Poetry For All

Episode 49: Lisel Mueller, When I am Asked

September 12th, 2022  |  Season 4  |  19 mins 57 secs

ars poetica, elegy, lisel mueller, nature, when i am asked

In this episode, we closely read Lisel Mueller's "When I am Asked" in order to better understand grief as a deep source of artistic expression.

Episode 45: Ben Jonson, On My First Son

March 23rd, 2022  |  Season 4  |  21 mins 18 secs

apostrophe, ben jonson, elegy, epigram, grief, heroic couplets, loss, plague

In this episode, we look at Ben Jonson's elegy for his son who died of the plague at the age of 7. This poem is so brief, and yet, it manages to cross a lot of emotional terrain as Jonson struggles to understand the profundity of his loss.

Episode 38: Laura Van Prooyen, Elegy for My Mother's Mind

January 26th, 2022  |  Season 3  |  29 mins 16 secs

assonance, couplets, dementia, elegy, image, lineation, memory loss, metaphor, mothers

In this episode, our guest Laura Van Prooyen reads "Elegy for My Mother's Mind," a poem that navigates the complexities of memory, loss, and familial relationships. Laura's poem gives us an opportunity to think about the deep sources of poetic inspiration, the revision process, and the power of metaphor.

Episode 12: James Merrill, Christmas Tree

December 2nd, 2020  |  Season 1  |  21 mins 37 secs

aids, christmas, concrete poems, elegy, illness, literary friendships, visual poems

Episode 9: Anne Bradstreet, In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet

October 27th, 2020  |  Season 1  |  14 mins 52 secs

anne bradstreet, doubt, elegy, faith, in memory of my dear grandchild elizabeth bradstreet, multiple voices, puritan, repetition, sonnet

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 the work of this talented Puritan poet--the first woman from British North America to publish a book of poems.