ROBERT WILLIAM SERVICE was born in England, educated
in Scotland (at the school my mother attended, but before her time),
lived in Canada and died in France. In between, he wrote some impres-
sive poetry, including the one you're about to listen to, performed by
the hypnotic Mr. VELVET - otherwise known as JIM REEVES.
Unless your computer is linked to a spectacular sound-system,
I'd suggest plugging in your headphones to enjoy this performance
at its finest. There's a chance this reading may relax you to the point
of unconsciousness, so it might be a good idea to sit or lie down while
listening to it - you wouldn't want to fall and injure yourself. Trust
me, I'm only half-joking.
Take it away, Jim.
If I had to choose a favourite poem it would probably be "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" - we studied it in school and normally I run a million miles from anything I was forced to read in school but I'll make an exception in the Mariner's case. On Christmas Day 2006 on Radio 4 the entire poem was read out by Ian McKellan (all 26 or so pages) but sadly there was no musical accompaniment as with the Yukon poem.
ReplyDeleteI've got a couple of nice illustrated editions of the Mariner poem, Col. It's one of the classics.
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