GBH Openvault
Sense of Poetry, The; Selected Ballads
Part of From the Vault. Part of New Critical Television.
10/24/1957
The prime aim of "The Sense of Poetry" is to put great poetry before the public for whom simultaneous reading and listening offers a clearer presentation than either can apart. This series of eight lectures by Harvard Professor I.A. Richards gives background and insight, and will provide an exciting introduction to poetry that will capture the imagination of almost any group. In this first episode, "Professor and Lowell Television Lecturer at Harvard University" I. A. Richards reads and discusses "Selected Ballads." He sits at a desk and addresses the camera; texts read at length are presented as scrolling intertitles. Richards begins by discussing what a sense of poetry means, and by suggesting that lullabies should be the starting point for an investigation. An anonymous, untitled lullaby-ballad contributed by Ellery Sedgwick provides the exemplary text. Directing the viewer's attention to the brief poem's dramatic reversal of tone, Richards insists that poetry is not "namby pamby" and that the ballad lullaby is "packed with poetic vitamins." The episode concludes with Alice Bitter singing a 15th century ballad, "The Unquiet Grave." Summary and select metadata for this record was submitted by John Marx & Mark Cooper.
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- Series
- Sense of Poetry, The
- Program
- Selected Ballads
- Program Number
101
- Series Description
The prime aim of "The Sense of Poetry" is to put great poetry before the large and ?? public for whom simultaneous reading and listening offers a clearer and ?? presentation than either can apart. Commentary, explanation, and criticism have been subordinated to this joint presentation and have been chiefly concerned ?? supply -- again by print and voice together -- passages of earlier prose and verse each assist in the exploration of the poem under study. The poems were selected and arranged so that this illustration by quotation might be cumulative. The series as a whole is an introduction to the theme: "Platonism is English Poetry," and the passages cited from Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus and others are among the essential roots of Western culture. This series of eight lectures, by Harvard Professor I.A. Richards background and insight, as well as his dramatic flair, will provide an exciting introduction to poetry that will capture the imagination of almost any group. Program Eight: The Phoenix and the Turtle The most mysterious poem in English, Shakespeare's The Phoenix and the Turtle is looked at in the light of the affirmations made by all the preceding poems in the series. Series release date: 1957
- Program Description
Hosted by I.A. Richards, Harvard University.
Series description: The prime aim of "The Sense of Poetry" is to put great poetry before the large and ?? public for whom simultaneous reading and listening offers a clearer and ?? presentation than either can apart. Commentary, explanation, and criticism have been subordinated to this joint presentation and have been chiefly concerned ?? supply -- again by print and voice together -- passages of earlier prose and verse each assist in the exploration of the poem under study. The poems were selected and arranged so that this illustration by quotation might be cumulative. The series as a whole is an introduction to the theme: "Platonism is English Poetry," and the passages cited from Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus and others are among the essential roots of Western culture. This series of eight lectures, by Harvard Professor I.A. Richards background and insight, as well as his dramatic flair, will provide an exciting introduction to poetry that will capture the imagination of almost any group. Program Eight: The Phoenix and the Turtle The most mysterious poem in English, Shakespeare's The Phoenix and the Turtle is looked at in the light of the affirmations made by all the preceding poems in the series.
- Duration
00:29:10
- Asset Type
Broadcast program
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Scott, Walter, 1771-1832
- Phillips, Ambrose, 1674-1749
- Richards, I. A. (Ivor Armstrong), 1893-1979
- Ballads
- Homer
- Unquiet Grave
- Hood, Thomas, 1799-1845
- Bible
- Poetry--Appreciation
- Illiad
- Genres
- Educational
- Topics
- Literature
- Contributors
- Barlow, Lewis (Producer)
- Richards, I. A. (Ivor Armstrong), 1893-1979 (Host)
- Publication Information
- Courtesy of Thirteen/WNET New York and WGBH Boston
- Citation
- Chicago: “Sense of Poetry, The; Selected Ballads,” 10/24/1957, GBH Archives, accessed April 23, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_291347FDCA2E4BC4BEDFE3D6CABC2BF2.
- MLA: “Sense of Poetry, The; Selected Ballads.” 10/24/1957. GBH Archives. Web. April 23, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_291347FDCA2E4BC4BEDFE3D6CABC2BF2>.
- APA: Sense of Poetry, The; Selected Ballads. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_291347FDCA2E4BC4BEDFE3D6CABC2BF2