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VersecraftOn Translation: "Roman Elegy V" by J.W. von GoetheTopics discussed in this episode:-Read this show on substack! -My new website!!-My conversation with David and Matthew on Age of Muses-My new post at Literary Matters-My French translation episode on Heredia-My Spanish translation episode on Lope-Metaphrase and paraphrase-Germany's view of Goethe-Magister Christopher Childers-From Sturm und Drang to Spit on that Thang (sorry)-Weimar (semi)Classicism-How to write a sex poem...
2025-11-0229 minVersecraft10 Poems I Like Part IIIPoems/Prose Lyrics featured:"The Eagles" by Jones Very"The Oracles" by A.E. Housman"An Equation" by Hyam Plutzik"Plato and the Serpent" by Catherine Davis"Crow's Theology" by Ted Hughes"Changeling" by Rhina Espaillat"Hardy" by Robert Mezey"The Master of Metaphor" by Carl Dennis"Lust" by J.D. McClatchy"An Incident in the Sublime" by Wyatt PruntyPoems/Prose Lyrics mentioned:"Jones Very...
2025-06-1039 minVersecraft"De Anima" by Howard NemerovSoundtrack to this episodeText of poem hereSend me your AMA questions for Versecraft 100! Topics discussed in this episode include:-Greatest Generation poets-"Because You Asked About the Line Between Prose and Poetry" by Howard Nemerov-"De Anima" by Aristotle-On loose iambics-The ghost of Sapphics-A transexual volta-Life engenders the great romance of death-"Spring and Fall" by Gerard Manley Hopkins-The nature of empathy and...
2025-05-1522 minVersecraft"Bird Watcher" by Clive Wilmer (R.I.P.)Soundtrack to this episodeText of poem:Bird WatcherIt returns to the same nest. The watcher liesbeneath spring brushwood to await its coming–at watch so long he dreams himself becomingless than himself and more, the landscape’s eyes. Though far beyond his eyes, beyond the rangeof field-glasses, he knows it breaks no bonds: its instinct to his knowledge corresponds,riding the current of the season’s change. ...
2025-05-0116 minVersecraftLearning the Secrets of English VerseTopics discussed in this episode include:-Go buy Learning the Secrets of English Verse! -The Monumentalist Manifesto-My episode, The Idea Of A Poetry Conservatory-Poetry as skill-The Fitzgerald system of scansion-Parallelism, Syllabics, Loose Iambics, Stress-counting, rhyme-driving, sprung rhythm, oh my!-"All the Fun's In How You Say A Thing" by Timothy Steele-Sonnets don't cure polio, but they're pretty great.-Rhyme Royal, Ottava Rima, Spenserians, Onegin, oh my!-L'dor VadorSupport...
2025-04-1831 minVersecraftThe Ern Malley Hoax! (and "Monologue," by James McAuley)Soundtrack to this episodeText of poemTopics discussed include:-Your host has an identity crisis-RIP POETRY SAYS! -Listen to Alice on Milton and with me.-Moira Egan!-My Pindar essay-My Melville essay-The Iron Lyre!-Matthew, Alice, and I argue about The Iron Lyre-THE ERN MALLEY HOAX-The New York School and the Generation of '68-Read the entire text of The Darkening Ecliptic here....
2025-03-3129 minVersecraftOn Translation: 5 Ways of Looking at LopeSoundtrack to this episodeLink to translationsTopics discussed:-Alice tackles Milton on Poetry Says-Check out my Substack here! -My episode on Ryan Wilson-My episode on Geoffrey Hill-The long and short of a long fellow-Longfellow's Dante-The Monster of Literature-Romance languages and hendecasyllabics-Faithful to which fidelity?-Translational hijinks ensue-Mosaic rhymes!Support the showVISIT MY WEBSITE H...
2025-03-0531 minVersecraft"Lachrimae Antiquae Novae" by Geoffrey HillSoundtrack to this episodeNote: My use of the phrase "men without chests" and Matthew's were completely coincidental! Text of poem:Lachrimae Antiquae NovaeCrucified Lord, so naked to the world,you live unseen within that nakedness,consigned by proxy to the judas-kissof our devotion, bowed beneath the gold,with re-enactments, penances foretold:scentings of love across a wildernessof retrospection, wild and objectlesslongings incarnate in the carnal child.
2025-02-1927 minVersecraft"Nor Strange It Is" by Frederick Goddard TuckermanSoundtrack to this episodeText of poem:Nor strange it is, to us who walk in bondsOf flesh and time, if virtue's self awhileGleam dull like sunless ice; whilst graceful guile—Blood-flecked like hematite or diamondsWith a red inward spark—to reconcileBeauty and evil seems and correspondsSo well with good that the mind joys to haveFull wider jet and scope nor swings and sleepsForever in one crad...
2025-02-0419 minVersecraft"Kermes Red" by Melissa RangeSoundtrack to this episodeRead the text of the poem hereTopics discussed in this episode include:The Iron Lyre: Poetry, Heavy Metal, and the New SublimeAlice and Elijah vs. The Abyss on SLEERICKETSMelissa Range!Aaron Baker!David Southward!"The Rhythms of English Poetry" by Derek AttridgeMy John Donne episodeMy George Herbert episodeMy Gerard Manley Hopkins episodeMy Mark Jarman episodeSpeech stress vs...
2025-01-2117 minVersecraftCosmic Architecture feat. David KlugTopics discussed in this episode include:-Jewelcraft, Housecraft, Guitarcraft-The utilities of form-David Gilmour-The mysticism of scientific discovery-Technology: What is it good for?-Cosmic double-consciousness-Does a cosmic perspective lead to enlightenment or nihilism? -The functional aesthetics of NatureSupport the showVISIT MY WEBSITE HERE. BUY VERSECRAFT MERCH HERE. VISIT THE VERSECRAFT SUBSTACK HERE.Please subscribe, rate, and review! Thanks so much for listening.
2025-01-1040 minVersecraftScansion Is Boring! feat. David KlugTopics discussed in this episode include:-Simple Syrup-Why poetry?-Poetry vs. Music-David vs. Versecraft-My "What Is Art?" episode-The Case For Meter and Rhyme Part I-The Case For Meter and Rhyme Part II-The Case Against Versecraft by Matt Wall -"Cain" by Lord Byron-"Empedocles On Etna" by Matthew ArnoldSupport the showVISIT MY WEBSITE HERE. BUY VERSECRAFT MERCH HERE. VISIT THE V...
2025-01-0451 minVersecraft"Christmas Tree" by James MerrillSoundtrack to this episode Text of poemTopics discussed in this episode include:-New Critical Rococo-The Changing Light at Sandover-The Ingram Merrill Foundation-Shape poems-My George Herbert episode-"Pindarick Odes"-"Intimations of Immortality" by William Wordsworth-"Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold-"Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt-What do Christmas trees and dying men have in common? Support the show...
2024-12-1820 minVersecraft10 More Poems I LikeSoundtrack to this episodeThe original 10 Poems I Like"New Advances in Quitting Poetry" on SLEERICKETS"This is not Exactly What I Mean" on the SLEERICKETS Secret ShowMy Dante essay at Voegelin View!Poems discussed in this episode:"An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" by W.B. Yeats"Miriam Tazewell" by John Crowe Ransom"I Will Put Chaos Into Fourteen Lines" by Edna St. Vincent Millay"November Cotton Flower" by Jean Toomer"On...
