The best way to experience great poetry is to hear it read aloud, preferably by outstanding actors including Lee Remick, Peggy Ashcroft, and Anthony Hopkins. Seen on public television in the early 1980s, this extraordinary series is a grand tour of English-language poetry from Chaucer through Ted Hughes. Presented by Sir John Gielgud, the poems are read in settings that range from a 15th-century chapel to Emily Dickinson’s bedroom. Sixteen episodes. Color. Total time: 410 minutes. Athena.
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