Episode 28: Countee Cullen, Yet Do I Marvel
Countee Cullen was a major voice of the Harlem Renaissance. Joined by the renowned cultural critic Gerald Early, we here examine together story of Countee Cullen and the astounding sonnet that opens.
Episode 25: William Carlos Williams, "This is Just to Say"
In this episode, we discuss a simple, iconic, "sorry-not sorry" poem from the early age of American modernism, which has taken on new life in the age of Twitter and the pandemic..
Episode 24: Robert Hayden, Those Winter Sundays
Robert Hayden was one of the greatest American poets of the twentieth century. His poems are known for their formal grace and his deep and broad explorations of the African American experience..
Episode 21: Christian Wiman, I Don't Want to Be a Spice Store
In this episode we talk with Christian Wiman about the arc of a book of poetry, the structure of an individual poem, the desire for openness and accessibility, and the surprising shifts.
Episode 19: Naomi Shihab Nye, Gate A-4
Naomi Shihab Nye, a Palestinian-American poet born in St. Louis and raised in Jerusalem and San Antonio, focuses on the ordinary to observe the extraordinary. Her poetry often speaks of cultural encounters.
Episode 16: John Milton, When I Consider How My Light is Spent
The episode explores Milton's great sonnet spun from the difficulties of middle age and new disappointments. We consider how he pulls consolation from his sense of defeat and near despair. Faced with.
Episode 14: George Herbert, The Collar
In this episode, we look at "The Collar"–a famous single-stanza poem, playing with meter, rhythm, and rhyme by the seventeenth-century priest and poet, George Herbert. Here is the poem in full: THE.
Episode 9: Anne Bradstreet, In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet
This week we read Anne Bradstreet's elegy for her grandchild Elizabeth and draw out the multiple voices (both faith and doubt, both grief and consolation) and the tensions and deep emotions in.