2024-12-0337 minVersecraft"An Arundel Tomb" by Philip LarkinSoundtrack to this episodeText of poem hereTopics discussed in this episode include:-Sentimentality-National character-Philip Larkin, novelist: "Jill," and "A Girl in Winter"-"The Movement" movement-The Oxford Book of 20th Century English Verse-"Church-Going" by Philip Larkin-The blindness of historical consciousness-Temporal and generational erosion-"Miniver Cheevy" by E.A. Robinson-Last lines and legacies-But is it sentimental??
2024-11-2029 minVersecraft"The Education of the Blind Poet" by Cameron ClarkSoundtrack to this episodeTopics discussed in this episode include:-Listen to my talk on Melville here-Listen to my poetry reading with Dan Brown here-Outsider poetry-The Education of Henry Adams-Metrical hijinks-The inherent negations of blindness-"Durer: Insbrook, 1495" by Ern Malley-"Lycidas" by John Milton-Forging a new sensibility in identitarian poetry Text of poem:The Education of the Blind Poet; Or, Ars Poetica Ending with a Line from M...
2024-11-0727 minVersecraft"The Last Act" by John Martin FinlaySoundtrack to this episodeText of poem:The Last Act‘Tis the god Hercules, whom Antony loved, Now leaves him. It is too often only close to death,or utter failure, when the mind is heldto truth, we see the outlines of the gods,those whom we loved but never realized. Above us in a void burnt-out and cold,at unfamiliar heigh...
2024-10-2427 minVersecraftReceivers of the Gods: A Conversation with The Classical OutlookSoundtrack to this episodeLink to poems! Read the Classical Outlook poetry issue here! NEW MERCH HERETo receive a link to the Critical Path Symposium, follow the email link at the bottom right of this pageTopics discussed in this episode include:-Philip Walsh and Rachel Hadas!-The Classical Outlook!-Classical Reception Studies-"44 Pastorals" by Rachel Hadas-Prosimetra/Haibun-"Prose of Departure" by James Merrill-"Ecstatic Occasions...
2024-10-081h 10
VersecraftWURSTKRAFT HOLIDAYSPEZIALAls Zarathustra dreissig Jahr alt war, verliess er seine Heimat und den See seiner Heimat und ging in das Gebirge. Hier genoss er seines Geistes und seiner Einsamkeit und wurde dessen zehn Jahr nicht müde. Endlich aber verwandelte sich sein Herz,—und eines Morgens stand er mit der Morgenröthe auf, trat vor die Sonne hin und sprach zu ihr also: „Du grosses Gestirn! Was wäre dein Glück, wenn du nicht Die hättest, welchen du leuchtest! Zehn Jahre kamst du hier herauf zu meiner Höhle: du würdest deines Lichtes und dieses Weges satt geworden se...
2024-10-0108 minVersecraft"On the Anthropic Principle" by Frederick TurnerMea culpa: "The Neural Lyre" was published in 1983, not 1994. Don't know why I said that! Read today's poem hereTopics discussed in this episode include:-William Paley's watchmaker analogy-Problems with teleological arguments-Brandon Carter's Anthropic Principle-Multiverse/many worlds theory-John Archibald Wheeler's Participatory Anthropic Principle-"It from bit"-George Berkeley's Idealism-Vedanta Hinduism-"The Anthropic Cosmological Principle" -Barrow and Tipler's Final Anthropic Principle-"The La...
2024-09-2425 minVersecraftGloves of Mettle: An Interview with Timothy SteeleMea culpa: Apologies for my faint audio in the beginning! Soundtrack to this episode Second soundtrack, because... I had to. Topics discussed in this episode include:-Thom Gunn and some of his literary interests (Henry James, George Macdonald, Saki, Ovid, etc.)-My episode on Thom Gunn-My episode on Timothy Steele-Read The Classical Outlook!!-Writing from experience vs. writing from ideas-"Missing Measures" by Timothy Steele-
2024-09-1157 minVersecraft"Phenomena, Noumena, Startling Sparrows" by Stephen KampaSoundtrack to this episode (it's Stephen Kampa!)Topics discussed in this episode include:-Go read New Verse Review!-Go listen to my talk on SLEERICKETS about Horace's Ars Poetica!-Go listen to the mighty Fer de Lance!-The Sleerickets Stephen Kampa episode-Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason-From Transcendental Idealism to Transcendentalism-Romanticism as post-Kantian reaction -Schelling, Schlegel, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Schleiermacher, Nietzsche, Freud, Coleridge, Emerson, etc. etc.-Contemptus Mundi-The inauthenticity of the n...
2024-08-2732 minVersecraftThe Case For Poetic PatronageSoundtrack to this episodeTopics discussed in this episode include: -Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray-Portrait of the artist in a digital world-The New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century-The decline and fall of poetry -Four paths to pecuniary stability-My episode on Amit Majmudar-"Patronage" by Amit Majmudar-Techno-feudalism-The linger of poetic mystique-Can Poetry Matter? by Dana Gioia-Commissions for Occasional...
2024-08-1325 minVersecraftA Lover's Quarrel with Robert FrostSoundtrack to this episode Topics discussed in this episode include:-The Beatles-Beatles documentary "Get Back" -"The Other Frost" by Randall Jarrell-"Robert Frost: or, the Spiritual Drifter as Poet" by Yvor Winters-"The Other Other Frost" by William Logan-"The Themes of Robert Frost" by Robert Penn Warren-"A History of Modern Poetry" by David Perkins-Phalaecian hendacasyllabics-Catullus I -Plato's "Symposium" Frost poems mentioned/discussed:-The Road Not Taken-Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Even...
2024-07-1640 minVersecraftGuardians of Matter: Timothy Steele's "Anima" and the Pathetic FallacySoundtrack to this episodeFor text of poem, please see episode transcript at versecraft.buzzsprout.com.Topics discussed in this episode include: -C'est Moi, MBS's response to my episode Giving the Devil His Due-My review of Matthew's book, "Midlife," entitled The Poet Laureate of Crushed Dreams-My episode on the Pathetic Fallacy with Matthew and Alice-"Of the Pathetic Fallacy" by John Ruskin-Who're you callin "pathetic?" -Pro and Contra-Figurative language vs. the fallacy...
2024-07-0329 minVersecraftGiving the Devil His Due: The Value of the Romantic Anti-HeroSoundtrack to this episodeTopics discussed in this episode include:-"The Roots of Romanticism" by Isaiah Berlin-The Jena Set and the Schlegels-"Rousseau and Romanticism" by Irving Babbitt-Harold Bloom-"Science, Politics, and Gnosticism" by Eric Voegelin-"Classic, Romantic, and Modern" by Jacques Barzun-Inferno IV and XXVI-Prometheus Bound (probably not by Aeschylus)-"Paradise Lost" by the GOAT -The spiritual paradox of Romanticism-Turns...
2024-06-1926 minVersecraft"Apollinian" by Amit MajmudarSoundtrack to this episodeText of poemTopics discussed in this episode:-My sojourn in Gaul-ITER! -Atomic Fusion-The contemptible STEM/Humanities divide-Amit Majmudar! -Sleerickets Episode 144-Amphibrachic hexameter-"The Birth of Tragedy" by Friedrich Nietzsche-The Solar Cycle-Apollo, the inverse Romantic-Homer's Odyssey-The myth of Daphne-Rage or Oblivion?-Come see David, Matthew, and Ryan JUNE 13TH and...
