Beyond the Verse

In this week’s episode of “Beyond the Verse,” the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+ , Maiya and Joe close season four by turning to Alfred Lord Tennyson , one of the defining poetic voices of the Victorian age. They begin with Tennyson’s life and caree r, from his birth in Lincolnshire in 1809 to his time at Cambridge, where he became part of the Apostles and formed his deeply impor...

In this week’s episode of “Beyond the Verse,” the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+ , Maiya and Joe celebrate the podcast’s 50th episode by turning to the work of Louise Glück , one of the most distinctive and celebrated voices in contemporary American poetry. They begin with Glück’s life and career , from her birth in Long Island in 1943 to her early struggles, literary influences,...

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse , the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+ , Maiya and Joe turn their attention to the ballad form, tracing its long history and asking why it continues to matter. They begin by looking at the origins of the ballad in oral tradition, where anonymous narrative poems were passed from voice to voice and often shaped by music. Joe explains how the...

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+ , Maiya and Joe turn their attention to the poetry of Ireland, exploring how history, landscape, and myth shape its voice. They begin with a wide historical lens, tracing key moments that influence Irish poetry, from early cultural identity to colonization, Cromwell’s legacy, and the Great Famine. The...

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse , the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+ , Maiya and Joe return to Emily Dickinson to explore more of her work beyond ‘ Because I could not stop for Death’ . They focus on what makes her poetry feel so personal, original, and lasting. They begin with a brief look at Dickinson’s life in Amherst, her private nature, and how writing outside pub...

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse , the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+ , Maiya and Joe focus on the role of the Poet Laureate, using Simon Armitage ’s career and poetry to consider what it means for one writer to speak to and for a nation. They begin with a brief history of the UK Poet Laureateship, tracing its shift from a role tied closely to royal praise into one that...

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse , the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+ , Maiya and Joe bring their three-part exploration of the Imagist poets to a close with a discussion of the distinctive voice of William Carlos Williams. Beginning with Williams’s life and background, the hosts explore how his experience differed from many of the other Imagist poets. While figures lik...

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 Im...

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...

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...

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 whe...

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse , the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+ , Maiya and Joe discuss Ai’s ‘ The Man with the Saxophone’ , a city poem that captures connection in the quiet streets of New York before sunrise. After Maiya’s reading, they talk about Ai’s background and her remarkable voice as a poet. Born Florence Anthony in 1947 in Texas, she later chose the name...

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 begin...

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 r...

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...

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...

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. Th...

In this week’s episode of “Beyond the Verse,” the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+ , Maiya and Joe turn their attention to Robert Browning’s chilling dramatic monologue, ‘My Last Duchess’ . Beginning with Browning’s life and context, they trace how the poem emerged from Victorian England while also drawing on real historical figures such as Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara. The hosts un...

In this week’s episode of “Beyond the Verse,” the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+ , Joe and Maiya kick off Season 3 with a special deep dive into Japanese poetry and the idea of national literature. They trace the roots of Japanese verse from the ancient Man’yōshū to the masters of haiku— Bashō , Buson , and Issa . Along the way, they unpack how haiku developed from collaborative...

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...

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 enviro...

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...

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 unpac...

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 nightinga...

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 ye...