“But the monsters turned out to be just trees.” Are trees good? Are trees bad? Why the tree imagery? In this episode of AP Taylor Swift, your hosts dive into the world of ecocriticism to explore and analyze how Taylor uses nature in her lyrics to create powerful metaphors that resonate with her listeners. Join us as Jodi discusses the dichotomy of the domestic vs the wild in “Out of the Woods,” Jenn shares some surprising history about William Wordsworth that may change the way you listen to “the lakes” forever, and Maansi teaches us about the sublime with “Snow on the Beach.” 

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Mentioned in the episode: 

Recollections of the Lakes and the Lake Poets

Dorothy Wordsworth poetry 

William Wordsworth poetry

Wordsworth & Coleridge Lyrical Ballads

Walden: A Fully Annotated Edition 

Walt Whitman: The Complete Poems

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

“Out of the Woods”

“the lakes” 

“Snow on the Beach” 

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Episode Highlights: 

[0:27] Introduction to ecocriticism

[3:06] “Out of the Woods” 

[21:06] “the lakes”

[38:22] “Snow on the Beach”

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This podcast is neither related to nor endorsed by Taylor Swift, her companies, or record labels. All opinions are our own. Intro music produced by Scott Zadig aka Scotty Z.