2024-06-0428 minVersecraft"Eurydice On the Art of Poetry" by Shane McCraeCOME OUT TO CLEVELAND June 13th to hear David, Matthew, and Ryan read! Soundtrack to this episode Topics discussed in this episode include: -Au revoir until June! -"The Birth of Tragedy" by Friederich Nietzsche-"The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde-"Pere Goriot" by Honore de Balzac-The aesthetic parasite-"And Which of Them In Time Would Be Betrayed" by Derek Walcott-"The Georgics" by Publius Vergilius Maro-"T...
2024-05-1526 minVersecraftFolie a Deux: Laura Riding and Robert GravesSoundtrack to today's episodeTopics discussed in this episode include:-"On Portents" by Robert Graves-"The White Goddess" by Robert Graves-"Life With The Real White Goddess" by Louis Simpson-Poetry Messiah Witch Cult-The Fugitives-Misadventures in polyamory-"A Survey of Modernist Poetry" by Riding & Graves-"The Cool Web" by Robert Graves-The squishiness of children-The double-edged sword of language-"Rational Meaning: A...
2024-04-3026 minVersecraftFulke Greville and the Rejection of Courtly LoveThe soundtrack to today's episode Topics discussed in this episode:-Norman Finkelstein and Restless Messengers -Formal Poet Voltron At Loganberry Books!! Get over here! -Three great things: Literary Matters, 32 Poems, SLEERICKETS-Ma! I'm On Sleerickets!-Pre-12th century Medieval heroic poetry -Chivalry vs. Courtly Love-Slammin the canon-Dante is a sad, strange little man -and Petrarch needs to get a life-The 16th Century Lyric in England by Yvor Winters-Name a more...
2024-04-1831 minVersecraftTo Be Or Not: Dunbar and Juster On SuicideTopics discussed in this episode include: -That famous soliliquy-"The Myth of Sisyphus" by Albert Camus-Inferno Canto XIII-"Orthodoxy" by G.K. Chesterton-The Catechism of the Catholic Church-Prayopavesa-Martyrs, Berserkers, Stoics and Samurai-"The Right To Die" by Paul Laurence Dunbar-"No" by A.M. Juster-"Resume" by Dorothy ParkerSupport the showVISIT MY WEBSITE HERE. BUY VERSECRAFT MERCH HERE. V...
2024-04-0225 minVersecraft10 Poems I LikePoems discussed on this episode include: "Are They Shadows" by Samuel Daniel"To Heaven" by Ben Jonson"The Kraken" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson"Aspecta Medusa" by Dante Gabriel RossettiSonnet VII by George Santayana"Rock and Hawk" by Robinson Jeffers"What Are Years" by Marianne Moore"My Son, My Executioner" by Donald Hall"Drought" by Catherine Chandler (see show transcript for text)"Elegy" by John Dunn SmithSupport the showVISIT MY WEBSITE HERE. BUY VERSECRAFT MERCH HERE. VISIT THE VERSECRAFT SUBSTACK HERE.Please subscribe, rate, and review! T...
2024-03-2031 minVersecraft"The Marriage" by Yvor WintersMea culpa: Sorry about the little skip in the concluding reading-- don't know why that happened. Text of the poem here. Topics discussed in this episode include: -"In Defense of Reason" by Yvor Winters-"A Winters Tale" on SLEERICKETS-"The Seriousness of Yvor Winters" by David Yezzi-"The Absolutist: Yvor Winters" by Jan Schreiber-"What You Need to Know About Yvor Winters" by James Matthew Wilson (also includes other cool links!)-"Wisdom and Wil...
2024-03-1330 minVersecraft"Shiversong" by George David ClarkTopics discussed in this episode include:-RIP N. Scott Momaday-Gather ye old buds while ye may-32 Poems-David's new collection, Newly Not Eternal-"Iscariot's Psalm" by George David Clark-Read the earlier version of "Shiversong" here-The 'ol feminine-acephalous combo (we need a real name for this)-Not rhythmic, but METRICAL modulation-"The Snow Man" by Wallace Stevens-Job 38-Lear 4:1-"The Need Of Being Versed In Country Things" by Robert...
2024-03-0623 minVersecraft"Musseling" by Jan SchreiberText of poem here (Note: this is an older version, and some lines have changed). Topics discussed in this episode include: -My Ryan Wilson episode-My Mark Jarman episode-Ryan's corrections and very gracious explanation-The Contemporary Poetry Review-Jan's wonderfully kooky website -THINK Journal's Critical Path Symposium-The aquastentialist poem-"The Slow Pacific Swell" by Yvor Winters-"Le Cimitiere Marin" by Paul Valery-Ukiyo-Ask not for whom the b...
2024-02-2829 minVersecraft"Disobedience" by Ryan WilsonText of poem here. Topics discussed in this episode include: -Literary Matters-"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot-Buy Ryan's books, including his new collection, "In Ghostlight," here-"L'Estraneo" by Ryan Wilson-"On A Baroque Wall Fountain in the Villa Sciarra" by Richard Wilbur-"The Gardens of the Villa D'Este" by Anthony Hecht-"The Venetian Vespers" by Anthony Hecht-"See Naples and Die" by Anthony Hecht -The...
2024-02-2129 minVersecraftImagism 3: The Thing ItselfTopics discussed in this episode include: -"A Retrospect" and "A Few Don'ts By An Imagiste" by Ezra Pound-A ruinous misunderstanding of meter and music-"Intellectual-emotional complex" and unified sensibility-"The Chinese Written Character as a Medium for Poetry" by Ernest Fenollosa-The ideogrammatic method-Kiru, Wabi-Sabi, and Mono no Aware (see this fascinating wiki-page on Japanese aesthetics)-"In A Station of the Metro" by Ezra Pound-"Fan-Piece For Her Imperial Lord" by Ezra Pound
2024-02-1431 minVersecraftImagism Pt. 2: The House That Hulme BuiltMea culpa: Yes, I know "Sailing to Byzantium" was written like 20 years after "Conversion." By the time I realized my anachronism, it was too late. Something something Borges retroactive influence... Topics discussed in this episode include: -Mary Renault's "The King Must Die." -Decadence begets Primitivism-Gauguin, Picasso, Stravinsky-Gustave Kahn and vers libre-T.E. Hulme's essay, Lecture On Modern Poetry-T.E. Hulme's essay, Romanticism and Classicism-Symbolism vs. Imagism-The conservative flavor of 20th century Classicism
2024-02-0833 minVersecraftThe Road to Imagism, Pt. 1: 19th Century OriginsTopics discussed in this episode include: -What is Modernism?-Various dichotomies-The French origins of Modernism-Charles Baudelaire and the Decadent movement-Stephane Mallarme and Symbolism/Impressionism-Eliot, Laforgue, Corbiere, and "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"-Hugo vs. Baudelaire-Edgar Poe's "The Philosophy of Composition" and "On the Poetic Principle"-Theophile Gautier's "Emaux et Camees" and Aestheticism-"L'Art" by Theophile Gautier-Parnassianism, pseudo-classicism, and convergent evolution-Immanuel Kant's "Critique of P...
