THE DRIFTED STREAM An Anthology of British and Irish Poetry

Andrew Motion, former poet laureate of the United Kingdom, surveys the history of poetry of the U.K. from the age of Chaucer to WWI, with a few contemporary selections. He narrates his own historical introductions in this audiobook original, and a very fine cast delivers the poems in a variety of historically and geographically appropriate accents, all of them quite well done. Many of the poems will be familiar to listeners, but just as many will be fresh revelations. Motion has made a particular effort to include poets beyond the traditional "dead white guys." Poems are not all performed by narrators of the same gender as the authors; they are all narrated with understanding and appropriate emotions. D.M.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2023]