Critical Readings

Released on 12 September 2022:

The panel reads three stirring poems by the American diplomat, activist, author, poet, and professor James Weldon Johnson, examining the theological symbolism and social commentary in “The Creation”, “Listen, Lord”, and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.

Released on 29 August 2022:

The panel reads the first book of William Wordsworth’s “The Prelude”, discussing the intention of the overall work, with special attention to the presentation of childhood freedom, the intellectual work of writing poetry, and existential dread.

Released on 22 August 2022:

The panel attempts to read Canto LXXIV from The Cantos of Ezra Pound, but finds even this one poem too dense to complete in a single episode, with its use of a vast array of literary and personal references fused into a challenging composite work.

Released on 15 August 2022:

The panel concludes the series on Idylls of the King with a full reading of “The Passing of Arthur” and the epilogue “To the Queen”, considering Gawain’s warning, the last battle, Bedivere’s treachery, and Arthur’s departure with the three queens.

Released on 8 August 2022:

The panel reads the penultimate idyll, “Guinevere”, last of the original 1859 collection, and focuses on the redemptive arc of the queen, passing from recognition of her sin and fear of shame into pursuit of the pure and the good for its own sake.

Released on 1 August 2022:

The panel reads the second part of the story of Sir Pelleas, “The Last Tournament”, with its contrast between white innocence and red blood, its manifold inversions of the Arthurian court, and its connexion to the real-life Eglinton Tournament of 1839.

Released on 25 July 2022:

The panel reads “Pelleas and Ettare” and questions whether Arthur overprotects Sir Pelleas, considering the implications for the court, whilst also examining Tennyson’s psychologising of Ettare, and the potential dangers of a too-idealistic worldview.

Released on 18 July 2022:

The panel discusses the dispersal of the Round Table in “The Holy Grail”, the conflict between the Common Good of the realm and the individual knights’ quests for the Absolute Good, and the experiences of Gawain, Bors, Lancelot, Perceval, and Galahad.

Released on 11 July 2022:

Moving into the second half of the Idylls, the panel reads “Lancelot and Elaine”, one of the most beloved poems in the cycle, contrasting Guinevere with Elaine and Lancelot with Gawain, and reading Arthur as a messianic, interpretive mirror of the court.

Released on 4 July 2022:

The panel reads the poem that serves as the hinge in the cycle of the Idylls, “Merlin and Vivien”, looking at how Vivien uses manipulation, dissemblance, and falsehood to achieve her ends, and considering the natural ends of the law and the state.