2024-02-0137 minVersecraftOn Translation: Heredia et MoiTopics discussed in this episode include:-Order George David Clark's new book, Newly Not Eternal here!-Order John Wall Barger's new book, The Elephant of Silence here! -On the necessity of verse translation, feat. Bob and Paul -Metaphrase and Paraphrase-The Blumov Method of translation-Jacques Barzun's An Essay On French Verse-Romanticism in Realism's clothing-The tyranny of Hugo-Parnassianism and other ideologies of contraction-Buy John Anson's lovely translation of Les Tr...
2024-01-2538 minVersecraft"The Heirloom" by Michael DonaghyText of poem here. Topics discussed in this episode include:-Midlife by Matthew Buckley Smith-The Penguin Book of Greek and Latin Lyric Verse by Christopher Childers-Khosrow and Shirin by Dick Davis-In Ghostlight by Ryan Wilson-A Gaze Hound That Hunteth By The Eye by Penelope Pelizzon-The Nature of Things Fragile by Peter Vertacnik-My poem Tlaloc on E-Verse Radio-SLEERICKETS and Versecraft do tragedy, Part I and Part II-Thank you for your s...
2024-01-1721 minVersecraftPSA: No episode this week!Support the showBUY VERSECRAFT MERCH HERE.Please subscribe, rate, and review! Thanks so much for listening.You can leave me a tip, support the podcast, or request a commission here! TikTok: @versecraftSend me a note at: versecraftpodcast@gmail.comMy favorite poetry podcasts for: Sharp thoughts and cutting truths (Matthew): Sleerickets Lovely introspection and sensitive reflection (Alice): Poetry Says The landscape of Ohioan poetry (Jeremy): Poetry Spotlight Supported in part by The Ohio Poetry AssociationArt by David Anthony Klug...
2024-01-0800 minVersecraft"Phantom V" by Don PatersonMea culpa re line 8: I confusedly combined both possible readings-- this is either acephalous hexameter or first foot anapest iambic pentameter. Topics discussed in this episode include: -Write to me about classes! -The Error by Don Paterson-Idealism, Nominalism, Transcendental critique-Plato, Plotinus, Ockham, Kant-Paterson's band, Lammas-His many books-Michael Donaghy-Blank Verse by Robert B. Shaw, and the 3 Types-Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil"-Pseudo-Dionysius and the Via Negativa-Plotinus's plen...
2024-01-0225 minVersecraft"Sunlight" by Thom GunnMea culpa: Several times I refer to "Sunlight" as "Sunshine." Blame it on the LSD (which was called "Orange Sunshine"). Text of poem here Topics discussed in this episode include: -Let me know what you think I should teach!-On The Morning Of Christ's Nativity by John Milton-The Gas Poker by Thom Gunn-The Movement-Syllabics as gateway drug-Lucy In the Sky With Demanding Forms-Thom Gunn, Renaissance man-Golding's Metamorphoses-Phi...
2023-12-2732 minVersecraft"At Mornington" by Gwen HarwoodText of poem here.Topics discussed in this episode include:-The universecraft -Shout out to the Aussies!-Tim Tams SLAM, y'all-Alice Allan, Poetry Says, and our episode on Gwen Harwood-The Australian Augustans: Hope, McAuley, Stewart-Paul Valery's "Le Cimitiere Marin"-Tertius paeon reviewed-The ocean motif, and my episodes on JMW's Through the Water and Yezzi's Mother Carey's Hen-Quickness, Fastness-Why graveyards are killer -In Soviet Russia, bones wear YOU....
2023-12-2033 minVersecraftThe Rainbow Mythos: The Songcraft of Ronnie James DioSongs discussed in The Rainbow Mythos include: Tarot Woman (lyrics here)Rainbow Eyes (lyrics here)Catch The Rainbow (lyrics here)The Man On The Silver Mountain (lyrics here)The Temple Of The King (lyrics here)Stargazer (lyrics here)A Light In The Black (lyrics here) Topics discussed include:Brian Brodeur's new book, Some Problems With AutobiographyKatie Hartsock's new book, Wolf TreesMy episode on Brian BrodeurPoetry lyric vs. Song ly...
2023-12-1334 minVersecraft"The Coronet" by Andrew MarvellText of poem here Topics discussed in this episode include: -Romanticism, Modernism, and The Lyric-Defining ourselves against the vices of our age-Historical problems with Lyric-Modernism as pharmakon-T.S. Eliot's essay, Andrew Marvell-T.S. Eliot's essay, The Metaphysical Poets-Marvell's Horatian Ode-Marvell's Country House poem, Upon Appleton House-Marvell's "Collige, Virgo, Rosas" or "Carpe Diem" poem, To His Coy Mistress-Paradise Lost -An anatomy of Marvell's sty...
2023-12-0628 minVersecraft"Angle of Geese" by N. Scott MomadayText of poem here Topics discussed in this episode include:-The Stafford Challenge-The Kiowa people-Frederick Goddard Tuckerman-Winters and Bowers-"The Death Of Sitting Bear"-"House Made Of Dawn"-"The Way To Rainy Mountain"-The Native American Renaissance-Mixed meter, mixed KINDS of meter-Remember, catalexis = without final unaccented syllable (opposite of acephaly)-The inadequacy of language-How should we mourn?-The a...
2023-11-2924 minVersecraft"The End Of The Weekend" by Anthony HechtText of poem here Mea culpa: When I said "fearful," I meant "fearsome"L'esprit d'escalier: "Above the boneyard burn its golden eyes" has a similar euphony to Donne's famous: "A bracelet of bright hair about the bone." Topics discussed in this episode include:-Anthony Hecht's new Collected Poems, edited by Philip Hoy-David Yezzi's new biography of Hecht, Late Romance-The caprice of the canon-Frost, Hawthorne, and Puritan allegory-"Dramatic" line breaks-Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath...
2023-11-2229 minVersecraft"The Birth of God" by Daniel BrownText of poem here.Mea culpa: Please read "tercets" for "triplets" Topics discussed in this episode include: -J.V. Cunningham (see my episode on him here)-The Tribe of Ben (Jonson)-Check out Dan's books here!-The Swallow Anthology of New American Poets-Accentual or Accentual-Syllabic?-Macro-rhythmic modulation-The soul of wit?-My episode on Emily Dickinson-God Is Dead!-The Lascaux cave paintings-Genesis 2:7-Allegory of the Ca...
2023-11-1419 minVersecraft"Simple Autumnal" by Louise BoganText of poem here Topics mentioned in this episode include: -Jungenstil, The Vienna Secession, The Belle Epoque-Leonie Adams (see my episode on her here)-The hard-hearted bravado of early 20th century American poetry by women-The double twist of the hybrid sonnet-Spondees and dactyls-Theodore Roethke (see my episode on him here)-"Ode On The Death Of Pius XII" by A.D. Hope -See my episode on A.D. Hope here-The bi...
2023-10-2622 minVersecraftTo My Artist Friends, Part II (feat. SLEERICKETS)Read our four poems here. (Note: The file may take a while to load!)Topics mentioned in this episode include:-My David Yezzi episode-Ryan Wilson-Three kinds of formal poets: puzzle solvers, natural rhymers, aesthetes-Paul Celan-Literary Matters-John Berryman's "Dream Songs"-Wait Until Dark-Object Permanence (here's Matthew's poem on the subject!)-"The Uncanny" by Sigmund Freud-The gnosticism of disability-The spiritual mimesis of architecture-Abbot Suger -The aesthetics of tourism-New York's Art Deco skyscrapers...
