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Sense of Poetry, The; Ecstasy, The, Part II

Part of From the Vault. Part of New Critical Television.

11/07/1957

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. After reading Donne's poem whole, "Professor and Lowell Television Lecturer at Harvard University" I. A. Richards then considers its interpretation. He sits at a desk and addresses the camera; texts read at length scroll down the screen. Richards summarizes Donne's career-ruining marriage as context for the poem, notes that he has been lecturing on this poem since 1923 and that his students' reactions have influenced his interpretation, introduces a modernized Platonic diagram in which soul, spirt, and the appetites are likened to the head, thorax, and abdomen of the body, reads Donne's "Holy Sonnett XVII," and discusses a handful of a major Donne critics who differ on the importance of carnality in the poem. [Note: There are significant audio dropouts in the second half of the program.] Summary and select metadata for this record was submitted by John Marx & Mark Cooper.


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Series
Sense of Poetry, The
Program
Ecstasy, The, Part II
Program Number

103

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

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

00:28:50

Asset Type

Broadcast program

Media Type

Video

Subjects
Donne, John, 1572-1631 Holy Sonnets.
Donne, John, 1572-1631--Criticism and interpretation
The Republic
The Ecstasy
Richards, I. A. (Ivor Armstrong), 1893-1979
Poetry--Appreciation
Plato
Donne, John, 1572-1631
Radcliffe College
Genres
Educational
Topics
Literature
Contributors
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; Ecstasy, The, Part II,” 11/07/1957, GBH Archives, accessed March 29, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_BB555AAB7DB94700A9BC34B031E1F5CB.
MLA: “Sense of Poetry, The; Ecstasy, The, Part II.” 11/07/1957. GBH Archives. Web. March 29, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_BB555AAB7DB94700A9BC34B031E1F5CB>.
APA: Sense of Poetry, The; Ecstasy, The, Part II. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_BB555AAB7DB94700A9BC34B031E1F5CB
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