A living archive of spoken poems

The poems of Wordsworth, read aloud by a few hundred voices.

Begun in lockdown by the poet's own descendants, this is a growing collection of William Wordsworth's verse — read by his family, by well-known voices, and by people all over the world. Find any reading in seconds.

Browse the archive How it began

William Wordsworth1770 – 1850 · Poet Laureate

In loving memory

Susan Wordsworth Andrew

reads “After-Thought”

From the River Duddon sonnets, in her own voice — “the Form remains, the Function never dies … we feel that we are greater than we know.” There was no more fitting poem for her to have read.

Susan Wordsworth Andrew · died 23rd July 2026

Well-known voices

Stephen Fry, Hugh Bonneville, Brian Cox, William H. Macy, Leslie Caron and many more.

The Wordsworth family

Where it began — direct descendants reading their ancestor's words, generation upon generation.

By the poem

Hear "The Daffodils" or "Tintern Abbey" interpreted by many different readers, side by side.

A few favourites

Selected readings

A small taste of the collection — three of the most-watched readings from the family, from well-known voices, and from the public. Press play to watch.

Browse all readings

Search by poem or by reader, or filter by who recorded it.

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The story

It began as a family gathering that couldn't happen.

In 2020, Christopher Wordsworth Andrew — the great-great-great-great-grandson of William Wordsworth — set out to mark the poet's 250th birthday. The plan was simple: gather the scattered Wordsworth cousins at Rydal Mount, the poet's old home, and celebrate together.

Then the pandemic closed the doors. So the gathering went virtual: each member of the family would record themselves reading one of William's poems — a private keepsake passed between relatives.

"Stephen Fry heard of it, and simply offered to read 'The World Is Too Much With Us.'"

Word spread. Friends asked to take part, then friends of friends, then voices from stage and screen, then strangers from across the world. Christopher set a target that felt almost impossible — 250 readings, one for each year. On Countryfile, on the 27th of September 2020, Ellie Harrison's reading of "The Tables Turned" tipped the collection past the mark.

The target was met. The archive, it turns out, did not want to stop.

Help it keep growing.

250 was never the finish line — it was proof the idea worked. Hundreds of Wordsworth's poems are still unread here, and there is room for every voice. Recording one takes a phone and a few quiet minutes.

Choose a poem

Pick a favourite, or claim one nobody has recorded yet. Short ones are perfect for a first try.

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Record yourself reading it

A phone camera is all you need. Outdoors, by a window, in the hills — wherever the poem feels at home.

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Send it in

Share the file and we'll add it to the archive, credited to you, alongside the family and the famous.

Submit a reading