"Little Trotty Wagtail" By John Clare

For the final day of National Poetry Month, a recording of a children's poem.


Audio Recording by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

Little Trotty Wagtail

by John Clare

Little trotty wagtail he went in the rain,

And tittering, tottering sideways he ne'er got straight again,

He stooped to get a worm, and looked up to get a fly,

And then he flew away ere his feathers they were dry.

Little trotty wagtail, he waddled in the mud,

And left his little footmarks, trample where he would.

He waddled in the water-pudge, and waggle went his tail,

And chirrupt up his wings to dry upon the garden rail.

Little trotty wagtail, you nimble all about,

And in the dimpling water-pudge you waddle in and out;

Your home is nigh at hand, and in the warm pig-stye,

So, little Master Wagtail, I'll bid you a good-bye.

 Poem-a-Day for National Poetry Month, April 2012 page on the Internet Archive. All 30 poems for the month are here for anyone to listen to in streaming audio and also to download.

"Summer and Winter" by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Audio recording by Bob González, rhapsode

Summer and Winter
by Percy Bysshe Shelley

It was a bright and cheerful afternoon,

Towards the end of the sunny month of June,

When the north wind congregates in crowds

The floating mountains of the silver clouds

From the horizon--and the stainless sky

Opens beyond them like eternity.

All things rejoiced beneath the sun; the weeds,

The river, and the cornfields, and the reeds;

The willow leaves that glanced in the light breeze,

And the firm foliage of the larger trees.

It was a winter such as when birds die

In the deep forests; and the fishes lie

Stiffened in the translucent ice, which makes

Even the mud and slime of the warm lakes

A wrinkled clod as hard as brick; and when,

Among their children, comfortable men

Gather about great fires, and yet feel cold:

Alas, then, for the homeless beggar old!

Poem-a-Day for National Poetry Month, April 2012 page on the Internet Archive.

William Blake "To the Muses"

Poem for Saturday, April 28

Audio Recording by Bob González, rhapsode

To the Muses
by William Blake

Whether on Ida's shady brow,

         Or in the chambers of the East,

The chambers of the sun, that now

         From ancient melody have ceas'd;

Whether in Heav'n ye wander fair,

         Or the green corners of the earth,

Or the blue regions of the air,

         Where the melodious winds have birth;

Whether on crystal rocks ye rove,

         Beneath the bosom of the sea

Wand'ring in many a coral grove,

         Fair Nine, forsaking Poetry!

How have you left the ancient love

         That bards of old enjoy'd in you!

The languid strings do scarcely move!

         The sound is forc'd, the notes are few!

Poem-a-Day for National Poetry Month page on the Internet Archive.

George Meredith "I Play for Seasons"

Recording
Text
Poet Bio


Poem-a-Day for April 2012 page on the Internet Archive

"Nightingales" by Robert Bridges

My classic poem for today is "Nightingales" by Robert Bridges

Recording
Text
Poet Bio

My Poem-a-Day for Poetry Month April 2012 page on the Internet Archive.

The Nightingale by Sir Philip Sydney

Wednesday, April 25

Recording by Bob Gonzalez, rhapsode

CERTAIN SONNETS   

[The nightingale]          

by Sir Philip Sidney

The nightingale, as soon as April bringeth

    Unto her rested sense a perfect waking,

While late bare earth, proud of new clothing, springeth,

    Sings out her woes, a thorn her song-book making,

    And mournfully bewailing,

Her throat in tunes expresseth

What grief her breast oppresseth,

    For Tereus' force on her chaste will prevailing.

O Philomela fair, O take some gladness,

That here is juster cause of plaintful sadness :

Thine earth now springs, mine fadeth ;

Thy thorn without, my thorn my heart invadeth.

Alas, she hath no other cause of anguish

    But Tereus' love, on her by strong hand wroken,

Wherein she suffering, all her spirits languish ;

    Full womanlike / complains her will was broken.

    But I, who daily craving,

Cannot have to content me,

Have more cause to lament me,

    Since wanting is more woe than too much having.

O Philomela fair, O take some gladness,

That here is juster cause of plaintful sadness :

Thine earth now springs, mine fadeth ;

Thy thorn without, my thorn my heart invadeth.

           

Biography of Sir Philip Sidney

Rosalind's Madrigal by Thomas Lodge

 

My Poem-a-Day project continues with another classic poem recorded especially for  National Poetry Month, April 2012 .

Tuesday, April 24

Rosalind's Madrigal  by Thomas Lodge (1556?–1625)

Recording

Text

Poet Bio

To view all the classic poems I have recorded so far, visit my Poem-a-Day for Poetry Month - April 2012 page on the Internet Archive.

