The World's Best Poetry, Volume 2: Love (Part 1)

Various

The second of ten volumes of poetry edited by Canadian poet laureate Bliss Carman (1861-1929). This collection, the first of two parts, includes a range of famous and influential love poems relating to such topics as admiration; love's nature; love's beginnings; and wooing and winning. It also includes an introductory essay by American poet John Vance Cheney (1848-1922). Summary by Tomas Peter.

Genre(s): Anthologies

Language: English

Group: World's Best Poetry

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 The Future of Poetry by John Vance Cheney Group 00:19:00
Play 01 When in the Chronicle of Wasted Time: Sonnet CVI by William Shakespeare Tomas Peter
00:01:14
Play 02 Daybreak by Sir William Davenant Sonia
00:01:04
Play 03 Shall I Compare Thee?: Sonnet XVIII by William Shakespeare Lian Pang
00:01:15
Play 04 The Portrait by Thomas Heywood Anusha Iyer
00:02:33
Play 05 Give Place, Ye Lovers by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey John Burlinson
00:02:09
Play 06 To His Mistress, Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia by Sir Henry Wotton cathar maiden
00:01:28
Play 07 The Forward Violet Thus Did I Chide: Sonnet XCIX by William Shakespeare Sonia
00:01:23
Play 08 There Is a Garden in Her Face: From 'An Houre's Recreation in Musicke,' 1606 by Anonymous Gaby
00:01:45
Play 09 Olivia: From 'Twelfth Night,' Act I. Sc. 5 by William Shakespeare Lian Pang
00:00:44
Play 10 Portia's Picture: From 'The Merchant of Venice,' Act III. Sc. 2 by William Shakespeare Tomas Peter
00:01:09
Play 11 Song by Mark Akenside Gaby
00:01:54
Play 12 Triumph of Charis by Ben Jonson John Burlinson
00:02:25
Play 13 Belinda: From 'The Rape of the Lock' by Alexander Pope Lian Pang
00:01:06
Play 14 Hero's Beauty: From the First Sestiad of 'Hero and Leander' by Christopher Marlowe Tomas Peter
00:02:58
Play 15 Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes: From 'The Forest' by Ben Jonson Tomas Peter
00:01:09
Play 16 Eros Is Missing by Meleager Sonia
00:01:15
Play 17 A Violet in Her Hair by Charles Swain Anusha Iyer
00:01:16
Play 18 To Dianeme by Robert Herrick Lian Pang
00:00:53
Play 19 Rosalynd by Thomas Lodge John Burlinson
00:03:13
Play 20 Disdain Returned by Thomas Carew Sonia
00:00:56
Play 21 To a Lady Admiring Herself in a Looking-Glass by Thomas Randolph Gaby
00:02:36
Play 22 Phillis Is My Only Joy by Sir Charles Sedley Tomas Peter
00:01:20
Play 23 Constancy by Sir John Suckling Anusha Iyer
00:01:04
Play 24 A Vision of Beauty by Ben Jonson Lian Pang
00:00:50
Play 25 To the Princess Lucretia by Torquato Tasso John Burlinson
00:01:42
Play 26 My Lady by Dante Alighieri Anusha Iyer
00:01:22
Play 27 Vision of a Fair Woman, from the Ancient Erse of Elizabeth A. Sharp's 'Lyra Celtica' Tomas Peter
00:01:25
Play 28 Spring by Meleager Sonia
00:01:05
Play 29 Song by Walther von der Vogelweide Gaby
00:01:59
Play 30 The Girl of Cadiz by Lord Byron Anusha Iyer
00:03:27
Play 31 I Fear Thy Kisses, Gentle Maiden by Percy Bysshe Shelley Lian Pang
00:00:45
Play 32 A Budget of Paradoxes by John Martley cathar maiden
00:01:17
Play 33 Love Dissembled: From 'As You Like It,' Act III. Sc. 5 by William Shakespeare Anusha Iyer
00:02:15
Play 34 Her Likeness by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik Sonia
00:01:16
Play 35 She Walks in Beauty: From 'Hebrew Melodies' by Lord Byron Gaby
