Episodes
| Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Bee by Peter Didsbury | 20180621 | Peter Didsbury's poem, A Bee, recounts a day in the life of a man living as a bee. Surreal and unusual, the poem is accompanied by Wolfgang Buttress' "The Journey" recorded from live beehive sounds while musicians improvised an accompaniment in the key of C, resulting in a constantly changing and evolving symphony - a dialogue between bee and human.
Reader: Anton Lesser
Producer: Sarah Addezio.
A playful, surreal take on the life of a man as a bee, read by Anton Lesser. Poetry readings. | |
| A Celebration of the Autumn Equinox | 20180923 | A celebration of the autumn equinox from the Barley Wood Cider Barn at The Ethicurean in Somerset.
A gathering of live music and poetry to mark the changing seasons and this time of transformation, abundance and decay. Joining us to sing in the season are Paul Henry and Brian Briggs who, together, are The Glass Aisle, poet and forager, Richard Osmond, poet-in-residence at National Trust's Tyntesfield, Holly Corfield Carr and National Poet of Wales from 2008 - 2016, Gillian Clarke.
Producer: Sarah Addezio.
An autumn equinox celebration with live music and poetry from The Barley Wood Cider Barn. Poetry readings. | |
| A collection of poems for the Summer Solstice | 20180624 | A collection of the poems that featured throughout the day on Radio 4 celebrating the Summer Solstice.
Poets Fiona Benson, Kathy Towers and Raymond Antrobus join readers, Paapa Essiedu, Michael Sheen, Simon Russell Beale, Noma Dumezweni, Harriet Walter, Siobhan Redmond and Anton Lesser with poems on the theme of summer and light.
Producer: Sarah Addezio.
A collection of poems celebrating the midpoint of summer and the longest day of the year. Poetry readings. | |
| A Robin, by Walter de la Mare, read by Noma Dumezweni | 20161221 | Noma Dumezweni reads A Robin, by Walter de la Mare, as part of Radio 4's Four Seasons. Poetry readings. | |
| Alice Oswald - A Wood Coming into Leaf. | 20170320 | A poem for the first day of spring: Alice Oswald reads her A Wood Coming into Leaf. Poetry readings. | |
| An anthology of poems for the new season | 20170326 | To mark the spring equinox and the new season, an anthology of old and new poems read by actors and poets for Radio 4's Four Seasons. Poems by Charlotte Mew, William Wordsworth, Louis MacNeice, Christopher Marlowe, Philip Larkin, Seamus Heaney and Edward Thomas are read by Juliet Stevenson, Noma Dumezweni, Ray Fearon, Simon Russell Beale, Sinead Cusack, Alex Jennings and Anton Lesser. Alice Oswald, Gillian Clarke and Patience Agbabi read their own work. Producer: Tim Dee.
An anthology of old and new poems for spring read by actors and poets for Four Seasons. Poetry readings. | |
| An Anthology Of Summer Poems | 20170625 | An anthology of summer poems, old and new, for the middle of the year, read by poets and actors. Noma Dumezweni reads William Blake, Siobhan Redmond reads Adam Zagajewski, Katrina Porteus reads her poem 'Dunstanburgh', Alex Jennings reads Philip Larkin, Anton Lesser reads Rudyard Kipling, Bill Paterson reads Edwin Morgan, Simon Russell Beale reads Edward Thomas; Lavinia Greenlaw reads her poem 'Heliotropical', Daljit Nagra reads a new commissioned seasonal poem, Don Paterson reads his poem 'The Air', Kathleen Jamie reads her poem 'Lochan', Sinead Cusack reads William Morris, Juliet Stevenson reads William Shakespeare, and Seamus Heaney (in an archive recording) reads his poem 'St Kevin and the Blackbird'. Producer: Tim Dee. An anthology of summer poems, old and new, for the middle of the year. Poetry readings. | |
| Anton Lesser reads Coming by Philip Larkin | 20190320 | Anton Lesser reads Coming by Philip Larkin for Radio 4's Four Seasons day of poetry Poetry readings. | |
| Aonghas MacNeacail - excerpt from The Great Snowbattle | 20171221 | Aonghas MacNeacail has been a leading voice in Gaelic poetry for decades. As part of our celebration of the Winter solstice, he reads in both Gaelic and English, an excerpt from his epic poem about elemental conflict; the monstrous power of the blizzard, the swirling whiteness, from which emerges memories, visions, premonitions and hopes.
