence with the poet Yeats details his intentions to revive the musical qualities in poetry as had been practised by the ancient Greeks. (Introduction by Ruth Golding)

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon (smṛti). The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India, the other being Mahabharata. It is the story of Rama, who emabrks on an epic journey followed by the fight with Ravana, the demon king who abducted Rama's wife, Sita. The epic depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king. (Introduction by Om123)

Here are 37 distinctively American poems, covering the mid-17th – early 20th Centuries, from Anne Bradstreet to Dorothy Parker’s sole PD work.

Short Poetry Collection 001: a collection of 29 public-domain poems.

Long Poems Collection 1: a collection of 5 public-domain poems longer than 5 minutes in length.

A collection of romantic poems for St Valentine’s day.

A collection of classic Christian hymns spanning the centuries. Some of the hymns are read; others are sung.

A selection of twenty hymns sung in this recording.

This is a sequel of sorts to 37 American Poems, one of my first solos. Concentration here is on late 19th to early 20th Century works by US poets.

In this celebration of diversity, learn about the myriad histories and cultures behind our volunteers.

Ten early Public Domain poems by some of the authors mention of whose most popular works is most likely to come in close proximity to the word “sorry” in the LV forums. Included are: JRR Tolkien, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Dorothy L Sayers, CS Lewis, William Faulkner, Kahlil Gibran, DH Lawrence, Robert Graves and Ernest Hemingway.

A collection of children’s alphabet rhymes including Footsteps On the Road to Learning – a short text from 1850 which teaches children the English alphabet in rime–so that a child may not become a dunce! The Anti Slavery Alphabet – a book prepared to encourage young children to speak against the institution of slavery in 19th century United States. The method used is an alphabetical listing of the evils of slavery. The Peter Pan Alphabet and The Alphabet of Celebrities – Oliver Herford’s teaching guides to the English alphabet–using Peter Pan and famous names!

This is a collection of short poems and readings, both religious and secular, on death and bereavement.

The Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, is a work of enormous proportions. Setting out with the simple goal of offering "American households a mass of good reading", the editors drew from literature of all times and all kinds what they considered the best pieces of human writing, and compiled an ambitious collection of 45 volumes (with a 46th being an index-guide). Besides the selection and translation of a huge number of poems, letters, short stories and sections of books, the collection offers, before each chapter, a short essay about the author or subject in question...

Robert Burns, the national bard (poet) of Scotland was born on the 25th January, 1759. This is a collection of his poems and songs. This collection also includes works from other poets and writers who have written about Burns.

Some wonderful poems by Christopher Marlowe and others recorded ‘on location’ – in the churchyard of St Nicholas’, Deptford, and the Greenwich Foot Tunnel.

A collection of poetry selected and performed by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode. Rhapsodes of Ancient Greece were “song-stitchers,” performing selections from the epics of Homer and Hesiod. The contemporary rhapsode performs the classical poetry of his or her language, culture, and tradition. Any particular collection and arrangement of poems for performance I term a “rhapsody.” In general terms, a rhapsody is an ecstatic expression of feeling and enthusiasm. In music, a rhapsody is an instrumental composition irregular in form and suggestive of improvisation...

"Originally modeled on the Psalms and other poetic passages (commonly referred to as "canticles") in the Scriptures, Christian hymns are generally directed as praise and worship to the monotheistic God. Many refer to Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly. Since the earliest times, Christians have sung "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs", both in private devotions and in corporate worship (Matthew 26:30; 1 Cor 14:26; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; James 5:13; cf. Revelation 5:8-10; Revelation 14:1-5)...

A collection in celebration of 2012 Year of Reading Australia. Readers chose fiction, non fiction and poetry - we only asked that the readings should have some sort of Australian hook. So they can be by an Australian author, or about Australia, or just have a prominent bit of Australianess in the plot. Failing that: even being performed by Australians will do! :D .

Spring through Fall 1921 in Poetry, edited by Harriet Monroe. 2012 is the 100th Anniversary of Poetry magazine.

This is a collection of 32 poems read in English by volunteers for December 2018.

This is a collection of 35 poems read in English by volunteers for August 2018.

This is a collection of 31 poems read by volunteers for April 2016.

