While there are many amazing readers out there with fantastic voices, there is no replacement for hearing an author read their own work. Finding recordings of those long deceased and hearing their words in their own voice is a thrilling experience. For that reason on this site we like to highlight these recordings and so today we’re giving a listen to the great poet E. E. Cummings.
First, perhaps his most famous work, and one of the most famous love poems of modern times, “I Carry Your Heart With Me (I Carry It In My Heart).” Published in 1952, check out this great recording below:
Another famous work is “anyone lived in a pretty how town,” a poem first published in 1940 that addresses the lives of residents in a nameless town. George Lucas used it as inspiration for an early short film he made in 1967. Here is Cummings’ reading:
Finally, here he is reading “somewhere I have never travelled, gladly beyond,” which is my favorite of the three we’re listening to today. I hope you enjoy these!
One Hundred False Starts 