Producer: Sarah Addezio.
Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail reads an excerpt from his epic poem The Great Snowbattle. Poetry readings. | |
| Autumn Equinox | 20190929 | Poems for the autumn equinox Poetry readings. | |
| Autumn Equinox Sonnet 73 | 20190923 | Paul McGann reads Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 Poetry readings. | |
| Autumn Equinox The Dewstones | 20190923 | Simon Russell Beale reads The Dewstones by Simon Armitage Poetry readings. | |
| Autumn Equinox: Japanese Maple | 20190923 | Japanese Maple by Clive James Poetry readings. | |
| Autumn Poems | 20160925 | Four Seasons: Autumn Poems old and new read by actors and poets to mark the equinox and the new season.
Despite our centrally heated and waterproofed lives seasonal change still operates on the country's imagination and the national mood. Poets are writing about the weather and the turning year as much as ever. New poems from Helen Mort, Zaffar Kunial, Choman Hardi, Liz Berry and Robin Robertson join celebrated and loved poems by Edward Thomas, Keats, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Emily Bronte, W. B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney which are read by Anton Lesser, Sinead Cusack and Noma Dumezweni. To end the anthology Simon Russell Beale sings Feste's bitter-sweet song, The Rain it Raineth Everyday, from Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Producer: Tim Dee.
Poems old and new are read by actors and poets to mark the equinox and the new season. Poetry readings. | |
| Autumn Poems | 20170924 | Four Seasons returns with poems of autumn, old and new, read by actors and poets to mark the turning of the year. Sylvia Plath, George Macbeth, AE Housman, Robert Burns and Sappho read by Harriet Walter, Anton Lesser, Simon Russell Beale, Liz Lochhead and Noma Dumezweni. Plus work by Jacob Polley, Jen Hadfield and Alice Oswald - Radio 4's new poet in residence - with a new poem specially commissioned for the day.
Autumn poems old and new read by actors and poets to mark the turning of the year. Poetry readings. | |
| Black March, By Stevie Smith | 20180320 | Poems to celebrate the spring equinox. Noma Dumezweni reads Black March by Stevie Smith. Poetry readings. | |
| Carol Ann Duffy - Snow | 20161221 | Carol Ann Duffy reads her poem Snow for the Winter Solstice. Poetry readings. | |
| Charlotte Mew - In the Fields, Philip Larkin - The Trees | 20170320 | Spring poems: Charlotte Mew's In the Fields and Philip Larkin's The Trees. Poetry readings. | |
| Christopher Marlowe - Come Live with Me, William Wordsworth - Lines Composed in Early Spring, Louis MacNeice - Nuts in May | 20170320 | Three poems for the new season. Poetry readings. | |
| City Lilacs by Helen Dunmore read by Tanya Moodie | 20200320 | Poetry to mark the Spring Equinox Poetry readings. | |
| Comete by Les Murray | 20190621 | Paul McGann reads Comete by Les Murray Poetry readings. | |
| Cut Grass by Philip Larkin; The Way through the Woods by Rudyard Kipling | 20170621 | Summer poems: Cut Grass by Philip Larkin and The Way through the Woods by Rudyard Kipling. Poetry readings. | |
| Don Paterson - Rain | 20161221 | Don Paterson reads his poem Rain as part of Radio 4's Four Seasons. Poetry readings. | |
| Dream Variations by Langston Hughes | 20180621 | Langston Hughes' 'Dream Variations' conjures the African-American dream: freedom from prejudice, contrasting it with light and dark on this the longest day. A poignant expression of the poet's wish for a carefree life, moving and dancing until the end of a happy, hot, sunny day. Read by Noma Dumezweni.
