Beyond the Verse

PoemAnalysis.com

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.

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    Reckoning with Mortality in Tennyson's 'Ulysses' & 'Tithonus'

    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 career, from his birth in Lincolnshire in 1809 to his time at Cambridge, where he became part of the Apostles and formed his deeply important friendship with Arthur Henry Hallam. The episode places special attention on Hallam’s sudden death in 1833, a loss that shaped much of Tennyson’s poetry. Maiya and Joe also trace Tennyson’s rise as a major poet, his appointment as UK Poet Laureate in 1850, and his lasting place in British literary history. The discussion then turns to two of Tennyson’s most powerful mythological poems: ‘Ulysses’ and ‘Tithonus’. Maiya and Joe examine how ‘Ulysses’ presents an aging hero who longs for movement, adventure, and meaning, even as he feels trapped by ordinary life. They also consider how the poem speaks to grief, ambition, leadership, Victorian progress, and the fear of growing old. In ‘Tithonus’, they explore a darker vision of immortality, where endless life becomes a form of suffering rather than a gift. By the end of the episode, Maiya and Joe show how Tennyson uses myth to speak about deeply human concerns: grief, aging, ambition, regret, and the painful limits of mortal life. As the final episode of season four, it becomes a fitting close to a series shaped by poets, voices, and questions that continue to matter. Get exclusive Poetry PDFs on Alfred Lord Tennyson and his poetry, available to Poetry+ users. Send us Fan Mail Support the show As always, for the ultimate poetry experience, join Poetry+ and explore all things poetry at PoemAnalysis.com.

    45 min

  2. 23 APR

    Gods, Mortals and Humanity: Modern Mythologies with Louise Glück

    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, and gradual development as a poet. The episode places special attention on the long arc of her career, from Firstborn in 1968 to The Wild Iris in 1992, before reflecting on the major recognition that followed, including her appointment as US Poet Laureate and her Nobel Prize in Literature in 2020. Along the way, Maiya and Joe explore how psychoanalysis, family loss, myth, and the search for an original voice all shaped Glück’s poetry. The discussion then turns to three of Glück’s most compelling poems: ‘The Triumph of Achilles’, ‘The Wild Iris’, and ‘Vespers’. Maiya and Joe examine how ‘The Triumph of Achilles’ shifts attention away from heroic legend and toward grief, intimacy, and the private cost of public triumph. In ‘The Wild Iris’, they consider how the voice of a flower allows Glück to think through death, rebirth, and the strange endurance of consciousness. Finally, in ‘Vespers’, they unpack a tense and moving poem about loss, care, disappointment, and the human need to question suffering, whether in nature, in faith, or in personal experience. By the end of the episode, Maiya and Joe show how Glück’s poetry remains so powerful because it is both intimate and expansive, grounded in personal feeling yet always reaching toward larger questions about grief, survival, myth, and what it means to live fully. It is also a fitting 50th episode choice: a conversation about a poet whose work keeps asking how a voice is made, and why it matters. Get exclusive Poetry PDFs on Louise Glück and her poetry, available to Poetry+ users. Send us Fan Mail Support the show As always, for the ultimate poetry experience, join Poetry+ and explore all things poetry at PoemAnalysis.com.

