Critical Readings

Released on 4 April 2022:

The panel reads a selection of verses from Owen Meredith–Robert Bulwer-Lytton, Earl of Lytton–an eminent Victorian statesman and poet, including an excerpt from the second part of his long, anapestic epic, “Lucile”, and two shorter poems.

Released on 28 March 2022:

The panel reads the poetry of Robert Graves, from his early war poetry to the work of his later life, with special attention to his theory of The White Goddess, including “A Dead Boche”, “A Boy in Church”, “The God Called Poetry” and “The Spoilsport”.

Released on 14 March 2022:

The panel reads four poems by D. H. Lawrence: “Whales Weep Not!”, “Moonrise”, “When I Read Shakespeare”, and “Only Man”, and discusses their frank but sensual depictions of sexuality, communication, communion, nature, salvation, and damnation.

Released on 7 March 2022:

The panel reads two Pope’s ‘An Essay on Man’ and Wordsworth’s ‘Tintern Abbey’ in conversation with one another–looking at the similarities of their conclusions and the difference in their approaches–as they address the roles of Man, Nature, and God.

Released on 28 February 2022:

The panel reads a selection of three poems by Conrad Aiken–“The Room”, “Exile”, and “Goya”–and discusses their dreamlike imagery, and the impact of personal tragedy, English Romanticism, and Freudian and Jungian theories, upon Aiken’s poetry.

Released on 21 February 2022:

Following on the theme of love and death, the panel reads Milton’s pastoral elegy, “Lycidas”, dedicated to the memory of Edward King, with special attention to Milton’s theology and his critique of both the contemporary English clergy and community.

Released on 14 February 2022:

For St. Valentine’s Day, the panel reads what is likely to have been Shakespeare’s first officially published work: his genre-defying Tragi-Comi-Ovidian poem “Venus and Adonis”, dedicated to his patron, Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton.

Released on 7 February 2022:

The panel concludes “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” with an examination of the poem’s liminal spaces, an evaluation of Gawain’s moral virtue, a discussion on the nature of courage, and questions about the role of community in the act of contrition.

Released on 31 January 2022:

The panel reads the third part of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, with particular attention to the juxtaposition of the forest hunting, killing, and skinning/gutting scenes with those of courtly love in the luxurious bedchamber of Sir Gawain.

Released on 24 January 2022:

The panel reads the second part of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, and examines the theological significance of the seasons, the detailed military fortifications of Castle Hautdesert, and the appearance of the beautiful Lady Hautdesert.