Matthew Arnold "Shakespeare"

In celebration of the birthday of William Shakespeare in 1564, a paean to Shakespeare by Victorian poet, Matthew Arnold.

Shakespeare by Matthew Arnold
Recording
Text
Poet Bio

Poem-a-Day for Poetry Month, April 2012 page on the Internet Archive to hear all poems so far recorded this month.

A.E. Housman "The Immortal Part"

Sunday, April 22, 2012

The Immortal Part by A.E. Housman

Recording
Text
Poet Bio

Poem-a-Day for Poetry Month, April 2012 page on the Internet Archive. Click here to listen to all 22 (so far) of the month's poems in streaming audio.

Joyce, Wordsworth, Watts, Chapman

Wednesday, April 18
 

All Day I Hear the Noise of Waters

by James Joyce
Recording
Text
Poet Bio

Thursday, April 19
 

Written In March

by William Wordsworth

Recording
Text
Poet Bio 

Friday, April 20

Horace Paraphrased

By Isaac Watts

Recording
Text (scroll to the very bottom)
Poet Bio

Saturday, April 21
 

A Coronet for his Mistress, Philosophy

By George Chapman

Recording
Text
Poet Bio

Poem-a-Day for Poetry Month, April 2012 page on the Internet Archive
All my rhapsodic recordings of poems for the month of April 2012 

Clough, Rossetti, Yeats, & Lawrence

April 14

Say not the Struggle Naught Availeth

by Arthur Hugh Clough

Recording

Text   

Poet Bio

April 15

A Dirge

By Christina Rossetti

Recording

Text

Poet Bio

April 16

Sailing to Byzantium        

by William Butler Yeats

Recording

Text

Poet Bio

April 17

Piano

By D.H. Lawrence

Recording

Text

Poet Bio

Dekker, Campion & Browning

Poems for April 11, 12, & 13

Wednesday, April 11
Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes by Thomas Dekker
 
Recording

Text  

Poet Bio

Thursday, April 12
Blame Not My Cheeks by Thomas Campion
Recording
Text
Poet Bio

 
Friday, April 13
Meeting at Night by Robert Browning

Recording
Text
Poet Bio

Poem-a-Day for Poetry Month, April 2012 page on the Internet Archive
All my rhapsodic recordings of poems for the month of April 2012

Milton, Collins & Tennyson

New Audio recordings of poems for April 8, 9, & 10

Sunday, April 8
Sonnet 23 by John Milton
Audio recording
Text
Poet Bio

Monday, April 9
Ode - How Sleep the Brave by William Collins
Audio recording
Text
Poet Bio

Tuesday, April 10 
from In Memoriam - Dark House by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Audio recording
Text
Poet Bio

These recordings are part of my personal rhapsodic project for Poetry Month, April 2012. A different classical poem, new to my repertory, for each day of the month, all collected here on this Internet Archive page.

Michael Drayton and Samuel Daniel

Here are my audio Poems-of-the-Day for April 6 and 7

April 6: Michael Drayton's Sonnet 48 - Cupid I Hate Thee
Recording
Text
Poet bio

April 7: Samuel Daniel's Delia L
Recording
Text
Poet bio

Poem-a-Day for Poetry Month April 2012 page 

Poem of the Day - Ode by John Hoskins

Ode by John Hoskins

Audio - Performed by Bob González, rhapsode
Text
Poet Bio

My Poem-a-Day audio recordings for Poetry Month, April 2012 page at the Internet Archive.

Poems for April 3 & 4

I am catching up to the day, so I have two new recordings of classic poems posted on the Internet Archive page I have created for this project. Click this link for the page with all recordings for the month: Poem-a-Day for Poetry Month - April 2012

The links to the texts of the poems and a poet bio at Poets.org:

April 3 - The Mower to the Glowworms by Andrew Marvell  text   poet bio

April 4 - A Lecture Upon the Shadow by John Donne  text   poet bio

Poem-a-Day for Poetry Month April 2012

This year for Poetry Month I am getting familiar with a new (for me) classic poem each day. I will be posting links to my audio performances of either a new poem every single day or every few days I will post the number needed to catch up with the days of the month. Today I am posting links to two poems, one for April 1st and April 2nd.

April 1 - Sonnet 25 by William Shakespeare

Text of poem
Poet Life & Times

April 2 - The Time I've Lost in Wooing by Thomas Moore

Text of poem at Poetry Out Loud
Bios of Thomas Moore:
Poetry Out Loud
Wikipedia
Poem Hunter