GBH Openvault

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

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

11/21/1957

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 episode, "Professor and Lowell Television Lecturer at Harvard University" I. A. Richards completes his reading and interpretation of Andrew Marvell's "The Garden," turning to the "neo-Platonic" elements of the poem, or what he refers to as "the big stuff." As throughout the series, he sits at a desk and addresses the camera; texts read at length scroll down the screen. Richards introduces the "engineering'" vocabulary of signal and noise and relates it to the poem's reception. He continues his running disquisition on the importance of Plato's thought. Summary and select metadata for this record was submitted by John Marx & Mark Cooper.


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
Sense of Poetry, The
Program
Garden, The, Part II
Program Number

105

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

00:28:55

Asset Type

Broadcast program

Media Type

Video

Subjects
Plato
Republic
Signal Theory
Poetry--Appreciation
The Garden
Richards, I. A. (Ivor Armstrong), 1893-1979
Marvell, Andrew, 1621-1678
Telecommunication
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; Garden, The, Part II,” 11/21/1957, GBH Archives, accessed November 21, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_4F72A62B6C5F436DA52796A54DDF6617.
MLA: “Sense of Poetry, The; Garden, The, Part II.” 11/21/1957. GBH Archives. Web. November 21, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_4F72A62B6C5F436DA52796A54DDF6617>.
APA: Sense of Poetry, The; Garden, The, Part II. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_4F72A62B6C5F436DA52796A54DDF6617
If you have more information about this item, we want to know! Please contact us, including the URL.