    50 min

  3. 16 APR

    Forever Stories: The Ballad Form

    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 form developed from medieval storytelling into printed broadside ballads, before later being taken up by major literary figures. The hosts also discuss the formal qualities often associated with ballads, especially their musical rhythm, narrative structure, and memorable rhyme patterns. This opening gives listeners a strong sense of how the ballad moved from popular tradition into a lasting literary form. The discussion then turns to W. H. Auden’s ‘As I Walked Out One Evening’, which Maiya and Joe use to show how the ballad can carry both lyrical beauty and deeper tension. They reflect on the poem’s musical flow, its observer speaker, and its treatment of love, time, and movement. The hosts also explore the tension between old forms and modern life, showing how Auden draws on traditional ballad features while writing within a much later poetic moment. Their reading shows how the ballad can remain familiar while still feeling intellectually sharp and emotionally unsettled. They then move to Walt Whitman’s ‘O Captain! My Captain!’, where the ballad becomes a way of handling public grief and national loss. Maiya and Joe discuss how Whitman balances celebration and mourning, using the figure of the captain to honor Abraham Lincoln while still keeping the poem broad enough to speak beyond one historical moment. They also reflect on the sea voyage at the center of the poem, showing how water becomes a way of thinking about danger, leadership, and return. In doing so, they show how the ballad can hold both personal sorrow and collective meaning at once. The episode closes with Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’, bringing the conversation toward injustice, punishment, and the moral force of the form. Maiya and Joe place the poem in the context of Wilde’s imprisonment and explore how it turns the ballad toward questions of guilt, suffering, and human judgment. They reflect on how the poem keeps the ballad’s interest in outcasts and crime, while also making it more reflective and socially critical. By the end, the hosts show that the ballad is far more than an old poetic structure. It is a form that keeps changing while still carrying the power of story, song, and shared feeling. Discover more about ballads and explore thousands of analyzed poems on PoemAnalysis.com. Send us Fan Mail Support the show As always, for the ultimate poetry experience, join Poetry+ and explore all things poetry at PoemAnalysis.com.

    46 min

  4. 9 APR

    The Poetry of Ireland: Landscapes, Histories and Mythologies

    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 hosts show how these events are not just background, but deeply tied to how Irish writers understand identity and memory. They also reflect on how geography and mythology remain central to how Ireland is imagined in literature. This foundation helps listeners see why Irish poetry often feels both personal and political. The discussion then turns to Eavan Boland’s ‘Quarantine’ and W. B. Yeats’s ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ and ‘Easter, 1916’. Maiya and Joe explore how Boland presents human suffering without romanticizing it, focusing on the quiet weight of history on individual lives. In contrast, Yeats moves between a desire for peace and a deep engagement with national identity and change. The hosts consider how these poems show different ways of responding to Ireland’s past. They also explore Patrick Kavanagh’s ‘On Raglan Road’ and Seamus Heaney’s ‘Bogland’, where personal experience meets cultural memory. The hosts reflect on how Kavanagh uses love and loss to express a sense of longing shaped by the past. With Heaney, they focus on the land itself, showing how the bog becomes a way of holding and revealing history. It reinforces the idea that the past is never fully separate from the present. The episode closes with Michael Longley’s ‘Ceasefire’ and Jessica Traynor’s ‘The Artane Band’, bringing the conversation into more recent history. Maiya and Joe discuss how Longley approaches conflict through quiet moments of human connection, while Traynor reflects on hidden histories and the need to confront them. They end by considering what connects all these poets, pointing to a shared effort to hold onto the past while still moving forward. Irish poetry, as they show, is constantly being reshaped by both memory and change. Discover more about Irish poetry and explore thousands of analyzed poems on PoemAnalysis.com. Send us Fan Mail Support the show As always, for the ultimate poetry experience, join Poetry+ and explore all things poetry at PoemAnalysis.com.

    1hr 15min

  5. 26 MAR

    The Poetic Singularity of Emily Dickinson

    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 public attention shaped the intimacy of her voice. The hosts reflect on how her poems were not originally written for publication, which gives them a direct and unfiltered quality. This context helps explain why her work feels so close and personal to readers. The discussion then turns to ‘Hope is the Thing with Feathers’, where Maiya and Joe explore its central metaphor and emotional core. They consider how Dickinson presents hope as something steady that remains even in difficult moments. The poem also opens up ideas about imagination and emotional truth. They move next to ‘I’m Nobody! Who are you?’, focusing on Dickinson’s humor and her rejection of public identity. The hosts connect this to modern ideas of fame, attention, and the pressure to be seen. They also reflect on how the poem celebrates anonymity rather than success. Finally, in ‘I have never seen volcanoes’, they look at how Dickinson uses imagined landscapes to express inner emotion. The poem becomes a way of thinking about control, hidden intensity, and restraint. It also shows how her imagination can build powerful worlds without direct experience. The episode closes with a reflection on Dickinson’s style, her unique voice, and how her work continues to feel relevant today. Maiya and Joe emphasize how her poetry remains open to new readings. They leave listeners with a deeper appreciation of her lasting influence. Discover more about Emily Dickinson’s work and find thousands of analyzed poems on PoemAnalysis.com. Send us Fan Mail Support the show As always, for the ultimate poetry experience, join Poetry+ and explore all things poetry at PoemAnalysis.com.