The poem is accompanied by the music of jazz trumpeter, Don Ellis: 'Forest' from the album 'Haiku' from 1973. It evokes the dream and the dance between the trees, their light and shade.
Producer: Sarah Addezio.
Langston Hughes' Dream Variations, read by Noma Dumezweni. Poetry readings. | |
| Edward Thomas - The Cherry Trees | 20170320 | A poem for spring. Noma Dumezweni reads The Cherry Trees, by Edward Thomas. Poetry readings. | |
| Edward Thomas's Adlestrop | 20170621 | Summer poems: Edward Thomas's Adlestrop, read by Simon Russell Beale. Poetry readings. | |
| Edwin Morgan's Strawberries | 20170621 | Summer poems: Bill Paterson reads Edwin Morgan's Strawberries. Poetry readings. | |
| Failing and Flying by Jack Gilbert | 20180621 | Jack Gilbert's poem, Failing and Flying, read by Simon Russell Beale, is a sparse and simple recollection of a marriage as it unravels over the course of a summer. Typical of his poems, it reads like a long, steady camera shot, in which the light becomes richer as the seconds slowly pass.
Accompanied by the music of William Grant Still, often referred to as 'The Dean' of African-American composers, this is from his piece "Moderately Slow", prelude for flute, string quintet, and piano (1962). Performed by Alexa Still on flute, Susan De Witt on piano and the New Zealand String Quartet. Lazy and relaxed, it evokes a quiet, warm afternoon.
Producer: Sarah Addezio.
Jack Gilbert's reflective poem for the midpoint of summer, read by Simon Russell Beale. Poetry readings. | |
| Four Seasons poems for the autumn equinox | 20190923 | Poems for the autumn equinox Poetry readings. | |
| Frost at Midnight by Samuel Taylor Coleridge read by Simon Russell Beale | 20161221 | Frost at Midnight by Samuel Taylor Coleridge read by Simon Russell Beale for Four Seasons. Poetry readings. | |
| Gerard Manley Hopkins - Spring | 20170320 | A poem for the first day of a new season: Spring by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Poetry readings. | |
| Gerard Manley Hopkins: Hurrahing in Harvest | 20160922 | Gerard Manley Hopkins: Hurrahing in Harvest. Read by Simon Russell Beale. Poetry readings. | |
| Gift by Czeslaw Milosz | 20190621 | Simon Russell Beale reads Gift by Czeslaw Milosz Poetry readings. | |
| Heliotropical by Lavinia Greenlaw | 20170621 | Summer poems: Heliotropical, by Lavinia Greenlaw. Poetry readings. | |
| Jack Snipe by Jacob Polley | 20170922 | Autumn poems old and new read by actors and poets to mark the turning of the year. Poetry readings. | |
| Kathleen Jamie - Perfect Day | 20161221 | Kathleen Jamie reads her poem Perfect Day as part of Radio 4's Four Seasons. Poetry readings. | |
| Late March by Richard Schiffman | 20200320 | Richard Harrington reads Late March by Richard Schiffman Poetry readings. | |
| Loveliest Of Trees, The Cherry Now, By Ae Housman | 20180320 | Simon Russell Beale reads AE Housman's, Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now. Poetry readings. | |
| Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm, The Mower to the Glow-Worms, Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines | 20180621 | Three poems to reflect on the longest day of the year before the light begins to fade. Poems about emotional distance, deep affection and hope.
Accompanied by the music of Brian Eno and Harold Budd's 'First Light' from their album Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror (1980).
Producer: Sarah Addezio.
