According to the BBC, “Thomas Edison sent his agents round to the Poet Laureate’s home to record his voice on wax cylinders in 1890.” That poet laureate turns out to be none other than Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

No, the voice quality isn’t great (as you’d expect), but what a marvelous revelation – to be able to hear one of the greatest poets in English history, a man from the pre-electronic age, actually speaking.

Want to listen? Click here and enjoy as Tennyson offers up one of his classics, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”