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Welcome to “Beyond the Verse,” the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com. Embark on a literary journey where we explore specific poems, delve into poets, and uncover the intricate world of poetry. Each episode is dedicated to learning about the art and craft of poetry.
Join us as we answer questions from Poetry+ users, provide insightful analyses, and discuss all things poetry. Whether you’re a seasoned poetry lover or a curious newcomer, “Beyond the Verse” promises to enrich your understanding and appreciation of the poetic world.
Subscribe now to “Beyond the Verse” and immerse yourself in the beauty of verse, the stories behind the stanzas, and the wisdom of poets across ages. Join Poetry+ at PoemAnalysis.com to get the ultimate poetry experience, including asking questions on the podcast, PDF Guides on all things poetry, email newsletter, and many features on PoemAnalysis.com.
44 Episodes
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In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe kick off episode two of their Imagist mini series by turning to Hilda Doolittle, better known as H.D., and asking what made her one of the movement’s most important voices. They begin with H.D.’s life, from Pennsylvania to London, and the close, complicated circle that shaped early Imagism, including Ezra Pound, Richard Aldington, and William Carlos Williams. The conversation also l...
In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe kick off a new mini series on the Imagist poets with the movement’s key figure, Ezra Pound. Starting with Pound’s life and context, they introduce him as a major modernist force who helped shape early twentieth century literature, while also acknowledging the controversies that follow his political views and public persona. The hosts then break down the Imagist movement itself, tra...
In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe celebrate Valentine’s Day with a sweeping journey through love poetry across more than two thousand years. Beginning with Sappho’s ‘Hymn to Aphrodite,’ Joe traces the devotional roots of romantic verse, where love is bound up with gods, ritual, and longing. From there, the hosts move through Robert Burns’s ‘A Red, Red Rose,’ exploring how symbols like the red rose and vows that last...
In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe close Season Three with a special Q&A from their listeners. After nearly forty episodes, they pause to look back on their journey, answer community questions, and talk about what’s next for the show. The first question comes from Chandra, asking if a fourth season is coming and whether they’ll take on an epic like the ‘Ramayana’. Joe and Maiya share their excitement about explo...
In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe take a deep dive into one of poetry’s most flexible and lasting forms—the ode. After Maiya’s introduction, Joe traces the form’s roots to ancient Greece and Rome, looking at Pindar’s public celebrations, Horace’s reflective quatrains, and Sappho’s lyrical songs. These classical beginnings shaped the odes we know today, from praise to introspection. The hosts move through history wit...
In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe focus on Christina Rossetti’s ‘Remember,’ one of the most enduring sonnets of the Victorian period. After Maiya’s reading, they look at Rossetti’s background: her Italian literary family, her early breakdown at fourteen, her deep commitment to Anglo-Catholic faith, and her choice to remain unmarried despite several proposals. These details help frame the intensity and restraint with...
In this week’s episode of “Beyond the Verse,” the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe turn their attention to Langston Hughes, one of the most influential voices of the Harlem Renaissance. They begin with Hughes’s life, from his birth in Missouri in 1901 to his travels across Africa and Europe, his brief stay in Paris, and the release of his groundbreaking collection The Weary Blues in 1926. Along the way, they place him in the wider context of the Harlem Renaissan...
In this week’s episode of “Beyond the Verse,” the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe dive into Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s haunting masterpiece, ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’. They begin with Coleridge’s life and the birth of the Romantic movement, situating the poem within its 1798 publication in Lyrical Ballads. The hosts explore Coleridge’s radical youth, his bond with Wordsworth, and the wider cultural context of exploration, superstition, and shifting faith...
In this week’s episode of “Beyond the Verse,” the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe turn their attention to Toru Dutt’s ‘Our Casuarina Tree’, a landmark poem in Indian English literature. Beginning with Maiya’s reading, they reflect on Dutt’s short but remarkable life, her education in Cambridge, and her ability to bridge Indian and European literary traditions. The hosts discuss how the tree serves as both a personal and cultural symbol, tied to memory, family, ...