2023-10-2553 minVersecraftTo My Artist Friends, Part I (feat. SLEERICKETS)Read our four poems here! (Note: It may take a little while to load!) Topics discussed in this episode include:-Sleerickets-Poetry Says-Matthew Buckley Smith-Alice Allan -Cameron Clark-Primordial-My Robert Bridges episode-Robert Fagles-Shane McCrae-Parallelism-"The Truly Great" by Stephen Spender-"Paradise Lost" by John Milton-Three approaches to poetic composition: Vatic, Cognitive, Exploratory-"Egg and Dart" by Matthew Buckley Smith-On the nature of the gods-"Science, Politics, and Gnosticism" by...
2023-10-241h 02VersecraftSome Problems With ConfessionalismTopics discussed in this episode include: -Autobiographical vs. Confessional -"Poetry As Confession" by M.L. Rosenthal-"Life Studies" and "The Dolphin" by Robert Lowell-"Genesis" by Delmore Schwartz-"The Dream Songs" by John Berryman-Other Confessional pioneers: Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, W.D. Snodgrass-Functions of Confessionalism: Therapy and Social Awareness-Alternatives to Confessionalism-"The Sorrows of Young Werther" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe-"Min Kamp" by Karl Ove Knausgard...
2023-10-1927 minVersecraft"Rosh Hashanah" by Elijah Perseus BlumovTopics discussed in this episode include: -The Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize! -Regional pronunciations-The Israel-Gaza War ("Avenge, O Lord, Thy Slaughtered Saints....")-Who Is A Jew?-Judaism: Ethnic, Social, Ritualistic, Theological, Artistic-Maimonides' 13 Articles of Faith-The Cosmological Argument-Life's Will-To-Order-The meaning of "Follow Nature."-We are both masks and mouths of God-The Jobean vision-Klezmer and Chazzanut-The Miltonic sonnet-The sour-sweetness of consciousness-W...
2023-10-1227 minVersecraft"Through The Water" by James Matthew WilsonText of poem here Topics discussed in this episode include:-My experience in New York's formalist bohemia-James Matthew Wilson and his books-Jacques Maritain & Etienne Gilson-The iambic decameter effect-Broken-backed lines-"The Castle of Thorns" by Yvor Winters-"The Slow Pacific Swell" by Yvor Winters-"Mother Carey's Hen" by David Yezzi-My episode on the above poem-Encountering water as chaoskampf-John 13 and 14-Keats' n...
2023-10-0529 minVersecraft"Mother Carey's Hen" by David YezziText of poem HERENo more Versecraft until October! Sorry :( BUY SHIRTS Topics discussed in this episode include: -Matthew comes for my prosodic neck (mea culpa: his reading was first foot trochee, feminine ending).-Rabbi Neil Blumofe brings up Pirkei Avot-Susan Spear and Catherine Chandler-David Yezzi!-Yezzi's new Anthony Hecht biography, Late Romance-Matthew interviews David here-Yezzi's new Selected, More Things In Heaven-Mother Carey, Mater Cara, Stella Maris...
2023-09-1325 minVersecraft"The Sponge" by Joshua MehiganText of poem here. Order Versecraft merch here! Topics discussed in this episode include: -Matthew's new book, Midlife! -Joshua Mehigan and his books, The Optimist and Accepting the Disaster-Josh's interview on SLEERICKETS-American Naturalism-Josh's poem Down In the Valley-Sponges 101-Parapraxis, aka "The Freudian slip"-Venice by Herman Melville -The gang and I talk The Pathetic Fallacy on SLEERICKETS-Monism, Pantheism, Mysticism, oh my!-Zen and the art of...
2023-09-0626 minVersecraftHaydn In Plain Style: An Interview With Dick DavisTopics discussed in this episode include: E.M. Forster“The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” by Edward FitzgeraldThomas HardyW.H. Auden“Troilus and Criseyde” by Geoffrey Chaucer“Vis and Ramin” by Gorgani“Wisdom and Wilderness” by Dick DavisThom GunnYvor WintersFulke GrevilleEdgar BowersMozart vs. Haydn“The Creation” by Joseph Haydn“Requiem” by W.A. Mozart“Symphony 9” by Franz Schubert“Requiem” by Michael HaydnThe Creative and the E...
2023-08-2944 minVersecraft"Athena" by Amy ClampittBuy Versecraft merch HERERead text of poem HERETopics discussed in this episode include: -No Versecraft next week! :(-R.S. Gwynn-On late-bloomers in poetry-What Krishna meant-The life-changing power of the unicorn tapestries-The Amy Clampitt Residency Program and Virginia Konchan -The "Tails To Heads" Maneuver.-"The Eumenides" by Aeschylus-We're gonna need to see some Id-Pathos, Bathos, and whoever the other musketeers are...
2023-08-1731 minVersecraft"Trolling For Blues" by Richard WilburOrder Versecraft merch HERE Topics discussed in this episode include: -Varieties of Modernism: The Big Six-Formalism and Cosmic Rebellion-Wilbur's audacious sanity-The Idea Of Literary Celebrity At Key West-Accent vs. Stress -Measuring my stress levels -And isn't it ionic... don't you think? -The temptation to see ourselves in Nature-"I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud" by William Wordsworth-"The Garden" by Andrew Marvell-Wilbur's version of Alter...
2023-08-1031 minVersecraft"East Coker IV" by T.S. EliotGet Versecraft merch HERE! Topics discussed in this episode include: -"T.S. Eliot: The Illusion of Reaction" by Yvor Winters-Les poetes maudites Tristan Corbiere et Jules Laforgue-When Eliot was taken to Pound town-The objective correlative and its problems-This is basically what East Coker is-The "Logic" of Imagery (Crane: "Well, one of us is going to have to change!")-Nancy Drew And The Curious Case of Why Eliot Thinks He's A Classicist-Th...
2023-08-0336 minVersecraft"Voyages II" by Hart CraneTopics discussed in this episode include: -Encountering the phantom of Crane-VERSECRAFT HAS SHIRTS NOW!! BUY HERE-The lamentable pedigree of the poete maudit-Life Savers! -Why isn't there a movie yet about Harry Crosby? -Nothing says Guggenheim fellowship like some tropical adultery-Neo-Romantics revisited -The "Logic of Metaphor" and Logonautics-Poets as caretakers of language-Cubic symmetry! -Rhymed vs. Blank verse-The mighty Marlovian line-The ocean: best wingwoman ever...
2023-07-2733 minVersecraft"Eros" by Robert BridgesThe missing word at 23:18 is "ironically"Topics discussed in this episode include: -My thanks to Heights Arts for the feature! -Hopkins and Bridges: name a more iconic duo.-Sprung Rhythm vs. Syllabics-Bridges' whacky work of logometry, Milton's Prosody-18th century in the streets, 19th century in the sheets-Iambic tetrameter couplets and the Hallmark effect-No more unqualified ahistorical scansions! Mea culpa. -Robbie's vision of elision-Congrats! It's triplets. -Polytheism is the deification of a...
