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The Poetry of W. B. Yeats

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The Poetry of W. B. Yeats

By: William Butler Yeats
Narrated by: William Butler Yeats, Siobhan McKenna
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About this listen

A wonderful selection of Yeats' finest work, read by the author himself along with Siobhan McKenna and others.

01 - The Fiddler of Dooney - William Butler Yeats

02 - The Wild Swans At Coole - Cyril Cusack

03 - To The Rose Upon The Rood of Time - Michael MacLiammoir

04 - Leda And The Swan - Siobhan McKenna

05 - The Lady Songs - Siobhan McKenna

06 - Under Ben Bulben - Michael MacLiammoir

07 - The Second Coming - Cyril Cusack

08 - The Crazed Moon - Siobhan McKenna

09 - The Song of Wandering Aengus - Cyril Cusack

10 - To Ireland in the Coming Times - Michael MacLiammoir

11 - A Coat - Siobham McKenna

12 - After Long Silence - Siobham McKenna

13 - Young Man's Song - Siobhan McKenna

14 - Her Anxiety - Siobham McKenna

15 - News For The Delphic Oracle

16 - A Man Young and Old - Siobhan McKenna

17 - The People - Michael MacLiammoir

18 - Broken Dreams - Cyril Cusack

19 - The Mask - Siobham McKenna

20 - The Rose Tree - V C Clinton-Baddeley

21 - Lapis Lazuli - Cyril Cusack

22 - The Cat And The Moon - Siobhan McKenna

23 - No Second Troy - Cyril Cusack

24 - Why Should Not Old Men Be Mad - Cyril Cusack

25 - Those Dancing Days Are Gone - Siobhan McKenna

26 - The Song of the Old Mother - William Butler Yeats

27 - Sailing To Byzantium - Cyril Cusack

28 - A Crazy Girl - Siobhan McKenna

29 - The Rose of the World - Michael MacLiammoir

30 - The Chambermaid's Songs - Siobhan Mckenna

31 - A Dialogue of Self and Soul - Cyril Cusack

32 - Byzantium - Cyril Cusack

33 - Crazy Jane On The Mountain - Siobhan McKenna

34 - The Lover's Song - Siobhan McKenna

35 - Cuchulain Comforted - Cyril Cusack

36 - A Last Confession - Siobhan Mckenna

37 - The Lake Isle of Innisfree - Cyril Cusack

38 - Girl's Song - Siobhan McKenna

39 - Crazy Jane Talks With The Bishop

40 - The Wild Old Wicked Man - Cyril Cusack

©2009 Saland Publishing (P)2009 Saland Publishing Classics
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This is awful. The poems are repeated twice which is annoying. The reading is not consistent. Siobhan McKenna and Cyril Cusack are fair but W.B.Yeats's rendition of the poems is dreadful. I have not rated it as it does not deserve even one star. It is a very old recording obviously . There must be a more recent reading of these poems. It seems that I must fill in the star rating section before this can be submitted. I do this reluctantly

Very disappointing

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this version gets a lot of flak from Audible reviews but for me it is strangely engaging. Yeats himself has often been criticized for his stylized and over the top renditions. I find them hauntingly atmospheric . Cyril Cusack and Siobhan McKenna are real masters of delivery giving Yeat's poems the full dramatic "welly" they deserve. There is a quaint inclusion of the Rose Tree by that early Abbey actor, whose name I can't recall.

its never fully clear why the second set of poems are repeated so you hear every poem twice.

slightly batty but unfairly maligned collection

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What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Sadly failed to listen to the sample, trusting inadvisedly that it would be a decent version being on sale on Audible for 6.95. This is a very poor collection, bad sound quality and rambling. Not worth the money. Sadly I can't return as I am no longer a member. It's also a more realistic 2.95 on iTunes. Frustrating!

Would you ever listen to anything by William Butler Yeats again?

Yes but unlikely to purchase from Audible.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of William Butler Yeats and Siobhan McKenna ?

Tomas Mac Eoin or any number of poet/singers.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Yeats' poetry is astonishingly beautiful (enough to capture the imagination of my young daughter) so yes, but the recording itself doesn't encourage anyone to listen to it unfortunately.

Avoid

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