In this week’s episode of “Beyond the Verse,” the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Joe and Maiya celebrate the show’s one-year anniversary, reflecting on the journey so far, the lessons learned, and the evolving style of their in-depth poetry discussions. They share listener questions, revealing their proudest moments, favorite episodes, and the poets who have surprised them most over the past twelve months. From early highlights like Danez Smith’s episode to thematic deep di...
In this episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, hosts Maiya and Joe explore 'Small Towns and the River' by Mamang Dai, a deeply resonant poem that blends cosmology, animism, and the intimate experiences of life and death in India’s northeastern hill communities. Together, they unpack how Dai—drawing on her Adi tribal heritage and deep environmental consciousness—uses the imagery of a flowing river to explore permanence, transience, and the cyclical n...
In this episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, hosts Joe and Maiya examine Alfred Lord Tennyson's iconic war poem 'The Charge of the Light Brigade.' Written just weeks after the disastrous cavalry charge during the Crimean War in October 1854, this poem dramatically reshaped the Victorian cultural conversation around military sacrifice and heroism. Joe and Maiya explore how Tennyson, as Poet Laureate, transformed a military blunder that initially em...
In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Joe and Maiya delve into the strange brilliance of the Metaphysical Poets. From the explosive intimacy of Donne’s 'The Flea,' to the restless rebellion in Herbert’s 'The Collar,' and the dizzying contradictions of Marvell’s 'To His Coy Mistress,' this episode unpacks what unites—and divides—these 17th-century innovators. Joe and Maiya trace the origins of the term “metaphysical poets,” coined pe...
In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Joe and Maiya look into John Keats’s haunting meditation on mortality and art, 'Ode to a Nightingale.' Written during the poet’s final years, this celebrated ode encapsulates the fleeting nature of life and the immortal legacy of beauty. Joe and Maiya explore how Keats uses the nightingale’s song as a symbol of timeless artistic expression, contrasting it with the poet’s own fears of death and ob...
In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Joe and Maiya unpack Dylan Thomas’s iconic villanelle, 'Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.' Written in 1947 and published in 1951, this powerful plea to resist mortality remains one of the most famous poems of the 20th century. Joe and Maiya explore how Thomas’s poetic form—strict yet expressive—mirrors the poem’s defiant message. They trace the emotional roots of the piece in Thomas’s perso...
In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Joe and Maya delve into T. S. Eliot’s groundbreaking 1922 poem, 'The Waste Land.' Widely hailed as one of the most significant works of modernist poetry, 'The Waste Land' reshaped literary history with its fragmented structure, interwoven voices, and provocative allusions to mythology, religion, and everyday life. Joe and Maiya unpack Eliot’s kaleidoscopic use of symbols—from the Arthurian Fishe...
TW: Discussions of suicide In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, hosts Joe and Maiya dive into Sylvia Plath’s posthumous collection "Ariel," focusing on 'Daddy,' 'Lady Lazarus,' and other landmark poems from the collection. The episode begins with an exploration of Plath’s life, from her early literary ambitions to the psychological and artistic forces that shaped her groundbreaking work. The hosts examine how "Ariel" redefined confe...
In this episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, hosts Joe and Maiya conclude their mini-series on the poets of the First World War with an in-depth exploration of Siegfried Sassoon. They discuss his privileged early life, his pre-war poetry as a Georgian Romantic, and his transformation into one of the most outspoken critics of the war. The episode delves into Sassoon’s military service, his wartime bravery, and the pivotal moment when he publicly de...
In this episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, hosts Joe and Maiya continue their exploration of First World War poets by diving into the life and works of Wilfred Owen. They discuss his experiences as a soldier, his time recovering from shell shock at Craiglockhart War Hospital, and his mentorship under Siegfried Sassoon—key influences that shaped his raw and harrowing depictions of war. Through an analysis of his poetry, they explore how Owen reje...
In the opening episode of Season 2 of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, hosts Joe and Maiya launch into a three-part mini-series on First World War poets. The episode dives into the patriotic and idealistic poetry of Rupert Brooke, highlighting his early contributions before and at the onset of the war in 1914; Joe and Maiya explore Brooke’s background, his life as part of the Bloomsbury Group, and his literary works which capture the national mood ...
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