2023-07-2027 minVersecraft"May My Enemy Be Assuaged" by Derek WalcottTopics discussed in this episode include:-Fallout from last week-The poetry-prose spectrum, and those pesky in-betweeners-Amphibrachs for days-Parallelism, and how to sound "biblical"-The universal accessibility of beauty-Rain on a sunny day is called WHAT?-The feminization of landscape-Hopefully the only time I'll mention Kanye on this show.-Hopkins cameo!-Totally tubular priests-If it ain't Baroque...-My excursion to the Virgins-The myth of the Noble Savage...
2023-07-1328 minVersecraftWhat Poetry Is (And Isn't)Apologies for the sirens around the thirteen minute mark. I should've stopped up my mic with wax! Topics discussed in this episode include:-Welcome back everyone!!-A litany of my recent international escapades-Spoiler: Poetry is Versecraft (cue flame war)-Problem 1: Non-metrical gatekeeping-Problem 2: The mystical word-sorcerors want their poetry back -Descriptive vs. Prescriptive definitions (an MBS favorite) -Who gave me the right??-The great "Poetry" robbery-Problems with "Formal Verse"-I'm not more radical now...
2023-07-0621 minVersecraftThe Idea Of A Poetry ConservatoryTopics discussed in this episode include:-Versecraft will be on hiatus in June. See you again in July! -The wonderful educational resources available to Classical musicians-The not-so-wonderful educational resources available to poets-Why MFA programs don't cut it-If creative writing "can't be taught" then poetic education becomes a joke-No standards = total subjectivity = no legitimate curricula-Recieved techniques are optional to use, but they are not optional to learn.-The "World of Versecraft" program-David Rothman's book, "Learning the S...
2023-05-2522 minVersecraft"Funeral Doom Metal" by Elijah Perseus BlumovTopics discussed in this episode include:-Matthew's episode A Winter's Tale Pt. 2 -Alice's episode Grilling Elijah Blumov -Why Metal is NOT Rock -"Black Sabbath" by Black Sabbath-"Mars, The Bringer of War" by Gustav Holst-Neoclassical Metal and Symphonic Metal-Portrait of the Artist As A Young Dork-"Stand Up And Fight" by Turisas-"Twilight of the Thunder God" by Amon Amarth-"Run To The Hills" by Iron Maiden-The sacred bond of...
2023-05-1831 minVersecraft"Paradise Saved" by A.D. HopeTech woes: Audio cuts out briefly at 11:56. Sorry! Topics discussed in this episode include: -Please send all your John Forbes and Jane Kenyon hate mail to Alice at poetrysayspod@gmail.com -My upcoming Poetry Says episode on Gwen Harwood and my role as the prosodic gadfly/mustache-twirling villain of contemporary poetry. -Read my poem "The Virtue of Corinthian Columns" here .-Read my poem "Thalassic Hymn" here . -The show will be on hiatus in June! Sorry :(-Let's get Versecraft in the classroom! -Join my bookcl...
2023-05-1123 minVersecraft"The Wall" by Donald JusticeTech woes: There's some static at 10:36 where I say "end rhyme." Sorry! Topics discussed in this episode include:-Wonderful exchanges with David, Robert , Quartez , Jack, Cameron , and Kevin.-The Iowa Writer's Workshop-Philip Levine's The Bread of Time -Rhythmic modulations (a spondee it ain't!)-This is the literary device. This is the moment. This is anaphora.-Adam and Eve are unfazed by your divine glory. -Proverbs 9:1-False Utopias -Poe's The Imp of the Perverse -Felix Culpa Redux-Virgil's Georgics-Goated bible verse Isaiah 45:7...
2023-05-0324 minVersecraft"God Works In A Mysterious Way" by Gwendolyn BrooksMea culpa: Line 9 also differs from lines 2 and 13 by containing a first foot trochaic substitution. Topics discussed in this episode include:-Listen to my new episode with Matthew here ! -Check out Ethan McGuire's work here and here.-Check out Brian Brodeur's work here.-The Black Arts Movement-Brooks vs. Hayden-ANOTHER hybrid sonnet?? (No!)-Rhythmic motifs-William Cowper's Light Shining Out of Darkness , The Task, and The Iliad. -The Sermon On the Mount-For clod's sake...
2023-04-2728 minVersecraft"To An Absence" by Brian BrodeurContent Warning: Abortion, dead fetusesMea culpa: Ugh, I should've said "volta italiana." What a philistine I am. Topics discussed in this episode include: -Lake View Cemetery and the Haserot Angel -Getting called out from beyond the grave-Come see me read! -Brian Brodeur! -My Great-Uncle, Elton Glaser -Buy Brian's latest book: Some Problems With Autobiography -Wins and almost-wins in The Kim Bridgford Memorial Sonnet Contest. -Yet more ways to make formal poems sound contemporary -The art...
2023-04-1923 minVersecraft"Holy Sonnet IX" by John DonneNote: At the 19:27 mark, a word cuts out. That word is "specious!" Topics discussed in this episode include:-Make symposia happen!-Hey mom, I'm on Sleerickets !-Also on Sleerickets here ! -The Inhumanism of Robinson Jeffers-Aspects of Metaphysical Poetry-The 20th century Donne revival -T.S. Eliot's essay The Metaphysical Poets -The Dissociation of Sensibility -Intellect as decoration-The life and times of Johnny-Donne's treatise on suicide, Biathanatos -Hybrid sonnet redux-Met...
2023-04-1332 minVersecraft"Send Forth the High Falcon" by Leonie AdamsPSA: No Versecraft next week! Sorry :( Also, the audio is a little crackly in the beginning, but smooths out after a few minutes. Topics discussed in this episode include: -Why the 1920's be like that-The Modernist rogues gallery-Flapper Poet Girl Gang-The Neo-Romantics-Contribute to the Make Versecraft A Legitimate Side Hustle Fund-Hag Pesach Sameach, y'all-Who knew 1899-1988 was such a tongue twister?-Jesus Louises! (Bogan and Gluck)-Crackpot critical savant Harold Bloom-Coo...
2023-03-3029 minVersecraft"Last Rites" by Ernest HilbertTopics discussed in this episode include:-Ernest Hilbert! -Robinson revisited -Sorry Matthew, it looks like I actually have the more controversial podcast. -You can listen to the Comedy Central Roast of Versecraft here. -The paradox of relativism-How (evaluative) Lit Crit works -Ernest's Heavy Metal poem -Buy Ernest's new book here -The Hilbertian sonnet-A New Formalist style -The horror of logistics-Late Summertime Blues-The Myth of Icarus-The Poetics of Gramm...
2023-03-2227 minVersecraft"Luke Havergal" by Edwin Arlington RobinsonTopics discussed in this episode include:-Quotable comebacks-My listeners down under! -Everyone should know about Ern Malley -A hearty thanks to my very first patrons! -You too can nourish the fiscal integrity of the show here. -Candidate for American poetry GOAT, Edwin Arlington Robinson. -Adventurer, soldier, and fairy god-fan Kermit Roosevelt.-The Tom Bradys of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry-Killer Robinson poems Aunt Imogen, Rembrandt to Rembrandt, and Lancelot.-The Troubadour effect-Red vines, but not t...