This is a collection of 34 poems read by volunteers for July 2017. It includes a longer poem, Parliament of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar. Introduction by the reader: This is one of the best-loved classics of Sufi literature. In his own land, Attar is better known than Rumi or Hafiz. Translation is by Edward Fitzgerald, who 160 years ago brought the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam to English-speaking audiences. Lacking governance and beginning to descend into anarchy, the birds come together to agree on leadership...

This is a collection of 38 poems read in English by volunteers for September 2018.

This is a collection of 23 poems read by volunteers for June 2016.

This is a collection of 29 poems read by volunteers for February 2016.

This is a collection of 28 poems read by volunteers for November 2016.

This is a collection of 30 poems read by volunteers for August 2016.

This volume covers the age of expansion from the Revolution to the Civil War, including the creation of the Constitution, the Presidency of George Washington, the War of 1812, and the settling of the West, along with tales of Johnny Appleseed, the Alamo, the Gold Rush, the death of Jefferson, and The Wreck of the Hesperus. Authors include Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Francis Scott Key, John Greenleaf Whittier and Lord Byron. - Summary by Ed Humpal

This is a collection of 35 poems read by volunteers for March 2016.

This is a collection of 36 poems read by volunteers for March 2017.

This is a collection of 35 poems read in English by volunteers for October 2018.

This is a collection of 29 poems read by volunteers for May 2016.

This is a collection of 28 poems read by volunteers for February 2017.

This is a collection of 22 poems read by volunteers for July 2016.

This selection of poems has many favourites from authors such as Edward Lear and Robert Browning, as well as less well known authors. We hope you enjoy the poems.Please note that sections 3 and 11 had two sources for the text of the poems; they are http://www.bartleby.com/337/202.html and http://www.bartleby.com/101/76.html.

We selected some of our favourite poets for this collection, including Dante, Fitzgerald, Keats, Barrett Browning, Lear, Carroll, Milton, Morris, Swinburne and Rossetti. We hope you enjoy listening to them. - Summary by Newgatenovelist

This is a collection of 26 poems read by volunteers for September 2016.

This volume is a fascinating reflection on the Civil War years from a perspective in 1908, when many Civil War veterans were still alive, when the wounds to North and South were still fresh, and when no event more cataclysmic had struck the Republic than a Civil War that began less than 100 years after the Revolution for Independence. Poets in this volume include: John Greenleaf Whittier, William Cullen Bryant, Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bret Harte, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Walt Whitman, and Julia Ward Howe. - Summary by Ed Humpal

This is a collection of 40 poems read by volunteers for May 2017.

This collection of poems, selected by Sara Teasdale, a talented poet in her own right, is made to appeal to children, both girls and boys. They are not poems about children, but for children. Neither does this mean that they are childish, but rather that they capture the imagination of children both in subject matter and the richness of the lyrical language of the poems themselves. They range through the great classical poets from Milton to Poe, in all of their variety and vigor. What child could not be captivated by Blake’s, The Tiger, or enchanted by Lanier’s Song of the Chattahoochee? Here in these verses, we all are children. -summary by Larry Wilson

This is a collection of 39 poems read by volunteers for April 2018.

This is a collection of 31 poems read by volunteers for December 2016. It also includes a long poem, The Legend of Jubal by George Eliot "And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ." - Genesis 4:21 Re-imagined from a few bare lines in Genesis, George Eliot’s epic poem describes man’s loss of innocense, the birth of animal husbandry, of industry, commerce, and art. In a surprise ending, she tells of human transcendence. Each of us has a divine gift to offer the world.

This is a collection of 51 poems read in English by volunteers for July 2019.

This is a collection of 27 poems read by volunteers for January 2017.

This is a collection of 36 poems read by volunteers for April 2017.

This is a collection of 30 poems read by volunteers for August 2017.

This is a collection of 38 poems read by volunteers for September 2017.

This is a collection of 34 poems read by volunteers for June 2017.

This is a collection of 50 poems read in English by volunteers for April 2019.

This is a collection of 41 poems read by volunteers for October 2017.

This is a collection of 34 poems read by volunteers for December 2017.

This is a collection of 27 poems read by volunteers for January 2018

This is a collection of 45 poems read by volunteers for November 2017.

This is a collection of 46 poems read in English by volunteers for October 2019. With a number of spooky ones for Halloween!

