Donne's poems embrace Catholicism, then abandon religion, then embrace the Episcopal church. They make use of symbols and weighted images. He toys with sonnet, satire, elegy, and love poems--to list only a few recognizable forms. At times his lines seem like stream of consciousness. Philosophy overtakes subject, as in two commissioned elegies on a child's death. All told, they make for difficult reading, even harder if we're trying to get a handle on the person who wrote the poems. That's why these two tapes, mixing biography with poetry, are especially welcome. Best of all, the biography is honest. It shows us a man who risked all for love, yet constantly sought out wealthy patrons and the favor of the court. Dismissed after short terms in parliament, Donne returned to the priesthood. The narrators point to, but make no excuses for, the way all this is reflected in the poems. Byron's anthology also combines biography, comparative literature, and a poetry crash course in just over two hours. As might be expected, given these limitations, there are more fragments here than poetry lovers would prefer. Despite the biographical context, these poems are seldom in chronological order. The narrators refer to Lord Byron as the "Idol of an Age," but that's difficult to discern from the hopelessly overdramatized readings, frustrating at best. On the plus side, fragments from the favorite poems are here--cantos from "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" and later from "Don Juan." The narration illuminates Byron's political views as expressed in the poetry. Still, this is not recommended.--Rochelle Ratner, formerly with "Soho Weekly News," New York Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.