2023-03-1533 minVersecraft"Fishing" by A.E. StallingsTopics discussed in this episode include:-Sleerickets-Poetry Says-Fly poet Ernest Hilbert-Versecraft for softies podcast Poetry Unbound-Baumeister Dave Klug-You can now email me!-Even better, you can now send me money!-The one and only Alicia Stallings-Also great poets Joshua Mehigan and Shane McCrae-Buy Alicia's book here!-It's another sonnet, doggone it!-Loosey goosey iambic lines-Ave, Tertius Paeon-Do I get Postmodernist windbag points...
2023-03-0932 minVersecraftThe Case For Meter and Rhyme, Part 2PSA: Listen to Alice's delightful podcast Poetry SaysOutline:Intro: The Case For Accentual-Syllabic VerseNine Benefits of Meter1. Compositional Mindfulness2. Musicality3. Memorability4. Structural Integrity5. Prosodic Expressivity6. Prosodic Literacy7. Allusiveness (with discussion of Post-Colonialism)8. Stylistic Elevation9. Advocacy of OrderThe Benefits of Alliteration and Rhyme 1. All the above!2. Sonic-semantic linkageSupport the showVISIT MY WEBSITE HERE. BUY VERSECRAFT MERCH HERE.
2023-03-0230 minVersecraftThe Case For Meter and Rhyme, Part 1Outline: Introduction: The Burden of ProofPart 1: The Case For Poetry in Prose1. The Argument From Freedom2. The Argument From Accessibility3. The Argument From Spontaneity4. The Argument From Natural Speech5. The Argument From Organic Form6. The Argument From Modernity Support the showVISIT MY WEBSITE HERE. BUY VERSECRAFT MERCH HERE. VISIT THE VERSECRAFT SUBSTACK HERE.Please subscribe, rate, and review! Thanks so much for listening.You can leave me a tip, su...
2023-02-2331 minVersecraft"DMT" by Elijah Perseus BlumovMea culpa: When referring to the practice of poets, I should've used they/them pronouns rather than he/him. I was caught up in thinking of the poet as myself! Topics mentioned in this episode include:-The "Psychedelic Renaissance"-The kind of trip depends upon the mind that trips. -How to have a good time your first time-Don't be Pentheus-The difference between a cliche and an earth-shattering truth-My version of Plato's cave-Chasing the dragon of enlightenment-DMT vs...
2023-02-1525 minVersecraft"Unholy Sonnet 16" by Mark JarmanTopics mentioned in this episode include:-My thanks to Mr. John! -Matthew from Sleerickets-Mark Jarman (now I just need a Luke!)-Anglo-Saxon verse revisited-Hemistichs, caesuras, accentual alliteration-Richard Wilbur's "Junk" -The metrical decay of mid-century poets-Formalism as emotional discipline-Mark Jarman's "Questions For Ecclesiastes" and "Zeno's Eternity"-Mark's review of Wilbur's Moliere in the Hudson Review-John Donne's "Holy Sonnets"-Flannery O'Connor-Phonetic slant rhyme-How caesuras can ma...
2023-02-0925 minVersecraft"As Kingfishers Catch Fire" by Gerard Manley HopkinsMea culpa: When I said "anagram," I meant to say acronym! Topics mentioned in this episode include:-Fabulous crafter of verse A.E. Stallings-Her upcoming Hudson Review piece "Frieze Frame" and recent Selected Poems "This Afterlife"-New deats on Keats-The controversh of Hopkins' verse-The life and times of Gerard-Toward a definition of "Inscape"-Anagogy and Four-Fold Interpretation-Christ as the code of the universe software-Duns Scotus returns!-Haecceity vs. Quiddity...
2023-02-0231 minVersecraft"I Read My Sentence Steadily" by Emily DickinsonTopics mentioned in this episode include:-The antitheses of Emily Dickinson-White = Infinity in 19th century American Lit.-Fascicles!-The Modernist, Feminist, and Queer claims on Emily-Magnificent and trending writer Virginia Woolf-A secular Memento Mori-Ballad Stanzas and Common Meter-The Amazing Grace phenomenon-Why Ballad Stanzas sound so ballad-y-Slant rhyme revisited-Matthew's podcast Sleerickets! -Why Big Pun and Robert Pinsky use slant rhyme differently.-Slant rhyme modulation!...
2023-01-2521 minVersecraft"On Seeing the Elgin Marbles" by John KeatsTopics discussed in this episode include: -Schedule change!-My trip to England-Romanticism-The charm of Keats-The tragedy of Keats-The tragedy of Pergolesi-Italian sonnet redux-The creative opportunity that is rhyme-Why this sonnet is weird-The riddle of Keats's morbidity-Ode To A Nightingale-The Notorious B.I.G.-Ode On Melancholy-Oscar Wilde and the Aesthetic Movement-The poet is un-poetical, unless the poet i...
2023-01-1830 minVersecraft"Contra Dante (Kind Of)" by Bill CoyleMea culpa regarding the scansion of line 29: I should've mentioned that you could also very reasonably interpret this as an acephalous iambic line. My bad. I like the trochees better though! Topics discussed in this episode include: -Dante's Purgatorio -"The God of This World To His Prophet" -Swedish skalds Hakan Sandell and Tomas Transtromer -Dante's tropical vacay -How Virgil and Moses are alike -Terza Rima -Dante's numerical obsession/magnificence -Hendecasyllabics -The Beatific Vision -A pun which only works perfectly in American English -Rhythm vs. Meter, Stres...
2022-12-2030 minVersecraft"Paradiso XIV, 63" by Matthew Buckley SmithMea culpa: I forgot to mention that the last line of the poem can also be read in the following sense: desire to LIVE and not merely to EXIST ("be" alone). In this reading, it is the body which allows the soul to actually "live." Topics discussed in this episode include: -Matthew's podcast, "Sleerickets" -The Dantesque pairing of this and the following episode -A defense of the "embrace materiality" agenda -"Being Human" by C.S. Lewis -Literary power couple Matthew and Joanna -Alice Allan's podcast "Poetry Says" -Dante's Commedia...
2022-12-1320 minVersecraft"Epitaph" by Gwendolyn BennettMea culpa: at around 6:40 I say "5 lines" when I meant to say "5 feet."Topics discussed in this episode include: -My upcoming sojourn to fair Albion -The master of Persian poetry gives me a light slap on the wrist -The Harlem Renaissance! -Form is important, but it should follow function -Form as intellectual and creative scaffolding -English on the outside, Italian on the inside (A "Rossetti" sonnet?) -Syllabic Variation, and its usefulness for beginners -"Get off your ath let's do some math!" -The maternal onus on womankind -Big d...
2022-12-0619 minVersecraft"The Metaphysical Amorist" by J.V. CunninghamTopics discussed in this episode include: -The "Plain Style" -Epigrams-"Stoner" by John Williams -Stanzaic asymmetricity -Wacky rhyme schemes as evidence of revision -Stanzaic palindromes -The triplet as the couplet of couplets -Ladies (feminine endings) last -The curious case of iambic tetrameter -A gloss of glose -Plato, the worst third-wheel ever, returns -Earthy kids -"Love" as heuristic -Western love poets as pseudo-incels -Christianity is Platonism for the masses -Do we ever really know the ones we love? -Plato gets dumped, again
2022-11-2926 minVersecraft"Marriage As A Problem of Universals" by Dick DavisTopics discussed in this episode include: -The joy of comparing like-minded poems -The Platonic dilemma of romantic love -Heroic couplets -The Problem of Universals -Plato 101 -The contemptus mundi of Platonism -The Renaissance vogue for Platonism -Petrarch and the legacy of the Western love lyric -Poetic structure as the mirror of thought structure -Marriage is inherently anti-Platonic -Plato vs. Aristotle -Deduction vs. Induction -Malachi, Heraclitus, and the Buddha -Cyclical vs. Linear enlightenment -Marriage as spiritual practice Text of poem: Marriage As A Problem of U...