Three poems to reflect on the longest day of the year before the light begins to fade. Poetry readings. | |
| Midwinter | 20191222 | Poetry and music to see us through the shortest days of winter. With reflections on midwinter from writers Jay Griffiths (author of Wild: An Elemental Journey and Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time) and Lia Leendertz (the creator of the Almanac guides to the year in the British Isles), and astronomical insights into the winter solstice from cosmochemistry researcher Dr Tim Gregory.
With winter poems by Kathleen Jamie, Liz Lochhead, Ruth Fainlight, Gillian Clarke, Mark Doty, Kerry Hardie and Billy Collins. Read by Sinead MacInnes and Richard Harrington.
Producer: Mair Bosworth
Poetry, music and meditations for the shortest days of winter. Poetry readings. | |
| Midwinter | 20191222 | 20191228 (R4) | Poetry and music to see us through the shortest days of winter. With reflections on midwinter from writers Jay Griffiths (author of Wild: An Elemental Journey and Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time) and Lia Leendertz (the creator of the Almanac guides to the year in the British Isles), and astronomical insights into the winter solstice from cosmochemistry researcher Dr Tim Gregory.
With winter poems by Kathleen Jamie, Liz Lochhead, Ruth Fainlight, Gillian Clarke, Mark Doty, Kerry Hardie and Billy Collins. Read by Sinead MacInnes and Richard Harrington.
Producer: Mair Bosworth
Poetry, music and meditations for the shortest days of winter. Poetry readings. |
| Nostos, By Louise Gluck | 20180320 | Poems to celebrate the spring equinox. Harriet Walter reads Nostos by Louise Gluck. Poetry readings. | |
| Now Westlin Winds by Robert Burns | 20170922 | Autumn poems old and new read by actors and poets to mark the turning of the year. Poetry readings. | |
| On Wenlock Edge by AE Housman | 20170922 | Autumn poems old and new read by actors and poets to mark the turning of the year. Poetry readings. | |
| One Day He Came Back With News by Kenneth Stevens | 20190621 | Anton Lesser reads One Day He Came Back With News by Kenneth Stevens Poetry readings. | |
| Out of Danger by James Fenton | 20171221 | Poems to celebrate the winter solstice. Anton Lesser reads Out of Danger by James Fenton. Poetry readings. | |
| Owl, Mushrooms and a fragment of Sappho | 20170922 | Autumn poems old and new read by actors and poets to mark the turning of the year. Poetry readings. | |
| Poems For The Spring Equinox | 20180325 | A collection of poems to celebrate the arrival of spring, longer days and new beginnings. With poems by Robin Robertson, Stevie Smith, Louise Gluck, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Charlotte Mew, Ben Jonson, A E Housman and Patrick Kavanagh. Radio 4's poet-in-residence, Alice Oswald reads a new poem written specially for the vernal equinox, Jackie Kay reads Life Mask and London's Young People's Poet Laureate, Caleb Femi reads his poem about how spring arrives in a concrete environment, Anti-Winter. Readers include, David Calder, Clark Peters, Noma Dumezweni, Harriet Walter, Simon Russell Beale, Siobhan Redmond, Bill Patterson and Anton Lesser. Producer: Sarah Addezio. A collection of poems to celebrate the arrival of spring. Poetry readings. | |
| Poems For The Spring Equinox | 20200320 | Four poems to end Four Seasons day of poetry for the Spring Equinox. Siobhan Redmond reads A Little Madness In the Spring by Emily Dickinson Simon Russell Beale reads A Blackbird Singing by RS Thomas Richard Harrington reads In Praise of Spring by Linda Gregg Tanya Moodie reads May by Kerry Hardie Anton Lesser reads Sixty by Philip Booth Producer: Maggie Ayre Final poems to mark the coming of Spring Poetry readings. | |
