GREAT AMERICAN POETRY: THREE CENTURIES OF CLASSICS

These cassettes preserve interesting vocal renditions of 40 well-known poems, mainly of the nineteenth century. The readings were originally released 30 years ago by Caedmon. At that time, of course, they were on LP records, which by virtue of random access, is a far more congenial medium than tape for a poetry anthology. The readers are all excellent, especially the youthful Julie Harris reciting eight Emily Dickinson pieces. In other respects, however, this re-release misfires. Its drawbacks include poor audio quality and inadequate introductions to supply some thematic link among the various poems. E.T. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPT 93]