2022-11-2223 minVersecraftWhat Is Art? What Is It For? An InquiryTopics discussed in this episode include:-My thanks for (past and future) rating and reviewing! -Art vs. Craft -The spectrum of creativity -Craft as all making, not rote production -The Romantic fallacy of art without craft -The case to abolish "art." -Utilitarian vs. Rhetorical craft -Horace's "Dulce Et Utile" -The secret third thing that Horatio had not dreamt of in his philosophy -The three functions of art -The Hedonic function ;) -Sensory, Cognitive, Emotional Pleasure-Let me teach you about the Noetic function. -Insight vs. Sensitizatio...
2022-11-1518 minVersecraft"The Eclipse of Meaning" by Elijah Perseus BlumovTopics discussed in this episode include: -My life story-Poetic "throat-clearing" -Curtal sonnets -Why sonnets are the supreme lyric form -English vs. Italian sonnets -I'm basically Aristotle -The inscrutability of life and the nihilist's overreaction -The tragic mistake behind global warming and the meat industry -What does autochthonic mean?? -Sartre can eat my shorts -Aseity -The meaning of meaning -Semiotics, as if I wasn't pretentious enough -The impossibility of an immanent being perceiving or understanding a transcendent being -Science is not revelation -Apophatic theo...
2022-11-0826 minVersecraft"La Corrida" by Robert HaydenTopics discussed in this episode include:-The excellent poetry podcast Sleerickets, by MBS -The four kinds of written poetry -Toward a definition of "free verse" -Loose patterns and motley patterns -The debate over Robert Hayden -Hayden puts the verse in universal -How poetry can (and can't) change the world -The structure of a bullfight, of a poem -The Garden of Earthly Delights -Catalectic lines -Enter the Minotaur -Are we human, or are we bull-dancer? -The aestheticization of violence -The story of Veronica -Action sequin...
2022-11-0126 minVersecraft"Error Pursued" by Helen PinkertonTopics mentioned in this episode include: -My new page on the OPA website! -My delusions of TikTok stardom -The deliciously old school quality of Pinkerton's mind -Melville and Aquinas! -Stanzaic structures, stanzaic rhythm -Why iambic pentameter reigns supreme -Poetry: A marriage of sound and sense -Pride-induced dysmorphia -Pride as the supreme evil -Should I just include Milton on every episode? Yes. -The irony of transcendent ambition -Satan doesn't have time for your iambic line -Satan or Jesus: Who wore flesh better? -Ambiguity and multivalence -A definiti...
2022-10-2527 minVersecraft"Hap" By Thomas Hardy Topics mentioned in this episode: -The Ohio Poetry Association-Milton: Anapests or nah?-Revisions of elisions -Bach deserves some rubato now and then -Thomas Hardy: Poet, novelist, romantic, modernist, man of mystery. -Shout out to those weird inbetweeners Robinson and Frost -What "hap" happens to mean -The Dante Rossetti of sonnets -Lear, Job, and other sad, god-smacked men -What exactly is in this ecstasy? -The awkward moment when you realize that both the horrific theological scenarios you talk about accurately describe the Christian god. -Cool it with the sp...
2022-10-1822 minVersecraft"Country Burial" by Janet LewisTopics discussed in this episode include: -A sheepish apology -The excellence of Eratosphere -Rhythm vs. Meter, and respective variations -Metrical stress vs. speech stress -The charm and well-adjustedness of Janet Lewis -Organized religion vs. natural spirituality -Biblical ambience = anaphora and parallelism -Amphibrachs! -Versecraft feat. Migos and Lizzo -Spondees and Pyrrhics! -And Dactyls! Collect 'em all. -The symbology of the daisy, no Gatsby required. -The Legend of the Headless Iamb -Hemistichs! -Bodily decay is comforting, guys. No no hear me out... -Accurate diction, or noble fiction...
2022-10-1129 minVersecraft"The Course of a Particular" by Wallace StevensNote: I apologize for the shuffling of papers in the audio. Clearly I need a stapler. Mea culpa: "In a dark time" is a pyrrhic-spondee motion, not an anapest-trochee one. Topics discussed in this episode include: -The multifarious talent of Wallace Stevens-Stevens' theory of a "Supreme Fiction"-The incoherence of this theory-From subjectivism to objectivism-Stevens's poem, "The Snow Man"-Clutch your pearls, this is free verse! -Accentual vs. Accentual-Syllabic meter -How to write with the "ghost of meter." -Anglo-Saxon verse is no slouch...
2022-10-0420 minVersecraft"Organic Bloom" by Stanley KunitzSubjects touched on in this episode include: -Mid-century poet syndrome -Rhythmic vs. metrical variation -The poem as caesura salad -The Mind-Body problem, or, putting Descartes before the horse -Chaos and Cosmos -Is Hell artificial or organic? -Guilty sin vs. sinful guilt -More distinctions re: Romanticism -Insatiable desire and spiritual hollowness -A great Shakespeare quote from a just-ok Shakespeare play -Civilization as the macro-ubermensch -A short botanical digression -Finding existential hope in the way fruit works Text of the poem: Organic BloomThe br...
2022-09-2918 minVersecraft"Church Monuments" by George HerbertSubjects discussed in this episode include: -Aspects of devotional and Metaphysical poetry-Memento Mori and its more fun twin, Carpe Diem -Tell the truth, but tell it in true rhymes. -The passing of time really blows. -Death may be the mother of beauty, but sin is the mother of death. -You may be star dust, but you're still dust. -A surprisingly harmless debate about pronouns. -There are no blasphemous hoodlums in this poem, unfortunately. -What's the difference between you and a time-ke...
2022-09-2918 minVersecraft"In A Dark Time" by Theodore RoethkeMea culpa: The first line ("In a dark time, the eye begins to see) actually scans as: pyrrhic, spondee, iamb, iamb, iamb. Topics discussed in this episode include: -How to pronounce (or not) this dude's name-Romanticism-Romanticism's problem child, Confessional poetry-Mysticism via mental illness-Meter and rhyme zaniness-Two new kinds of feet!-Paradoxes thrust one into figurative interpretations-Darkness and Light-Dante cameo! -Biblical allusions-The tasteful use of personification-Imitative instances of awesome alliteration-Neurotypical normativity and Foucault-Ps...
2022-09-2229 minVersecraft"A Song For Rising" by Edgar Bowers"A Song For Rising" by Edgar Bowers Published September 19th, 2022 Some of the topics covered in this episode include: -What verse is -What this thing that we call meter is -Poetry is like crack -Why make time to rhyme? -Edgar Bowers, perfect man of arts and letters -I know I am, but what are you? -Pantheism! -Psych, no pantheism. -Confronting existence between the voids of birth and death -Waking up is a weird thing that happens The text of today's poem: A Song For Risin...
2022-09-1922 min