Poetry Archive

The Archive is working normally. However, there has been a breakdown of the links from our poets' pages to buy CDs and books.

We'll restore those links soon

Due to unexpected technical problems caused by our partners at the Poetry Book Society, links from poets' pages in the Archive to the PBS site have stopped working. To purchase any Archive CD or any book, please make a note of what you want and then use the link below to place your order.

Buy books and CDs

Watch a video introduction

Talk with our Poet in Residence

This term's poet is Jean Sprackland

Each term, a different poet takes up residence in the Archive, talking about poetry with our visitors.

Join the conversation

Will you help us record more poets?

Please help us to expand and improve the Archive

The Poetry Archive is a registered charity. We depend upon donations from our visitors to make new recordings and to add new features to the Archive. All donations, large and small, are gratefully received and are acknowledged on the site.

Make a donation

Poetry is as precise as geometry

Gustave Flaubert

Explore all our poets

Poetry is the language of the heart on fire

Andrew Motion

Visit Andrew Motion's page

An introduction to the Archive.

The Poetry Archive is the world's premier online collection of recordings of poets reading their work.

You can enjoy listening here, free of charge, to the voices of contemporary English-language poets and of poets from the past. The Archive is growing all the time. Please come back regularly to enjoy our latest recordings.

Watch a video introduction by Andrew Motion

Edmund
Blunden

View all Historic Recordings

Teachers
Bring poetry to life in your school! These pages are specially designed to help you and your students to get the most out of the Poetry Archive.

Students
The Poetry Archive is a great place for students to research and learn about poetry.

Librarians
Support and practical ideas to help you and your readers enjoy the Archive.

New to Poetry?
Tips on using the Archive for less confident readers, and for those who are unfamiliar with reading poetry.

Many of the books and recordings featured in the Archive can be bought at the Poetry Bookshop Online

Tour by:
Monica Ali

On my initial visit to the Poetry Archive, the historical recordings caught my attention first. I did not know that recordings of Tennyson, for instan...

Monica Ali's tour

This part of the Archive is full of poems chosen specially for children. Meet old favourites and make new discoveries.

David Harsent

Use the player below to hear poems by this poet.

Alternatively, you can click Lucky Dip for a different poet.

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Browse all poems by theme

Browse all poems by form

Browse all poets by name

Browse all poems by title

Glossary of poetic terms