The Complete Poems of Francis Ledwidge


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Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet, served in an Irish battalion ("The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers") of the British Army during World War I. His first volume of poems was published while he served, in 1915; two more were published posthumously, and were followed by this collection of complete works in 1919. He and five comrades had been killed by an exploding shell during the third battle of Ypres (July 1917).

His poems reflect his love for his native rural countryside, tinged with loss arising from the war. From his frequent use of a blackbird motif, he was known as the "Poet of the Blackbird."

Of him, the poet John Drinkwater wrote: "His poetry exults me, while not so his death.... to those who know what poetry is, the untimely death of a man like Ledwidge is nothing but calamity." - Summary by Nemo (3 hr 7 min)

Chapters

Introduction to Songs of the Fields 9:08 Read by Nemo
Introduction to Songs of Peace 5:01 Read by Nemo
Introduction to Last Songs 2:46 Read by Nemo
Songs of the Fields: To My Best Friend 1:18 Read by Nemo
Behind the Closed Eye 1:44 Read by Nemo
Bound to the Mast 2:09 Read by Nemo
To A Linnet in a Cage 1:16 Read by Nemo
A Twilight in Middle March 1:22 Read by Nemo
Spring 1:25 Read by Nemo
Desire in Spring 1:03 Read by Nemo
A Rainy Day in April 2:25 Read by Nemo
A Song of April 1:22 Read by Nemo
The Broken Tryst 1:15 Read by Nemo
Thoughts at the Trysting Stile 2:16 Read by Nemo
Evening in May 1:23 Read by Nemo
An Attempt at a City Sunset 1:32 Read by Nemo
Waiting 1:06 Read by Nemo
The Singer's Muse 1:25 Read by Nemo
Inamorata 1:40 Read by Nemo
The Wife of Llew 1:07 Read by Nemo
The Hills 1:40 Read by Nemo
June 1:47 Read by Nemo
In Manchester 1:25 Read by Nemo
Music on Water 2:20 Read by Nemo
To M. McG 1:19 Read by Nemo
In the Dusk 1:04 Read by Nemo
The Death of Ailill 1:52 Read by Nemo
August 1:01 Read by Nemo
The Visitation of Peace 4:12 Read by Nemo
Before the Tears 1:21 Read by Nemo
God's Remembrance 1:32 Read by Nemo
An Old Pain 3:27 Read by Nemo
The Lost Ones 1:12 Read by Nemo
All-Hallows Eve 1:47 Read by Nemo
A Memory 3:20 Read by Nemo
A Song 1:15 Read by Nemo
A Fear 0:53 Read by Nemo
The Coming Poet 1:03 Read by Nemo
The Vision on the Brink 1:53 Read by Nemo
To Lord Dunsany 1:29 Read by Nemo
On an Oaten Straw 1:04 Read by Nemo
Evening in February 0:59 Read by Nemo
The Sister 1:05 Read by Nemo
Before the War of Cooley 2:16 Read by Nemo
Low-Moon Land 1:09 Read by Nemo
The Sorrow of Findebar 2:06 Read by Nemo
On Dream Water 0:58 Read by Nemo
The Death of Sualtem 3:09 Read by Nemo
The Maid in Low-Moon Land 0:58 Read by Nemo
The Death of Leag, Cuchulain's Charioteer 2:26 Read by Nemo
The Passing of Caoilte 1:49 Read by Nemo
Growing Old 1:25 Read by Nemo
After My Last Song 1:29 Read by Nemo
Songs of Peace: A Dream of Artemis 11:48 Read by Nemo
A Little Boy in the Morning 1:14 Read by Nemo
To A Distant One 1:50 Read by Nemo
The Place 1:21 Read by Nemo
May 1:15 Read by Nemo
To Eilish of the Fair Hair 1:18 Read by Nemo
Crewbrawn 0:39 Read by Nemo
Evening in England 1:11 Read by Nemo
Crocknaharna 1:14 Read by Nemo
In the Mediterranean- Going to the War 0:46 Read by Nemo
The Gardener 1:20 Read by Nemo
Autumn Evening in Serbia 0:52 Read by Nemo
Nocturne 0:50 Read by Nemo
Spring and Autumn 0:45 Read by Nemo
The Departure of Proserpine 2:19 Read by Larry Wilson
The Home-Coming of the Sheep 1:07 Read by Larry Wilson
When Love and Beauty Wander Away 1:00 Read by Larry Wilson
My Mother 1:14 Read by Larry Wilson
Song 0:43 Read by Larry Wilson
To One Dead 0:46 Read by Larry Wilson
The Resurrection 0:43 Read by Larry Wilson
The Shadow People 1:14 Read by Larry Wilson
An Old Desire 0:53 Read by Larry Wilson
Thomas McDonagh 0:49 Read by Larry Wilson
The Wedding Morning 0:58 Read by Larry Wilson
The Blackbirds 1:14 Read by Larry Wilson
The Lure 1:05 Read by Larry Wilson
Thro' Bogac Ban 0:50 Read by Larry Wilson
Fate 0:54 Read by Larry Wilson
Evening Clouds 1:08 Read by Larry Wilson
Song 0:46 Read by Larry Wilson
The Herons 0:36 Read by Larry Wilson
In the Shadows 0:38 Read by Larry Wilson
The Ships of Arcady 0:53 Read by Larry Wilson
After 0:40 Read by Larry Wilson
To One Weeping 0:39 Read by Larry Wilson
A Dream Dance 0:49 Read by Larry Wilson
By Faughan 1:05 Read by Larry Wilson
In September 0:45 Read by Larry Wilson
Last Songs: To An Old Quill of Lord Dunsany's 1:56 Read by Larry Wilson
To A Sparrow 1:14 Read by Larry Wilson
Old Clo' 1:00 Read by Larry Wilson
Youth 0:50 Read by Larry Wilson
The Little Children 0:54 Read by Larry Wilson
Autumn 1:04 Read by Larry Wilson
Ireland 1:04 Read by Larry Wilson
Lady Fair 1:03 Read by Larry Wilson
At a Poet's Grave 0:46 Read by Larry Wilson
After Court Martial 0:48 Read by Larry Wilson
A Mother's Song 0:38 Read by Larry Wilson
At Currabwee 1:17 Read by Larry Wilson
Song-time is Over 0:43 Read by Larry Wilson
Una Bawn 0:40 Read by Larry Wilson
Spring Love 0:52 Read by Larry Wilson
Soliloquy 1:32 Read by Larry Wilson
Dawn 0:39 Read by Larry Wilson
Ceol Sidhe 1:00 Read by Larry Wilson
The Rushes 1:00 Read by Larry Wilson
The Dead Kings 1:58 Read by Larry Wilson
In France 0:42 Read by Larry Wilson
Had I A Golden Pound 0:58 Read by Larry Wilson
Fairies 0:50 Read by Larry Wilson
In a Cafe 0:53 Read by Larry Wilson
Spring 1:14 Read by Larry Wilson
Pan 0:49 Read by Larry Wilson
With Flowers 0:42 Read by Larry Wilson
The Find 0:51 Read by Larry Wilson
A Fairy Hunt 1:02 Read by Larry Wilson
To One Who Comes Now and Then 1:48 Read by Larry Wilson
The Sylph 0:39 Read by Larry Wilson
Home 0:51 Read by Larry Wilson
The Lanawn Shee 5:26 Read by Larry Wilson