Versecraft

"Last Rites" by Ernest Hilbert


Listen Later

Topics discussed in this episode include:

-Ernest Hilbert! 

-Robinson revisited 

-Sorry Matthew, it looks like I actually have the more controversial podcast. 

-You can listen to the Comedy Central Roast of Versecraft here

-The paradox of relativism

-How (evaluative) Lit Crit works 

-Ernest's Heavy Metal poem 

-Buy Ernest's new book here 

-The Hilbertian sonnet

-A New Formalist style 

-The horror of logistics

-Late Summertime Blues

-The Myth of Icarus

-The Poetics of Grammar

-The blessing and curse of the forbidden fruit

-The last rites of "Last Rites"

-Make lasting memories, then let them go. 

Text of poem:

Last Rites

 

I’ve known beauty almost impossible                                    

to believe, nearly always lost amid                                         

all the usual distractions. Deadlines loom.                 

Taxes come due. Birthdays pass. Debts double.                     

But once a bright and late summer sun filled             

the air, angling astonishingly through a room                        

 

filled with music, some old heart-aching song,                      

and there was my son, not yet two years, coming      

across the floor toward me with arms outspread,                   

his face big with a smile, and he was so strong                      

and new, unworried blue eyes, becoming                               

ever giddier, unbalanced, lunging ahead,                               

 

hoping to fly in that warm light with his father,                     

to hug me as if for very life, and I wished I could                  

stay there always lifting him, laughing, and such                  

light linger as if we’re still together,                           

and I will tell you it hurt it was so good,                                

and I know I’ve had that. I had that much. 

Support the show

BUY VERSECRAFT MERCH HERE.

VISIT THE VERSECRAFT SUBSTACK HERE.

Please subscribe, rate, and review! Thanks so much for listening.

You can leave me a tip, support the podcast, or request a commission here!

TikTok: @versecraft
Send me a note at: [email protected]

My favorite poetry podcasts for:
Sharp thoughts and cutting truths (Matthew): Sleerickets
Lovely introspection and sensitive reflection (Alice): Poetry Says
The landscape of Ohioan poetry (Jeremy): Poetry Spotlight

Supported in part by The Ohio Poetry Association
Art by David Anthony Klug

List of the most common metrical feet:
Iamb: weak-STRONG (u /)
Trochee: STRONG-weak (/ u)
Anapest: weak-weak-STRONG (u u /)
Amphibrach: weak-STRONG-weak (u / u)
Dactyl: STRONG-weak-weak (/ u u)
Cretic: STRONG-weak-STRONG (/ u /)
Pyrrhic: weak-weak (u u)
Spondee: STRONG-STRONG (/ /)

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

VersecraftBy Elijah Perseus Blumov

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

26 ratings


More shows like Versecraft

View all
Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies by Bishop Robert Barron

Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies

4,911 Listeners

Poetry Off the Shelf by Poetry Foundation

Poetry Off the Shelf

422 Listeners

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast by Mark Linsenmayer, Wes Alwan, Seth Paskin, Dylan Casey

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

2,089 Listeners

Desert Island Discs by BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs

1,960 Listeners

The New Yorker: Poetry by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

The New Yorker: Poetry

508 Listeners

Mere Fidelity by Mere Fidelity

Mere Fidelity

333 Listeners

VS by Poetry Foundation

VS

391 Listeners

The Catholic Culture Podcast by CatholicCulture.org

The Catholic Culture Podcast

128 Listeners

Manifesto! by Manifesto! A Podcast

Manifesto!

120 Listeners

The Daily Poem by Goldberry Studios

The Daily Poem

709 Listeners

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

6,962 Listeners

Evangelization & Culture Podcast by Word on Fire Institute

Evangelization & Culture Podcast

202 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,457 Listeners

SLEERICKETS by Matthew Buckley Smith

SLEERICKETS

36 Listeners

The Color of Dust by Jack Baumgartner, Seth Wieck, and Sam Kee

The Color of Dust

8 Listeners