Vintage Verse Rhapsody: A Poetry Collection
Various
Read by Bob Gonzalez
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. The poems in this rhapsody comprise a number of poems that I have performed in public and known for much of my life as well as several recent additions to my repertory. They are arranged in chronological order from the 16th century to the early 20th century. Some of the poets represented here are Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare, John Donne, John Milton, Alexander Pope, William Blake, William Wordsworth, John Keats, Alfred Tennyson, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll, and Robert Frost. (Summary by Bob Gonzalez) (1 hr 44 min)
Chapters
What is Our Life? | 1:05 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
There is a Lady Sweet and Kind | 1:27 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
My Love is Like to Ice, Sonnet 30 | 3:26 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is | 3:01 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Sonnet 02 | 5:21 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Psalm 23 | 5:18 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Song | 5:11 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
The Glories of our Blood and State | 1:28 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Sonnet 19 | 1:12 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
The Constant Lover | 1:02 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
To His Coy Mistress | 2:41 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
On a Fly Drinking Out of His Cup | 0:52 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Solitude | 1:25 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
A Poison Tree | 2:30 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
It is a Beauteous Evening | 2:14 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Kubla Khan | 3:18 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
The River of Life | 1:29 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Abou Ben Adhem | 3:50 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
The First Kiss of Love | 2:18 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Love's Philosophy | 2:12 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
To Autumn | 8:52 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Snowflakes | 3:46 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
The Conqueror Worm | 2:30 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Ulysses | 4:44 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
The Two Old Bachelors | 3:14 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
A Noiseless Patient Spider | 6:16 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
In A Library | 4:16 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Jabberwocky | 4:21 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
The Windhover | 2:41 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
The New Colossus | 1:21 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
When I was one-and-twenty | 2:47 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
The Road Not Taken | 2:23 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
The Great Lover | 5:39 | Read by Bob Gonzalez |
Reviews
Marvellous aural treat
M Geeson
Having had the day spoilt by reading a hostile review on this site, I abandoned my planned recording session and settled down with this superb collection of lyric verse read by 21st-century rhapsode, Bob Gonzalez. Thanks to Bob for two hours of utter delight. My favourites were the Whitman selections, particularly "I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing". Hope there's a Volume 2 on the way.
M. E. Smith
I really enjoyed this collection and it was read very nicely.