THE ROMANTIC POETS

Actors rich in experience and classical training perform these poems and do a wonderful job with their formal elements. They know how to read verse so the rhythm comes through; the cadences in these poems march, skip, and dance, allowing the structural energies behind the words of these great British poets to be heard clearly. Likewise, the brief introductions bridging the different poems provide useful information in a focused fashion. The only weaknesses is that there seems to be no clear personal or even professional connection with the poems; it isn't clear why, for example, Derek Jacobi reads one poem and Diana Quick another. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]