This is a collection of 23 poems read by volunteers for February 2018

This is a collection of 44 poems read by volunteers for March 2018

This is a collection of 54 poems read in English by volunteers for September 2019.

This is a collection of 45 poems read in English by volunteers for June 2019.

The sestina has enjoyed intermittent popularity in English writing and translation since the sixteenth century, and this selection highlights some of the varied ways the form has been used and adapted. - Summary by Newgatenovelist

This is a collection of 41 poems read in English by volunteers for February 2019.

This is a collection of 48 poems read in English by volunteers for May 2019.

This is the final part of From Queen's Gardens. The previous four parts were collections of poetry by eminent English poets: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Jean Ingelow, Adelaide A. Procter, and Christina Rossetti. This final part of the same volume is a collection of individual poems by less well-known female poets, or, sometimes, well-known writers known more for their novels than for their poetry. - Summary by Carolin

This is a collection of 50 poems read in English by volunteers for March 2019.

This is a collection of 70 poems read in English by volunteers for August 2020.

This is a collection of 35 poems read in English by volunteers for January 2019.

This is a collection of 48 poems read in English by volunteers for December 2019.

This is a collection of 34 poems read in English by volunteers for November 2018.

This is a collection of 44 poems read in English by volunteers for August 2019.

A collection of pieces, both fiction and non-fiction, that have as its subject a word beginning with a specific letter of the English alphabet. Subjects can range from coffee to tea, animals to vampires, law to emotions.

This is a collection of 39 poems read in English by volunteers for November 2019.

2019 collection of items with a Christmas theme containing traditional stories, Christmas traditions, Christmas cakes. We hope you will enjoy it.

A collection of Irish poetry, edited and largely translated by Alfred Perceval Graves. This is the second and final part of the book. - Summary by Kikisaulite Proof-listening by Linette Geisel & Kristine Bekere

This is a collection of 65 poems read in English by volunteers for January 2020.

The seventh of ten volumes of poetry edited by Canadian poet laureate Bliss Carman . This collection, the first of two parts, contains a variety of odes, elegies, addresses, epitaphs and dedications that praise, mourn and remember some of history's greatest and most memorable statesmen and writers . The collection also includes an introductory essay by author and poet Richard Le Gallienne . - Summary by Tomas Peter

This is a collection of 54 poems read in English by volunteers for May 2020.

This is a collection of 20 stories and/or poems, contributed by volunteers, pertaining to dreams.

This is a collection of 49 poems read in English by volunteers for February 2020.

The first of many yearly-published Oxford poetry books. - Summary by Campbell SchelpPoets include: Gerald H. Crow Eric Dickinson Esther Lilian Duff T. W. Earp Godfrey Elton H. R. Freston Russell Green Naomi M. Haldane H. C. Harwood A. L. Huxley Leslie Phillips Jones R. S. Lambert Agnes E. Murray Robert Nichols Elizabeth Rendall L. Rice-Oxley Dorothy H. Rowe Dorothy L. Sayers G. B. Smith Eric Earnshaw Smith Hasan Shahid Suhrawardy E. Graham Sutton J. R. R. Tolkien Sherard Vines H. T. Wade-Gery

This is a collection of 51 poems read in English by volunteers for March 2020.

This is a collection of 20 stories and/or poems, contributed by volunteers, pertaining to dreams.

The seventh of ten volumes of poetry edited by Canadian poet laureate Bliss Carman . This collection, the second of two parts, contains a series of odes and addresses to the natural and artistic realms, as well as various geographic places in the world, from Egypt and India, all the way to England and America. It concludes with popular narrative poetry originating from the Greek, Roman, Norse, German, East Asian, Spanish, French, English, Scottish and American literary traditions. - Summary by Tomas Peter

This is a collection of 63 poems read in English by volunteers for April 2020.

Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography was a monthly publication of the Nature Study Publishing Company of Chicago. It includes short poems, anecdotes and factual descriptions of birds with accompanying color plates. The magazine was published from 1897-1907 under the various titles, "Birds," "Birds and all Nature," "Nature and Art" and "Birds and Nature." Later issues were expanded to include animals, plants, etc. Summary by J. M. Smallheer

This is a collection of 26 selections, both fiction and nonfiction, in which each topic begins with a different letter of the alphabet.