Episode 65: Du Fu, Facing Snow
In this episode, Lucas Bender guides us through his translation of Du Fu’s “Facing Snow,” one of the most famous poems in the Chinese language. To learn more about Du Fu’s life,.
Episode 64: Shakespeare, Sonnet 29
In episode 64, we talk about Shakespeare’s sonnet 29, a poem about comparison and competition, leading the poet almost to despise himself before, by chance, he remembers his dear friend and is.
Episode 63: Rumi, Colorless, Nameless, Free
Poet and translator Haleh Liza Gafori joins us to closely read and discuss a poem by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (1207-1273 CE), one of the greatest of all Sufi poets. We discuss.
Episode 59: Tichborne's Elegy
In this episode, we read the elegy of Chidiock Tichborne, written the night before his execution, and contemplate the power of repetitions, the balanced precision of a man facing his end, and.
Episode 57: Edna St. Vincent Millay, She had forgotten how the August night
She called herself Vincent, she smoked cigarettes, and she wore shimmery golden evening gowns when she read her poetry to sold-out crowds. Edna St. Vincent Millay was the emblem of the “New.
Episode 56: Queen Elizabeth, On Monsieur's Departure
Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was one of the longest-reigning monarchs in all of British history, but she was also a gifted poet. In this episode, we discuss “On Monsieur’s Departure,” a poem.
Episode 55: Kay Ryan, Crib
In this episode, we discuss Kay Ryan’s “Crib,” a brief poem that begins with an interest in the deep archaeology of language and shifts to a powerful meditation on theft, innocence, and.
Episode 52: Shakespeare, Sonnet 73
This sonnet reflects on the autumn of life and an intimate love, and it turns on that love growing stronger in and through its age, even as the body decays. To learn.