All Episodes
Displaying 1 - 20 of 68 in total
Architect's Watercolor: Each Minute is Encounter
Today, Erika Kyba reads Arthur Sze's "Architect's Watercolor." This is a poem that toes the line between potentiality and reality.
Comus: To Quench the Draught of Pheobus
Today, Erika Kyba continues to analyze Milton's "Comus," and we learn what makes the wicked spirit, Comus so dangerous: he menaces the rational faculties of men, and t...
Comus: The Rank Vapors of this Sin-Worn Mold
Today, Erika Kyba introduces Milton's "Comus," a purported morality masque which is perhaps not what it seems to be. Alexandra Comus narrates the part of the Attendant...
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi: Accept this "Bonnie Doon"
Today, Erika Kyba reads through the end of "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi," by Emily Dickinson. We begin to tie together the themes of moral bankruptcy, surface versus subs...
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi: Insolvency, Sublime!
Today, Erika Kyba reads "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi," by Emily Dickinson, a witty societal critique dashed with a commentary how certain astronomical discoveries have al...
The Abyss: Above, Below, On Every Side
Today, Erika Kyba reads "The Abyss," by Baudelaire, and attempts to explore the poet's terror of the infinite.
The Benefactors: The Pinch of Pain and Fear
Today, Erika Kyba reads "The Benefactors" by Rudyard Kipling. Kipling mediates on how all innovation springs from the "pinch of pain and fear" that drives man.
Adam's Curse: As Weary-Hearted as that Hollow Moon
Today, Erika Kyba reads "Adam's Curse" by William Butler Yeats. Yeats muses on how all beautiful and lovely things require labor...and how this laboring after the beau...
The Boston Evening Transcript: Who Are You, When Evening Falls?
Today, Erika Kyba reads "The Boston Evening Transcript," by T. S. Eliot. Much in the same vein as Henry David Thoreau, Eliot mediates on our constant obsession with th...
Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers: A Meditation on Legacy
Today, Erika Kyba reads "Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers," by Emily Dickinson. In this poem, Dickinson plays with the image of a tomb acting as a lamp, and she medita...
As Kingfishers Catch Fire: Lovely in Eyes not His
Today, Erika Kyba reads "As Kingfishers Catch Fire," by Gerard Manley Hopkins. In this poem, Hopkins explores the natural image of kingfishers and dragonflies reflecti...
On Time: The Temporal and the Eternal
Today, Erika Kyba reads John Milton's "On Time." This is a poem that echoes the themes John Donne's "Holy Sonnet X," asserting the triumph of believers over death and ...
Demain dès l'aube: Facing the Unspeakable
Today, Erika Kyba reads Victor Hugo's "Demain dès l'aube," a poem about a man who has delayed facing his grief for far too long.
America: Perennial With the Earth
Today, Erika Kyba reads Walt Whitman's "America," a distillation of the patriotic spirit that infuses much of Whitman's poetic corpus.
Break, Break, Break: When Tragedy Paralyzes
Today, Erika Kyba reads Tennyson's "Break, Break, Break," an intimate portrait of loss and grief. The poem conveys the deadening effect of great sorrow, as the poet ob...
The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill: The Dark Twist
Today, Erika Kyba reads the eerie conclusion of Robert W. Service's "The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill," and proposes some possible interpretations to its mysterious ending.
The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill: The Grateful Dead
Today, Erika Kyba reads an excerpt from Robert W. Service's "The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill," a poet's take on the Grateful Dead archetype.
Aunt Helen: A Damning Silence
Today, Erika Kyba reads T. S. Eliot's "Aunt Helen," a dark meditation on the futility of earthly affairs, and the danger of leaving behind an empty legacy.
Holy Sonnet X: Death be not Proud
Today, Erika Kyba reads John Donne's glorious vaunt against death itself: Holy Sonnet X.
At a Solemn Music: Milton vs the Puritans
Today, Erika Kyba reads John Milton's "At a Solemn Music," which subtly engages with Puritan arguments portraying music as evil. Instead, Milton extols song as somethi...