00:01:39
Play 36 She Is Not Fair to Outward View by Hartley Coleridge John Burlinson
00:01:12
Play 37 Verses Written in an Album by Thomas Moore Sonia
00:00:53
Play 38 To Roses in the Bosom of Castara by William Habington Tomas Peter
00:01:17
Play 39 To Helen by Edgar Allan Poe Tomas Peter
00:01:02
Play 40 On a Girdle by Edmund Waller John Burlinson
00:01:09
Play 41 The White Rose (Sent by a Yorkish Lover to His Lancastrian Mistress) by Anonymous Lian Pang
00:00:47
Play 42 A Song by Thomas Carew Sonia
00:01:22
Play 43 Go, Lovely Rose by Edmund Waller Tomas Peter
00:01:21
Play 44 Whenas in Silks My Julia Goes by Robert Herrick Lian Pang
00:00:44
Play 45 O, Do Not Wanton with Those Eyes by Ben Jonson Sonia
00:01:00
Play 46 Black and Blue Eyes by Thomas Moore Anusha Iyer
00:01:23
Play 47 Blue Eyes by John Keats John Burlinson
00:01:46
Play 48 O, Saw Ye the Lass? by Richard Ryan Tomas Peter
00:01:19
Play 49 A Health by Edward Coote Pinkney Tomas Peter
00:01:55
Play 50 My Sweetheart's Face by John Allan Wyeth Lian Pang
00:01:00
Play 51 Her Guitar by Frank Dempster Sherman Anusha Iyer
00:02:25
Play 52 On Some Buttercups by Frank Dempster Sherman John Burlinson
00:01:19
Play 53 O, Fairest of the Rural Maids! by William Cullen Bryant Gaby
00:01:47
Play 54 To a Lady (On Her Art of Growing Old Gracefully) by John James Piatt Lian Pang
00:00:39
Play 55 On the Road to Chorrera by Arlo Bates Sonia
00:01:23
Play 56 The Milking-Maid by Christina Georgina Rossetti Anusha Iyer
00:03:48
Play 57 Lovely Mary Donnelly by William Allingham Tomas Peter
00:02:48
Play 58 The Irish Spinning-Wheel by Alfred Perceval Graves Craig Franklin
00:02:05
Play 59 The Low-Backed Car by Samuel Lover Gaby
00:02:59
Play 60 A Gage d'Amour by Austin Dobson Anusha Iyer
00:03:45
Play 61 An Experience and a Moral by Frederick Swartwout Cozzens Gaby
00:02:50
Play 62 At the Church Gate by William Makepeace Thackeray Craig Franklin
00:01:35
Play 63 Love: From 'The Merchant of Venice,' Act III. Sc. 2 by William Shakespeare Lian Pang
00:00:48
Play 64 Love Is a Sickness by Samuel Daniel Lian Pang
00:01:00
Play 65 The Shepherd and the King by Robert Greene Sonia
00:02:26
Play 66 Love: From 'Hero and Leander' by Christopher Marlowe Gaby
00:01:18
Play 67 Love and Woman: From 'Love's Labour's Lost,' Act IV. Sc. 3 by William Shakespeare Group 00:05:09
Play 68 Ah, How Sweet: From 'Tyrannic Love,' Act IV. Sc. 1 by John Dryden Tomas Peter
00:01:35
Play 69 Welcome, Welcome, Do I Sing by William Browne Lian Pang
00:01:40
Play 70 Love: From the 'Lay of the Last Minstrel,' Canto III by Sir Walter Scott Sonia
00:01:57
Play 71 Song by Sir Charles Sedley cathar maiden
00:01:42
Play 72 If It Be True That Any Beauteous Thing by Michelangelo Craig Franklin
00:01:32
Play 73 Sonnet by George Chapman Anusha Iyer
00:01:22
Play 74 Love's Silence by Sir Philip Sidney Craig Franklin
00:01:16
Play 75 When Will Love Come? by Pakenham Beatty cathar maiden
00:01:08
Play 76 Why? by Mary Louise Ritter Anusha Iyer
00:01:24
Play 77 The Annoyer by Nathaniel Parker Willis Tomas Peter
00:01:59
Play 78 Three Loves by Lucy H. Hooper Sonia
00:01:07
Play 79 Love Scorns Degrees: From 'The Mountain of the Lovers' by Paul Hamilton Hayne Lian Pang
00:00:56
Play 80 Love Not Me for Comely Grace by Anonymous Anusha Iyer
00:01:03
Play 81 Light by Francis W. Bourdillon Anusha Iyer
