Loading...
92nd out of 92 books
—
14 voters
![Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud [With CD (Audio)]](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255660050l/6271186.jpg)
My rating:
add to my books
Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud [With CD (Audio)]
This lively, abundant book is distinguished by its focus on hearing poetry read aloud. Robert Pinsky, beloved for his ability to bring poetry to life as spoken language, has collected poems that sound marvelous in a reader s actual or imagined voice. Pinsky has organized the book into sections with brief introductions that emphasize the attentive, intuitive, and reflective...more
Hardcover, 508 pages
Published
April 6th 2009
by W. W. Norton & Company
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
208)
Among our Poets Laureate, who has done--and continues to do--more to bring poetry to people, and people to poetry, than Robert Pinsky? Author of eight collections of verse himself, translator of the INFERNO (a national bestseller), essayist, editor, and critic, not only of poetry but of America itself, Pinsky has just issued a new anthology of poems to read aloud, ESSENTIAL PLEASURES. Accompanied by a CD on which Pinsky reads a brief selection, including Keats and the single heartbreaking poem ...more
Super read! Lots of great poems! I found some old ones and discovered new ones. Some of my favorite include:
When You're Lying Awake with a Dismal Headache by W.S. Gilbert
Columbus by Ogden Nash
The House that Jack Built by Anonymous
Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
When I Was Fair & Young by Queen Elizabeth I
Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
Home Burial by Robert F...more
When You're Lying Awake with a Dismal Headache by W.S. Gilbert
Columbus by Ogden Nash
The House that Jack Built by Anonymous
Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
When I Was Fair & Young by Queen Elizabeth I
Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe
My Last Duchess by Robert Browning
Home Burial by Robert F...more
I breezed through this book rapidy because it was overdue and I was getting behind in my reading,(I certainly did not read it out loud) but absorbed enough of it to want to read it some more. There's a wide variety of excellent poetry in here and also a CD with readings by the author. I recognized some children's poems as well as poetry by poets like Marvell, Williams, and Eliot.
I love collections of poems and this one is great! and I learned some old-to-the-world-new-to-me poets, i want to check out more thoroughly. A lot of classic poems are in this collection such as some of Keat's To Autumn and Marlowe's To His Coy Mistress.
Finished! I've been reading this collection of poems FOR-EV-ER! I had one library copy for at least six months and then someone requested it, so I had to send it back. But I was so close to the end, I reserved it again and was able to finish it. To figure out which poem I want to memorize each month, I need to read a lot of poems. This was a good anthology, ranging over many centuries with a suitable mix of men and women. It also includes a CD of Pinsky reading some of the poems, which I've...more
A great selection of poems from the last four hundred years or more, organized into basic groups like "love poems" or "stories" or "jokes and parodies." Interesting mix of styles, periods, and tones of voice. I already knew about a dozen of these pretty well, and they are among my all-time favorites. A CD is included with Robert Pinsky reading his own favorites, but I haven't listened to that yet.
I always want to understand poetry better. I was hoping this book would help me but I don't think I am patient enough (or smart of enough.) The two stars is more a reflection of me and not of the author and the material. Maybe someday I'll learn more and enjoy poetry more.
I really liked this anthology.
A marvelous anthology--I loved it! This book contains a satisfying mix of poems old and new, with so many different styles, it's hard to imagine anyone truly disliking it. It would make a great gift.
Just reaffirmed what I already knew: I don't really like poetry! There are a few poems I have come accross and enjoyed. One such poem was in this collection. I want to love poetry, I just dont. =(
All of the classic poems and short stories you'll ever want to read are in this book. A great book to keep by your bedside!
I still go to this book and find something new and different
Alison
marked it as to-read
Jim Ayala
marked it as to-read
Faith
marked it as to-read
Sarantos Patrinos
added it
Sam
marked it as to-read
April
added it
Tiffanie Arnold
marked it as to-read
Chelsea Lonsdale
marked it as to-read
Nathan Kitchen
marked it as to-read
Fatimah
marked it as to-read
Bobbi
marked it as to-read
Michael Clark
added it
Alexis
added it
Angela
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
![Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud [With CD (Audio)]](http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255660050s/6271186.jpg)
