Poetry For All

Episode 116: Patricia Smith, "XXXL"

October 11th, 2026  |  Season 9  |  26 mins 51 secs

21st century, Children, Mother's Day, black history month, love, repetition or refrain, rhymed verse, villanelle

In this episode, we continue our series on the villanelle with Patricia Smith's "XXXL." In this poem, Smith uses the constraints of the villanelle form to create a powerful portrait of familial love.

Episode 115: A.E. Stallings, Burned

September 24th, 2026  |  Season 9  |  22 mins 18 secs

21st century, elegy, grief and loss, repetition or refrain, villanelle

In this episode, we continue our villanelle series with the incredible formalist poet A.E. Stallings.

Episode 114: Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

September 10th, 2026  |  Season 9  |  26 mins 40 secs

elegy, grief and loss, refrain, repetition, twentieth century, villanelle

In this episode, we introduce the first villanelle in our three-part series on that poetic form. We begin with Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," a poem that attempts to stave off the inevitability of mortality.

Episode 29: Elizabeth Bishop, One Art

October 6th, 2021  |  Season 3  |  25 mins 16 secs

20th century, grief and loss, lgbtqia month, love, rhymed verse, villanelle, women's history month