00:00:49
Play 82 O Mistress Mine: From 'Twelfth Night,' Act II. Sc. 3 by William Shakespeare Tomas Peter
00:01:28
Play 83 Philomela's Ode (That She Sung in Her Arbor) by Robert Greene Sonia
00:02:04
Play 84 A Fiction: How Cupid Made a Nymph Wound Herself with His Arrow by 'A.W.' Tomas Peter
00:03:01
Play 85 Wishes for the Supposed Mistress by Richard Crashaw Anusha Iyer
00:03:19
Play 86 A Match by Algernon Charles Swinburne cathar maiden
00:02:20
Play 87 My Choice by William Browne Craig Franklin
00:01:48
Play 88 A Maiden's Ideal of a Husband: From 'The Contrivances' by Henry Carey cathar maiden
00:01:05
Play 89 Rosalynd's Complaint by Thomas Lodge Lian Pang
00:01:46
Play 90 Cupid Swallowed by Leigh Hunt Craig Franklin
00:01:09
Play 91 Green Grow the Rashes O by Robert Burns Tomas Peter
00:01:48
Play 92 Perfume by Edmund William Gosse Sonia
00:01:15
Play 93 Life by Lizzie M. Little Anusha Iyer
00:01:25
Play 94 Kate Temple's Song by Sir James Carnegie, Earl of Southesk cathar maiden
00:01:10
Play 95 The First Kiss by Thomas Campbell Sonia
00:01:35
Play 96 Tell Me, My Heart, If This Be Love by George, Lord Lyttelton Craig Franklin
00:01:29
Play 97 Athulf and Ethilda by Sir Henry Taylor John Burlinson
Gaby
00:02:24
Play 98 Blest as the Immortal Gods by Sappho Lian Pang
00:01:17
Play 99 I Dreamt I Saw Great Venus by Bion Anusha Iyer
00:01:39
Play 100 Francesca da Rimini: From the 'Divina Commedia: Inferno' by Dante Alighieri Anusha Iyer
John Burlinson
00:02:21
Play 101 Dinna Ask Me by John Dunlop Tomas Peter
00:01:12
Play 102 O Swallow, Swallow, Flying South: From 'The Princess' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson cathar maiden
00:01:58
Play 103 Song: From 'The Miller's Daughter' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Lian Pang
00:01:09
Play 104 If Doughty Deeds My Lady Please by Robert Graham of Gartmore Craig Franklin
00:01:44
Play 105 The Kiss by Robert Herrick Group 00:01:51
Play 106 An Opal by Ednah Procter Clarke Hayes Sonia
00:01:07
Play 107 Cupid and Campaspe: From 'Alexander and Campaspe,' Act III. Sc. 5 by John Lyly Tomas Peter
00:01:11
Play 108 Kisses by William Strode Anusha Iyer
00:00:50
Play 109 Love's Philosophy by Percy Bysshe Shelley Sonia
00:01:03
Play 110 Kissing's No Sin by Anonymous Craig Franklin
00:00:51
Play 111 Song of the Milkmaid: From 'Queen Mary' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson cathar maiden
00:01:15
Play 112 Comin' Through the Rye by Robert Burns Tomas Peter
00:01:36
Play 113 Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad by Robert Burns Tomas Peter
00:02:17
Play 114 Sonnet Upon a Stolen Kiss by George Wither Craig Franklin
00:01:21
Play 115 Caprice by William Dean Howells Anusha Iyer
Sonia
00:02:24
Play 116 Sly Thoughts by Coventry Patmore Anusha Iyer
Gaby
00:00:48
Play 117 The Whistle by Robert Story Group 00:01:47
Play 118 Behave Yoursel' Before Folk by Alexander Rodger Tomas Peter
00:02:28
Play 119 Smile and Never Heed Me by Charles Swain cathar maiden
00:01:07
Play 120 The Dule's I' This Bonnet o' Mine (Lancashire Dialect) by Edwin Waugh Craig Franklin
00:02:14
Play 121 A Spinster's Stint by Alice Cary Anusha Iyer
00:01:50
Play 122 The Telltale by Elizabeth Akers Anusha Iyer
00:04:13
Play 123 Love in the Valley by George Meredith Sonia
00:05:45
Play 124 Thoughts on the Commandments by George Augustus Baker Tomas Peter
00:01:27
