GBH Openvault
Poetry from M.I.T.; Richard Wilbur
Part of From the Vault. Part of Nine Poets Walk Into An Institute of Technology.
04/16/1964
In this recording, one of several poetry readings and talks from M.I.T. that aired on WGBH in 1963, Richard Wilbur reads a series of original poems including "A Courtyard Thaw," "A Simile for Her Smile," "Altitudes," "Love Calls Us To The Things of This World," "Piazza di Spagna, Early Morning," "After the Last Bulletins," "Merlin Enthralled," "A Voice From Under the Table," "For the New Railway Station in Rome," "Foggy Street," "Two Voices in a Meadow," "Ballade for the Duke of L'Orleans," "In the Smoking Car," "Shame," and "The Undead," as well as "Foggy Street," a translation from the Russian of Andrei Voznesensky, and three translations from the French, including a poem from Francis Jammes titled "A Prayer to Go to Paradise with the Donkeys" and selections from Molière's The Misanthrope and Voltaire's Candide. In the process of reading his own work, Wilbur offers a few anecdotes, explaining that "A Courtyard Thaw" is keyed to Harvard University's Adams House and that "A Similie for Her Smile" is keyed to Gloucester's Blynman Canal Drawbridge, while also reminiscing on the Roman settings of several poems read here ("Altitudes," "Piazza di Spagna, Early Morning," and "For the New Railway Station in Rome"), and recalling his time spent as a State Department delegate to Russia in connection with the poem "After the Last Bulletins." Summary and select metadata for this record was submitted by Jim Cocola.
License Clip
More material may be available from this program at the GBH Archives. If you would like research access to the collection at GBH, please email archive_requests@wgbh.org.
- Series
- Poetry from M.I.T.
- Program
- Richard Wilbur
- Series Description
Radio series. Series release date: 1963
- Program Description
Radio
- Duration
00:58:55
- Asset Type
Broadcast program
- Media Type
Audio
- Subjects
- Poetry
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Artistic Influences
- Poetry readings (Sound recordings)
- Wilbur, Richard, 1921-
- United States Poet Laureate
- Art and Science
- Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Locations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Genres
- Performance for a Live Audience
- Event Coverage
- Topics
- Literature
- Contributors
- Wilbur, Richard, 1921- (Speaker)
- Publication Information
- Posted with permission provided by Richard Wilbur
- Citation
- Chicago: “Poetry from M.I.T.; Richard Wilbur,” 04/16/1964, GBH Archives, accessed December 26, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_985986E5A6644E2EB70285B1EDB0897E.
- MLA: “Poetry from M.I.T.; Richard Wilbur.” 04/16/1964. GBH Archives. Web. December 26, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_985986E5A6644E2EB70285B1EDB0897E>.
- APA: Poetry from M.I.T.; Richard Wilbur. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/A_985986E5A6644E2EB70285B1EDB0897E