The Troubadour Podcast

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I will be arguing that Science Fiction is the genre of fantasy literature that uses science as a backdrop of plausibility. Moreover, that is an important genre for our present day, as its themes and style very much do influence our modern world.

We will be comparing Edgar Allan Poe's Rhetoric of Science style of writing with Nathanial Hawthorne and Mary Shelley's romantic style of writing.

We will also delve into this story by Poe, its impact at the time of publishing it, and the lessons we have yet to learn from it.

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William Blake believed there were two contrary states battling it out within each and every individual human being. Innocence and experience. The way that we developed as unique individuals was by a "dialectic process." That is, there is a Thesis (a little boy is lost) and an Anti-thesis (The little boy is found) Together they can become a synthesis, or, a new thesis.

We find this process all throughout this book of poetry by Blake. 

In today's episode we will be covering the two aforementioned poems. They are very short but reveal much of the way that Blake believed the human soul was developed

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In this short story by Poe we hear a tale from a scientist who performs mesmerism on a man in articulo mortis. That is, "at the point of death." Mesmerism was a method of psychological and physical healing developed by Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), a Viennese doctor. It was believed to be therapeutic, especially of nervous people, and many also believed it could override the will of another person, as is hypnotism.

Poe shares a story from a man who actually performed mesmerism on a man at the point of death. What happens is unbelievable. Believe it.

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On this episode I cover three very short poems by William Blake in his Songs of Innocence and Experience:

1) The Shepherd
2) The Lamb
3) Spring

These are the pastoral poems in this book of poetry. You'll learn the difference between a pastoral poem and a georgic poem and why that is important. Also, we'll explore the deeper themes recurring throughout this work by Blake.

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WARNING: This is not an episode for people who cannot handle the reality of the decisions that parents had to make during the early years of the industrial revolution.

On this episode I give you a history lesson on life during the early years of the Industrial Revolution, including a history of chimney sweepers.

Blake's poem can be seen simply as a tale of a young chimney sweeper who has a vision about an angel setting him and his friends free, and it can be seen as an indictment of the way we indoctrinate children.

Few poets have the ability to infuse the most simple poetry with a subtle power that can effect real change in the minds of individuals.

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Stewart Wade Margolis joins me for another conversation about poetry and his work as a diretor. This time we discussed the poem by William Blake "The Garden of Love," as well as his short vignettes about dating as a gay man in Coffee House Chronicles.

We had a great conversation about sexual repression in our society as well as the similarities and differences of dating and sexual taboos in modern culture.

Here is the poem by Blake:

The Garden of Love

BY WILLIAM BLAKE

I went to the Garden of Love,

And saw what I never had seen:

A Chapel was built in the midst,

Where I used to play on the green.

And the gates of this Chapel were shut,

And Thou shalt not. writ over the door;

So I turn'd to the Garden of Love,

That so many sweet flowers bore. 

And I saw it was filled with graves,

And tomb-stones where flowers should be:

And Priests in black gowns, were walking their rounds,

And binding with briars, my joys & desires.

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Get ready for some difficult to read poetic moments. Here we will deal with racism and slavery. 

In this poem by Blake, from The Songs of Innocence, he expresses in beautiful verse a story that a mother tells to her young child about why they are black slaves living in England during the mid 18th century.

If you have followed along with my readings of Blake you will know that this is only the surface level. It is the "innocent" reading. The experienced reading will metaphorically, shake your world.

Do not miss this one.

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This is an audio version of the video you can find at troubadourmag.com or on Facebook or Youtube:

In this video I discuss Yaron Brook's review of The Irishman by Martin Scorsese. While there are several point of agreement I have with Yaron's assessment, I believe he fundamentally misses the point of the movie. Moreover, I believe he wrongly applies Ayn Rand's conception of esthetics to Scorsese's movie.

Here I will defend The Irishman as great art, whether or not you subjectively like the movie. It is my understanding that Yaron hated the fim (totally understandable) but that he allowed this to cloud his judgment of assessing the film is improper.

I hope you will enjoy a dissectioon of several scenes as well as a discussion of the gangster genre, Martin Scorse's filmography, the art of acting (and what we can judge of it) and much much more.

This was a fun one to create and as I say in the video it comes from a place of love, as so much of Yaron's work has been an inspiration to me.

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*I also read "The Tyger" by Blake from the Songs of Experience.

Of all the innocence projected in The Songs of Innocence, none are more so than The Lamb! We will explore the imagery and metaphors as well as the tone of this poem by Blake. 

As I have recommended in my other videos on Blake, if you have a small child, try reading this to them and talking through it. You may be interested to hear what a child hears versus what you hear.

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This is the third poem in The Songs of Innocence, where we see a simple pastoral scene with families playing in a green pasture during springtime, from a child's perspective. But as adults reading it we will see something different, maybe even something slightly dark. 

In this episode I will show teachers and parents a simple exercise to enjoy this Blake poem as a family. As all the songs of innocence, this is a great poem to read to children. And as Blake intended, children will have one experience of the poem, while adults will have a different one. Both are correct!

We will explore the poem and the hand made illustrations by William Blake from a child's view of the poem (to the best of my old man abilities!) and from an adults perspective.