Play 125 The Love-Knot by Nora Perry Anusha Iyer
00:02:21
Play 126 The Chess-board by Robert Bulwer Lytton (Owen Meredith) Anusha Iyer
00:02:14
Play 127 Her Letter by Bret Harte Sonia
00:04:02
Play 128 The Plaidie by Charles Sibley Tomas Peter
00:01:05
Play 129 Kitty of Coleraine by Charles Dawson Shanly Sonia
Tomas Peter
00:01:22
Play 130 Kitty Neil by John Francis Waller Sonia
Tomas Peter
00:02:13
Play 131 The Little Milliner by Robert Buchanan cathar maiden
00:12:58
Play 132 Atalanta's Race: From 'The Earthly Paradise' by William Morris Sonia
00:09:06
Play 133 The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe Tomas Peter
00:01:32
Play 134 The Nymph's Reply by Sir Walter Raleigh cathar maiden
00:01:40
Play 135 Golden Eyes by Rufinus Craig Franklin
00:01:10
Play 136 Phillida and Corydon by Nicholas Breton Group 00:01:40
Play 137 The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington by Anonymous Group 00:02:47
Play 138 Where Are You Going, My Pretty Maid? by Anonymous Group 00:01:04
Play 139 My Eyes! How I Love You by John Godfrey Saxe Craig Franklin
00:01:31
Play 140 The Brookside by Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton Sonia
00:01:41
Play 141 The Little Red Lark by Alfred Perceval Graves Sonia
00:01:16
Play 142 Love by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Tomas Peter
00:04:30
Play 143 Somebody by Anonymous Tomas Peter
00:01:37
Play 144 The Exchange by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Tomas Peter
00:00:46
Play 145 Love's Logic by Anonymous Group 00:02:06
Play 146 The Night-piece by Robert Herrick Craig Franklin
00:01:16
Play 147 Sweet Meeting of Desires: From 'The Angel in the House' by Coventry Patmore Tomas Peter
00:01:59
Play 148 Story of the Gate by T.H. Robertson Anusha Iyer
00:02:32
Play 149 Doris: A Pastoral by Arthur Joseph Munby Sonia
John Burlinson
00:03:40
Play 150 Among the Heather by William Allingham cathar maiden
00:01:36
Play 151 Rory O'More; or, All for Good Luck by Samuel Lover Group 00:02:38
Play 152 Cooking and Courting by Anonymous Sonia
Tomas Peter
00:02:53
Play 153 Ca' the Yowes by Isabel Pagan Tomas Peter
00:01:45
Play 154 The Siller Croun by Susanna Blamire Tomas Peter
00:01:22
Play 155 Duncan Gray Cam' Here to Woo by Robert Burns Craig Franklin
00:02:05
Play 156 How to Ask and Have by Samuel Lover Tomas Peter
Gaby
00:01:35
Play 157 Live in My Heart and Pay No Rent by Samuel Lover Sonia
00:01:34
Play 158 Widow Machree by Samuel Lover Tomas Peter
00:01:59
Play 159 Widow Malone by Charles Lever Sonia
00:02:11
Play 160 I'm Not Myself at All by Samuel Lover Craig Franklin
00:02:35
Play 161 I Prithee Send Me Back My Heart by Sir John Suckling Anusha Iyer
00:01:31
Play 162 Love Me Little, Love Me Long by Anonymous Sonia
00:02:13
Play 163 The Courtin' by James Russell Lowell Group 00:04:52
Play 164 Popping Corn by Anonymous Group 00:02:11
Play 165 The Friar of Orders Gray by Thomas Percy Group 00:05:00
Play 166 The Hermit: From 'The Vicar of Wakefield' by Oliver Goldsmith Group 00:07:48
Play 167 The Laird o' Cockpen by Carolina Oliphant, Baroness Nairne Group 00:02:23
Play 168 Othello's Defence: From 'Othello,' Act I. Sc. 3 by William Shakespeare Tomas Peter
00:03:37
Play 169 The Earl o' Quarterdeck: A New Old Ballad by George MacDonald Group 00:06:05
Play 170 Aux Italiens by Robert Bulwer Lytton (Owen Meredith) Sonia
00:06:19