| Poems For The Spring Equinox | 20200322 | A chance to hear all of the poems broadcast on Friday as part of Four Seasons day of poetry celebrating the Spring Equinox Putting In The Seed by Robert Frost read by Anton Lesser began the day on Farming Today. Christopher Eccleston read A Northern Morning by Alistair Elliot Menna Elfyn was the guest poet on Woman's Hour reading her poems Growth Rings and Teaching Dylan Thomas' Muse To Speak Welsh Manchester poet Louise Wallwein wrote and read her specially commissioned poem Equinox on Front Row City Lilacs by Helen Dunmore was read by Tanya Moodie Richard Harrington read Late March by Richard Schiffman Instructions on Not Giving Up by Ada Lim?n read by Tanya Moodie Snail by Thom Gunn read by Anton Lesser Begin by Brendan Kennelly read by Richard Harrington A Little Madness in the Spring by Emily Dickinson read by Siobhan Redmond RS Thomas' A Blackbird Singing read by Simon Russell Beale In Praise of Spring by Linda Gregg read by Richard Harrington May by Kerry Hardie read by Tanya Moodie Sixty by Philip Booth read by Anton Lesser Producer: Maggie Ayre Instructions on not giving up' by Ada Lim?n from The Carrying' published by Milkweed Editions. Late March' by Richard Schiffman was first published by Grey Sparrow Press and is available in the collection What the Dust Doesn't Know' by Salmon Poetry. Poetry readings. | |
| Poems for the Winter Solstice | 20171224 | A collection of seasonal poems for the winter solstice by Margaret Atwood, D. H. Lawrence, James Fenton, Bertolt Brecht, W. H. Auden, Edna St Vincent Millay and Thom Gunn. Readers are Juliet Stevenson, Anton Lesser, Harriet Walter, Bill Paterson, Siobhan Redmond, Stephen Fry, Noma Dumezweni and Simon Russell Beale. Joining them are more recent pieces read by the poets Sinead Morrissey, Aonghas MacNeacail, Gerda Stevenson and Jacob Polley as well Radio 4's poet-in-residence, Alice Oswald. And a new poem specially commissioned for the day by Imtiaz Dharker.
Producer: Sarah Addezio.
Poems for the winter solstice. Poetry readings. | |
| Poems For The Winter Solstice | 20181221 | A collection of seasonal poems to mark the turn of the seasons Poetry readings. A collection of seasonal poems for the winter solstice to mark the turn of the season. Poets Caroline Bird and Vanessa Kissule join actors Simon Russell Beale, Juliet Stevenson, Anton Lesser and Siobhan Redmond to share readings of much loved and memorable verse. There is rain, snow, darkness and warmth to mark the shortest day of the year. A collection of seasonal poems for the winter solstice. | |
| Rain at Three by Tishani Dosh | 20190621 | Adjoa Andoh reads Rain at Three by Tishani Dosh Poetry readings. | |
| Rain, etc. | 20160922 | A short anthology of autumn poems, old and new, to mark the beginning of the season. Liz Berry reads her poem The Way Home, Bill Patterson reads George Ellis's pithy and witty account of the year, and Simon Russell Beale sings a Shakespeare song.
Four Seasons will return three more times through the year. These solsticial and equinoctial turning points in the seasonal year still - even in our mostly centrally heated and waterproofed lives - operate on us all and continue to drive and shape the national mood. How far into our adult lives do we feel the back to school tang of September? How keenly do we detect a clouded sky greying and weighing up for snow? Producer: Tim Dee.
