Short Poetry Collection 170


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4 stars; 1 reviews)

This is a collection of 34 poems read by LibriVox volunteers for July 2017.

It includes a longer poem, Parliament of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar.

Introduction by the reader: This is one of the best-loved classics of Sufi literature. In his own land, Attar is better known than Rumi or Hafiz. Translation is by Edward Fitzgerald, who 160 years ago brought the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam to English-speaking audiences.
Lacking governance and beginning to descend into anarchy, the birds come together to agree on leadership. The brilliant and charismatic Tajidar the Wise rises to speak, and proposes that the birds undertake a long and treacherous pilgrimage to seek salvation and transfiguration from Simorgh, the Holy Presence. Each of the birds presents his special reasons for declining the trip, which Tajidar rebuts with a relevant moral tale. The trip will be arduous, and will require each bird to leave behind not just his possessions but his family, his pride, his attachments. But the reward--if Simorgh's grace be granted--will be freedom and knowledge of self and the world. All the birds set out and the vast majority perish along the way. For the thirty that reach their appointment with destiny, there is a surprise in store. Hint: "Simorgh" in Persian can be read to mean "30 birds". (2 hr 28 min)

Chapters

Amaryllis 1:05 Read by Winston Tharp
Annabel Lee 2:52 Read by Linda Olsen Fitak
Another Song 0:57 Read by Phil Schempf
The Ant Explorer 1:55 Read by Algy Pug
Babel: The Gate of the God 5:52 Read by Algy Pug
Barthram's Dirge 1:44 Read by Sonia
Parliament of the Birds 1:19:18 Read by Josh Mitteldorf
Discordants 3:12 Read by DrPGould
The End of the World 4:07 Read by Algy Pug
Epilogue 1:48 Read by Bruce Kachuk
Flycatchers 1:31 Read by Tomas Peter
In The Placid Summer Midnight 1:41 Read by Bruce Kachuk
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 10:27 Read by Linda Olsen Fitak
Oft in the Stilly Night 1:22 Read by Winston Tharp
Old Germany 0:42 Read by Craig Campbell
O Me! O Life! 1:08 Read by Phil Schempf
On a Dead Field-Flower 2:34 Read by Tomas Peter
Pomona 0:44 Read by Newgatenovelist
Preludes 3:11 Read by Dafni Ma
The Rainy Day 1:13 Read by Ian King
Recognition 3:14 Read by Newgatenovelist
The Ride on the Ice 2:29 Read by Sonia
Sonnet 116 0:59 Read by Rebecca S
Sonnet 18 1:06 Read by Rebecca S
Sonnet 73 1:06 Read by Rebecca S
Spring 1:14 Read by Winston Tharp
Sunset 1:18 Read by Tomas Peter
To a Child 1:28 Read by Ian King
To Oliver Wendell Holmes 1:14 Read by Sonia
To The Grammarians. Why He Writes Wantonly 1:55 Read by Craig Campbell
We live in deeds, not years 0:58 Read by Phil Schempf
What Is To Come We Know Not 1:33 Read by Bruce Kachuk
The Windy Night 1:09 Read by Ian King
Written in Edinburgh 1:12 Read by Newgatenovelist