The Troubadour Podcast

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Opposing his own view in "Go and Catch a Falling Star," Donne explains to us how to be braver than one of the nine worithes (Hector, Alexander the Great, Julius Ceasar, Joshua, David, Judas Maccabeus, King Arthur, Charlemagne, Godfrey of Boullion.)

To be greater then these men, in one area at least, we must simply love a woman for her inner virtues as opposed to her outer virtues. Oh and it's even better to not tell anyone about it!

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In this balladic poem, Wordsworth tells the tale of a "solitary thorn," or British Hawthorn Bush, that "marks the spot where a pregnant woman, driven from town and forced to give birth alone on the heath, died from famine, pain and cold and anguish." 

In typical Wordsworthian fashion, however, he was not at all interested in the tale of the woman. he was interested in how a tale like that, a stormy night and a solitary thorn can have a deep impact on the mind and soul of a certain type of man.

For Hawthorn, his main purpose for many of his poems was "to illustrate the manner in which our feelings and ideas are associated in a state of excitment. But, speaking in language somewhat more appropriate, it is to follow the fluxes and refluxes of the mind when agited by the great and simple affections of our nature."

Before listening to this poem it is important to note the narrator. In this case, it is NOT WIlliam Wordsworth. Instead, Wordsworth is projecting the character of a specific type of superstitious mind. 

In this poem the narrator is:
A sufficiently common man
A captain of a small trading vessel
Past the middle age of his life
retired on an annuity to a small village or country town 
He is not a native of the town he has retired to

Men such as this having little to do, become credulous and talkative from indolence. They are prone to superstition. This character is best able to exhibit, for Wordsworth "some of the general laws by which superstition acts upon the mind."

This will be our journey for this episode. How does superstition act upon the mind? What effect does it have? What turns of passion do men and women operating under superstition make? 

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On today's episode you'll learn how a 16th century poet delivers a punch line!

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What does contemplation look like and how can we know it when we are doing it? This will be one of the themes to be explored on this episode. 

On this Sunday Morning Poetry I'll be reading not only the Lines poem but a passage from Wordsworth's The Prelude and a poem from Robert Burns. We will learn much about a pivotal shift in the early Wordsworth's philosophy and poetry. It is the shift that made Romanticism... Well... Romanticism.

In Lyrical Ballads there are several poems by Wordsworth with the title simply "lines" and then a subtitle like (written in early spring) or (left upon a yew tree...). The most famous of these, and the most famous of all Wordsworth's poetry is the finale of the 1798 Lyrical Ballads, Lines (written a few miles above Tintern Abbey, on revisiting the banks of the Wy during a tour, July 13th, 1798). 

These "lines" poems have at their core a certain way of contemplation reality. It is one that has changed English writing and thinking ever since. And it is a way of contemplation that will make your life worth living.

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@jJeff Britting and Kirk Barbera will be peering at a special page of a manuscript from the Ayn Rand's Archives.

Jeff was instrumental in the building of the Ayn Rand archives. He worked with Rand's materials for over 25 years. And today we will be exploring her unique writing process and the writing process of many other famous (and some non-famous!) writers.

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Are women innately fickle?

In episode 2 of Metaphysical Mondays we covered the poem The Good Morrow by Donne, where Donne waxes poetical about the eternality of romantic love. 

This is a very different poem. Here Donne speaks like an anxious teenager after a passionate night with a women he believes he is in love with.

On this episode we'll talk about metaphysical conceit and more far fetched imagery.

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Who among the big six Romantic Poets was the greatest of all Romantic artists? To me this is like asking which part of the Pacific Ocean is wettest.

However, in this discussion I explain some differences among all 6 and I discuss several advantages that William Wordsworth had over fellow poets like John Keats.

Today's poem was based on an incident that Wordsworth experienced while on a walking tour in 1793. He had been forced to flee France after the country was heating up. During this time he did not write as much as other poets of a similar age, but he did have numerous experiences that would be the seeds for future poems, including "We Are Seven."

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On this special episode of Troubadour, I sat down in Hollywood with Jeff Britting. Jeff is an accomplished composer (including an Oscar nominated movie), play-wright, historian, author, and producer. He has lived in West Hollywood for the past 30 years.

We chatted about Quentin Tarantino's most recent movie Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. 

We discussed the changing role of Hollywood in America, how the stars used to wait around for roles (and what they did while they were waiting) and we spent a lot of time discussing Tarantino's movie and its impact on our culture.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this impactful movie.

*NOTE: With this podcast we do refer to some visuals. But the bulk of the show is a discussion of Tarantino's movie, with no visuals needed.

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Are we truly ALIVE before we fall in love?

This is a question John Donne asks his girl one morning while waking up beside her.

In this episode I explain the concept of "Metaphysical Conceit," which is often leveled at John Donne, and I also explain more about the differences in worldview between the Romantics and the Metaphysical Poets.

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A flaw in all parents, and one not easily rectified, is the inadvertent expectation of cohesion between your child's view of the world and the parents.

In this poem by Wordsworth he gives you a hint as to how to identify and even rectify this mistake

In the discussion of this poem I also explain an important principle regarding romantic literature and poetry. Hint: It has to do with the way we look at waterfalls!