You can explore the Archive in many different ways. You can look for poets you know, you can let us take you to poets whose work you may not know, you can chose poems on a particular theme, or you can ask our guides to show you the recordings they especially like. As the Archive grows, more guides will be added to the Archive. Some guides will be poets and some will be prominent people from other walks of life. All are poetry lovers who are keen to share with you the recordings they especially enjoy.

To come back to your guide when you've listened to a selection, use your BACK button.

On my initial visit to the Poetry Archive, the historical recordings caught my attention first. I did not know that recordings of Tennyson, for instance, existed. Although some of the following lines were a little indistinct, it was incredibly exciting to hear the opening lines of 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'. Afterwards, I explored the children's section with my kids, and they got all their poetry books out and searched for favourite poets. Then I spent time discovering poets who were new to me.

When you've listened to a poem, press BACK to come back here.