An anthology of autumn poems, old and new, from Shakespeare, Liz Berry and George Ellis. Poetry readings. | |
| Robin Robertson - Fall (after Rilke) | 20160922 | Robin Robertson reads his autumnal poem Fall. It is a version of a poem by Rilke. Poetry readings. | |
| Spring | 20190324 | Actors Siobhan Redmond, Adjoa Andoh, Simon Russell Beale, Juliet Stevenson, Anton Lesser, Pippa Haywood and Paul McGann read poetry on the theme of Spring to celebrate the Vernal Equinox. There are live appearances from poets Christine de Luca on Woman's Hour and Caleb Femi with a specially composed Spring poem on Front Row
Producer: Maggie Ayre
Poetry for the spring equinox. Poetry readings. | |
| Spring - Adjoa Andoh | 20190320 | Adjoa Andoh reads In Time of Silver Rain by Langston Hughes Poetry readings. | |
| Spring - Pippa Haywood | 20190320 | Poetry to mark the coming of spring. Pippa Haywood reads Another Spring. Poetry readings. | |
| Spring and All | 20190320 | Poetry to mark the spring equinox. Poetry readings. | |
| Spring poetry four poems | 20190320 | Poetry to celebrate the spring equinox. Poetry readings. | |
| Summer | 20190623 | A collection of poems celebrating the midpoint of summer and the longest day of the year, read by Jason Watkins, Anton Lesser, Juliet Stevenson, Siobhan Redmond, Adjoa Andoh and Simon Russell Beale. Mona Arshi and Elizabeth-Jane Burnett read their own poetry on a summery theme.
Produced by Mair Bosworth and Sally Heaven
A collection of poems celebrating the midpoint of summer and the longest day of the year. Poetry readings. | |
| The Door by Miroslav Holub | 20190923 | Anton Lesser reads The Door by Miroslav Holub Poetry readings. | |
| There Came a Wind Like a Bugle by Emily Dickinson | 20180621 | Harriet Walter reads There Came a Wind Like a Bugle for the midpoint of summer. Poetry readings. | |
| Travelling in a Comfortable Car by Bertolt Brecht | 20171221 | Siobhan Redmond reads Travelling in a Comfortable Car by Bertolt Brecht. Poetry readings. | |
| W. B. Yeats: The Wild Swans at Coole | 20160922 | W. B. Yeats: The Wild Swans at Coole. Read by Sinead Cusack. Poetry readings. | |
| Waiting, Fireflies in the Garden, Moths and Summer Night | 20190621 | Poems by Raymond Carver, Robert Frost, Jennifer O'Grady and Langston Hughes Poetry readings. | |
| Wet Evening In April, By Patrick Kavanagh | 20180320 | Anton Lesser reads Wet Evening in April by Patrick Kavanagh. Poetry readings. | |
| Who has Seen the Wind by Christina Rossetti and Gathering Mushrooms by Michael Longley | 20170922 | Autumn poems old and new read by actors and poets to mark the turning of the year. Poetry readings. | |
| William Morris, William Shakespeare and Seamus Heaney - Summer Poems | 20170621 | Summer poems from William Morris, William Shakespeare and Seamus Heaney. Poetry readings. | |
| Winter Poems | 20161225 | An anthology of seasonal poems for the week of the winter solstice. Memorable and much loved verse by Robert Burns, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Louis MacNeice and Walter De la Mare, read by Simon Russell Beale, Noma Dumezweni, Bill Paterson and Anton Lesser, join recent poems read by the poets, Kathleen Jamie, Liz Lochhead, Don Paterson, Simon Armitage and Carol Ann Duffy. There is rain and snow and frost and a robin sings its winter song. And joining these is a brand new poem by Kayo Chingonyi remembering a teenage winter in Dagenham. Producer: Tim Dee.
An anthology of seasonal poems old and new, read by actors and poets. Poetry readings. | |
| Winter Solstice poems | 20171221 | Celebrating the winter solstice with poems for the year's turning point; Traces by Gerda Stevenson, Harriet Walter reads Piano by D. H. Lawrence, Noma Dumezweni reads Edna St Vincent Millay's What My Lips Have Kissed and Simon Russell Beale reads Thom Gunn's My Sad Captains.
Producer: Sarah Addezio.
Poems for the winter solstice. Poetry readings. | |
| Winter Song by Katherine Mansfield | 20171221 | Poems for the winter solstice. Sir Derek Jacobi reads Winter Song by Katherine Mansfield. Poetry readings. | |
| Work Without Hope, By Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Trees Are Down, By Charlotte Mew, It Is Not Growing Like A Tree, By Ben Jonson | 20180320 | Poems to celebrate the spring equinox. Poetry readings. |