Poets and Poetry

This ambitious series explores English poetry from the age of Chaucer to the present day, providing insight into the poetic craft by looking at classic examples in a number of forms, such as love poems, elegies, nature poems, and comic verse. Leading contemporary poets, including Tom Paulin, Wendy Cope, and England’s poet laureate Andrew Motion, read the selections and discuss core issues. A variety of photos, paintings, archival film footage, and, where possible, original manuscripts complement the presentations. 4-part series, 25 minutes each.

In this program, Dr. Robert DiNapoli—teaching fellow in Old and Middle English at the University of Birmingham, England—and Professor John Burrow of Bristol University examine the symbolism and the influence of Christianity in Beowulf and other masterpieces of English and Germanic literature.

Students are introduced to the basic poetic techniques and the endless variety of poetic forms and subjects poets have used over the centuries. The enormous possibilities of poetic expression are explored through works by cummings, Shakespeare, Edward Lear, Wordsworth, Millay, Donne, Corso, Dorothy Parker, Homer, Keats, Roethke, Hart Crane, Pound, Yeats, Coleridge and Pablo Neruda. Students eventually examine a Shakespearean sonnet and analyze successive drafts of poems by Dylan Thomas, Dickinson, and Williams.

On this episode of Camera Three, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee perform poetry about the African-American experience. Excerpts include verses from Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sterling Brown, Frank Horne, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Margaret Walker.

What is poetry all about? How can we make sense of it? What are the main poetic forms? This comprehensive series helps students to boost their poetry knowledge and appreciation in a light-hearted and user-friendly manner.

The rich language of agriculture still exists in Latin American poetry. Lyricism and sensual imagery abound in Cruz' poetry such as "Iguanas."

With a PhD in American Literature from Stanford University, Momaday considers poetry the highest form of expression. Poetry more closely resembles the Native American oral tradition.

What is poetry, and what place does it have in today’s society? In an attempt to answer these questions, two filmmakers stood an old refrigerator on a busy San Francisco street corner, invited passersby to compose poems using magnetic poetry kits, and filmed the intriguing results.

This 3-part series filmed at the Biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival complements the Bill Moyers series The Language of Life. Designed with the classroom in mind, each program includes poems and commentary from several of the 19 contemporary poets featured. The poets represent a wide range of poetic styles. 3-part series, 60 minutes each.

Poetry in America gathers distinguished interpreters from all walks of life to explore and debate 12 unforgettable American poems. Athletes and poets, politicians and musicians, architects, scientists, actors, entrepreneurs, and citizens of all ages join host and Harvard professor Elisa New to experience and share the power of poetry in this visually dazzling and archivally rich series.

This sparkling nine-part series featuring popular television journalist Bill Moyers is a dual celebration of poetry, emphasizing both the power of its highly refined language and its importance as a spoken art form. In-depth conversations with eleven award-winning Festival alumni, combined with readings of their works, make each program an incomparable resource on contemporary poetry, suitable for use in the classroom and at workshops. 9-part series, 27 minutes each.

Poetry is the oldest form of storytelling. Learn why poetry uses rhyme and rhythm, and how it has changed overtime. Take a short multiple choice quiz about the topics covered in this segment.