Publisher's Synopsis
Following the appointment of Andrew Motion as the new Poet Laureate this tape is to celebrate the 'best' of all the poets laureate from John Dryden to Ted Hughes (and the new Laureate). Poems would be classics such as Daffodils and Sea Fever with a smattering of the more cringe-making royal doggerel. The names would be: John Dryden 1631-1700 Thomas Shadwell 1642-1692 Nahum Tate 1652-1715 Nicholas Rowe 1674-1718 Laurence Eusden 1688-1730 Colley Cibber 1671-1757 William Whitehead 1715-1785 Thomas Warton 1728-1790 Henry Pye 1745-1813 Robert Southey 1774-1843 William Wordsworth 1770-1850 Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1809-1892 Alfred Austin 1835-1913 Robert Bridges 1844-1930 John Masefield 1878-1967 C. Day Lewis 1904-1972 Sir John Betjeman 1906-1884 Ted Hughes 1930-1998 Andrew Motion The audio will run along the lines of the popular Radio 4 programme ?With Great Pleasure?. Each poet will have a short biography and review of his work as a poet and as Laureate read by Bill Paterson, this will be followed by readings of the poems by Tim Pigott-Smith and Diana Quick. There is a book in the same livery.
