Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
A Way with Words IV  By  cover art

A Way with Words IV

By: Prof. Michael D. C. Drout
Narrated by: Prof. Michael Drout
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

In A Way with Words I, II, and III, Professor Michael D.C. Drout increased listeners' understanding of the way literature works, of the rhetoric that in many ways defines people's lives, and of the intricacies of grammar, all while maintaining a lively tone that conveys the professor's infectious enthusiasm for the subject.

In part IV of this fascinating series, Professor Drout submerses listeners in poetry's past, present, and future. Addressing such poetic luminaries as Milton,Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats, these lectures explain in simple terms what poetry is while following its development through the centuries.

©2008 Michael D.C. Drout (P)2008 Recorded Books, LLC

What listeners say about A Way with Words IV

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    152
  • 4 Stars
    48
  • 3 Stars
    17
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    131
  • 4 Stars
    24
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    121
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Get your facts straight

What would have made A Way with Words IV better?

If the "professor" actually knew which poets wrote which poems

What do you think your next listen will be?

Nothing from this series

Any additional comments?

The *professor* refers to Keats THREE times when discussing Ode to the West Wind which is actually written by Shelley. Dude, get your poets straight. If you're going to lecture on a poem you should at least know who wrote it.....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Drout Rules!

Gotta love Drout - such a great teacher. This installment of the Modern Scholar explain poetry very clearly for the uninformed (like me). Best is the explanation of iambic pentameter, meter, etc. The only problem I have is that he devoted almost a whole lecture to John Donne and spent only 4 minutes on Milton - even though the chapter was entitled Milton. But that aside - Drout still rules!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting, not illuminating

I must say it pains me to give this title only three stars, because of how thoroughly I enjoyed many of the lectures and because of what a thoughtful, engaging teacher Prof. Drout is. After having listened to the lectures, I have a much better understanding of poetic techniques such as meter and rhythm, as well as the history of poetry in English. What I don't understand that much better is the meaning in the poetry itself. Maybe I was expecting a more hand-holding approach, guiding if not line-by-line then at least stanza-by-stanza, explaining what the poet was actually saying - not just how they were saying it. He seemed to think that part was self-evident when for me it often was not.

Part of the problem was just how short it was, when you're trying to look at the entire history of poetry in English. He seems to spend a lot of time just telling you how much he's leaving out. I am interested in history generally, and in the history of the English language specifically, so I was looking forward to the historical aspect. But looking back I think, for a course in "Understanding Poetry", I would've gotten more out of it if there was less of a historical aspect, and more analysis.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I love Professor Drout!

I will be listening to this one several times. Listening to an hour or two a day is best in my opinion. It contains so much information its a lot to take in at once but It is so well done I can't speak highly enough of it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Sparked my interest into poetry.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Would recommend to my peers because author/narrator is very passionate about subject.

Which scene was your favorite?

His story about the poet Lord Byron.

Was A Way with Words IV worth the listening time?

Definitely worth it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Great delivery, make sure you understand what you are buying

This is generally speaking a pretty technical course of understanding poetry. The professor is fantastic and delivers it in an engaging and passionate fashion.

But there is less discussion of meaning etc... more (at least the way I felt) of form and how it affects meaning.

As such it is great but this is not what I thought I was buying...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

love drout

Listening to this but literally made me want to look up the professor and go to the school where he instructs. great read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent work

This is an excellent book. Professor Drout is an excellent writer, as well as reader of his lucid writing. I only wish he would follow up with another one of modern and contemporary work.Jane Simon, drsimonsays.blogspot.com.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant, even if you're new to poetry

Professor Drout takes you through poetry in such a way that your appreciation for it takes on new heights.
Cape Town
South Africa

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mission Accomplished

Dr. Drout is one of the best professors in the Modern Scholar series. Very clear and passionate about his field. If you want to learn more about poetry, but don’t know where to begin, I would highly recommend this course.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!