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Jane Austen’s “Mock Panegyric on a Young Friend”
Today’s poem marshals Austen’s characteristic wit to praise feminine virtues via comparison to American geography. Fellas, don’t try this at home. Ha…
17 hours ago
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Grief”
Today’s poem, pitting Victorian stoicism against Victorian sentimentality, contends that the truest grief is the most austere and long-lived. Happy r…
2 days, 16 hours ago
Wendell Berry’s “Testament”
Composed in 1971 as a self-eulogy, today’s poem is a remembrance of Wendell Berry who embarked for the greater Port Royal yesterday at the age of 92.…
3 days, 15 hours ago
Oliver Wendell Holmes’ “The Last Leaf”
Holmes wrote that the man who inspired today’s poem reminded him of "a withered leaf which has held to its stem through the storms of autumn and wint…
4 days, 15 hours ago
Francis Jammes’ “A Prayer to Go to Paradise with the Donkeys”
Today’s poem, translated by Richard Wilbur, is part animal appreciation, prayer for a good death. Happy reading.
This is a public episode. If you'd l…
1 week ago
William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 71 (“No longer mourn for me when I am dead”)
Today’s poem has a different preoccupation than most Shakespearean sonnets–not immortalizing the beloved, but effacing the lover. Happy reading.
This…
1 week, 2 days ago
John Milton’s Proem to Paradise Lost
Today’s poem is the opening lines of a famous epic poem–composed by a blind poet, about the fall of a great kingdom, a devious stratagem, and a long …
1 week, 4 days ago
Shel Silverstein’s “Sick”
Today’s poem is angling for a day off. Happy reading.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to…
2 weeks ago
David Wagoner’s “The Junior High School Band Concert”
“No doubt, in his mind’s earSome band somewhereIn some music of some SphereWas striking a note as pureAs the wishes of Franz Schubert,But meanwhile h…
2 weeks, 2 days ago
William Blake's "The School Boy"
Today’s poem is a more eloquent version of an appeal being made in many households this month. Happy reading.
This is a public episode. If you'd like…
2 weeks, 4 days ago