The Spoken Word: Poems and Short Stories (audio)

Author: Hughes, Ted; Oswald, Alice (essays)

Published by The British Library, 2008
2CD

The British Library has published two double-CD sets of recordings from the BBC archives. Each set comes with a booklet containing a short essay by Alice Oswald and details on the recordings.

Set one, "The Spoken Word: Poems and Short Stories" (143 minutes), contains the following:

• two short stories from Wodwo ("The Harvesting" and "Snow")
• poems drawn mostly from Lupercal, Wodwo, Prometheus on his Crag, Crow, Remains of Elmet, Moortown Diary, Earth-Numb and Adam and the Sacred Nine.

The stories and poems were recorded in different locations between 1960 and 1992. Both sets are available from the British Library shop and from good booksellers.

Contents:

Disc One:

• The Harvesting – a short story (from Wodwo)
• The Captain’s Speech (from The House of Aries)
• Thistles (from Wodwo)
• The Road to Easington
• Out (from Wodwo)
• The Thought-Fox (from The Hawk in the Rain)
• The Retired Colonel (from Lupercal)
• Pike (from Lupercal)
• Hawk Roosting (from Lupercal)
• Full Moon and Little Frieda (from Wodwo)
• Pibroch (from Wodwo)
• Prometheus on his crag had such an advantageous prospect (No. 18 from Prometheus on his Crag)
• Prometheus on his crag spotted the vulture (No. 4 from Prometheus on his Crag)
• Prometheus on his crag began to admire the vulture
• [Introduction]
• The Best Worker in Europe [extract]
• From 'Poet of the Month' (Ted Hughes discusses his appointment as Poet Laureate and his understanding of his role)
• Snow – a short story (from Wodwo)

 

Disc Two

• A Kill (from A Few Crows)
• A Childish Prank (from A Few Crows)
• Notes for a Little Play (from A Few Crows)
• [Introduction]
• Football at Slack (from Remains of Elmet)
• Wild Rock (from Remains of Elmet)
• For Billy Holt (from Remains of Elmet)
• When Men Got to the Summit (from Remains of Elmet)
• The Long Tunnel Ceiling (from Remains of Elmet)
• Mount Zion (from Remains of Elmet)
• Shackleton Hill (from Remains of Elmet)
• Cock-Crows (from Remains of Elmet)
• Heptonstall Old Church (from Remains of Elmet)
• [Introduction]
• Teaching a dumb calf (from Moortown)
• Tractor (from Moortown)
• Orf (from Moortown)
• February 17th (from Moortown)
• Happy calf (from Moortown)
• [Introduction]
• Earth-numb (from Earth-numb)
• A Motorbike (from Earth-numb)
• The Lovepet (from Earth-numb)
• Funeral (No. 22 from Orts)
• The Song (from Adam and the Sacred Nine)
• And the Falcon came (from Adam and the Sacred Nine)
• The Swift comes the swift (from Adam and the Sacred Nine)
• The Dove Came (from Adam and the Sacred Nine)
• Life Is Trying to Be Life (from Earth-numb)