Short Poetry Collection 170

Various

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".

Genre(s): Poetry

Language: English

Group: Short Poetry Collections

Section Chapter Author Source Reader Time Language
Play 01 Amaryllis Edwin Arlington Robinson Etext Winston Tharp
00:01:05 en
Play 02 Annabel Lee Edgar Allan Poe Etext Linda Olsen Fitak
00:02:52 en
Play 03 Another Song Samuel Daniel Etext Phil Schempf
00:00:57 en
Play 04 The Ant Explorer C. J. Dennis Etext Algy Pug
00:01:55 en
Play 05 Babel: The Gate of the God Gordon Bottomley Etext Algy Pug
00:05:52 en
Play 06 Barthram's Dirge Robert Surtees Etext Sonia
00:01:44 en
Play 07 Parliament of the Birds Attar of Nishapur Etext Josh Mitteldorf
01:19:18 en
Play 08 Discordants Conrad Aiken Etext DrPGould
00:03:12 en
Play 09 The End of the World Gordon Bottomley Etext Algy Pug
00:04:07 en
Play 10 Epilogue William Ernest Henley Etext Bruce Kachuk
00:01:48 en
Play 11 Flycatchers Robert Bridges Etext Tomas Peter
00:01:31 en
Play 12 In The Placid Summer Midnight William Ernest Henley Etext Bruce Kachuk
00:01:41 en
Play 13 The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock T. S. Eliot Etext Linda Olsen Fitak
00:10:27 en
Play 14 Oft in the Stilly Night Thomas Moore Etext Winston Tharp
00:01:22 en
Play 15 Old Germany Walther von der Vogelweide Etext Craig Campbell
00:00:42 en
Play 16 O Me! O Life! Walt Whitman Etext Phil Schempf
00:01:08 en
Play 17 On a Dead Field-Flower John Reade Etext Tomas Peter
00:02:34 en
Play 18 Pomona William Morris Etext Newgatenovelist
00:00:44 en
Play 19 Preludes T. S. Eliot Etext Dafni Ma
00:03:11 en
Play 20 The Rainy Day Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Etext Ian King
00:01:13 en
Play 21 Recognition Arthur Adams Etext Newgatenovelist
00:03:14 en
Play 22 The Ride on the Ice Esaias Tegnér Etext Sonia
00:02:29 en
Play 23 Sonnet 116 William Shakespeare Etext Rebecca S
00:00:59 en
Play 24 Sonnet 18 William Shakespeare Etext Rebecca S
00:01:06 en
Play 25 Sonnet 73 William Shakespeare Etext Rebecca S
00:01:06 en
Play 26 Spring Gerard Manley Hopkins Etext Winston Tharp
00:01:14 en
Play 27 Sunset Theodore Maynard Etext Tomas Peter
00:01:18 en
Play 28 To a Child Louise Imogen Guiney Etext Ian King
00:01:28 en
Play 29 To Oliver Wendell Holmes Edward Payson Guild Etext Sonia
00:01:14 en
Play 30 To The Grammarians. Why He Writes Wantonly Johannes Secundus Etext Craig Campbell
00:01:55 en
Play 31 We live in deeds, not years Philip James Bailey Etext Phil Schempf
00:00:58 en
Play 32 What Is To Come We Know Not William Ernest Henley Etext Bruce Kachuk
00:01:33 en
Play 33 The Windy Night Aline Kilmer Etext Ian King
00:01:09 en
Play 34 Written in Edinburgh Arthur Henry Hallam Etext Newgatenovelist
00:01:12 en