    52 min

  6. 19 MAR

    Making a Poet Laureate: Simon Armitage

    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 engages with public life, national feeling, and major cultural moments. Along the way, they reflect on key figures such as John Dryden, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Carol Ann Duffy, and how the position has evolved over time. The discussion then turns to what a poet laureate represents today. Maiya and Joe explore the tension between poetry as an art form that challenges authority and the laureateship as a state-appointed role. They consider whether it should be seen as a prize, a vocation, or something in between, and what the selection process reveals about the literary world. The episode also looks closely at Simon Armitage’s background, from his upbringing in West Yorkshire to his early career and eventual appointment in 2019. The hosts reflect on how his work, public presence, and connection to both tradition and modern media have shaped his role. The first poem discussed is ‘Zoom’, where Maiya and Joe explore how Armitage moves from a familiar, local setting into something much larger, using everyday space to think about scale and human experience. They then turn to ‘Floral Tribute’, written after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and consider how Armitage handles national mourning with restraint and a more personal tone, rather than relying on grand, formal language. The episode closes with a reflection on the future of the Poet Laureate role, asking how it might continue to change in a diverse and evolving society, and what kind of voice can represent a nation today. Featured Poets PDFs: Simon ArmitageAlfred Lord TennysonCarol Ann DuffySend us Fan Mail Support the show As always, for the ultimate poetry experience, join Poetry+ and explore all things poetry at PoemAnalysis.com.

    59 min

  7. 12 MAR

    Imagism in America with William Carlos Williams (Imagist Mini-Series)

    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 like Ezra Pound and Hilda Doolittle were closely connected to European literary circles, Williams remained firmly rooted in the United States. They consider how this American perspective shaped his poetic philosophy, especially his commitment to simplicity, everyday language, and the belief that poetry should emerge from ordinary life rather than classical tradition. The conversation begins with Williams’s famously brief poem ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’. Maiya and Joe unpack how a poem of only sixteen words can carry surprising depth. They discuss the importance of line breaks, the power of visual structure on the page, and the quiet mystery created by the opening line “so much depends.” The hosts reflect on how Williams’s focus on simple objects, colors, and stillness captures the Imagist aim of presenting a clear image while leaving interpretation open to the reader. From there, the episode turns to ‘This Is Just to Say’, perhaps one of Williams’s most recognizable poems. What appears to be a simple apology note about eating someone else’s plums becomes, in the hosts’ discussion, a meditation on everyday life, temptation, and intimacy. Maiya and Joe explore the playful tone of the poem, its subtle emotional honesty, and the way Williams transforms an ordinary domestic moment into something quietly meaningful. The final poem of the episode, ‘The Young Housewife’, introduces a different perspective on Williams’s work. Here the hosts consider questions of observation, perception, and gender. They discuss how the speaker’s passing glance at the woman outside her home raises deeper questions about power, freedom, and the way lives can be shaped by how others imagine them. The episode concludes with a reflection on the legacy of Imagism itself. Maiya and Joe look back at the poets featured across the series and consider how the movement reshaped modern poetry through its emphasis on clarity, precision, and free verse. Even though Imagism lasted only a short time, its influence continues to shape the way poetry is written and read today. Featured Poets PDFs: William Carlos Williams Ezra Pound Hilda Doolittle (H.D.)Send us Fan Mail Support the show As always, for the ultimate poetry experience, join Poetry+ and explore all things poetry at PoemAnalysis.com.

    36 min

  8. 5 MAR

    Defining a Movement with Hilda Dolittle (Imagist Mini-Series)

    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 looks at how the First World War hit her life directly, and how grief, rupture, and survival sit behind the sharp, pared down style Imagism is known for. From there, Maiya and Joe dig into three key poems. With ‘Oread’, they talk about how the title matters, how Greek myth frames the speaker, and how the poem’s commanding verbs turn nature into something forceful and almost violent. In ‘Sea Rose’, they focus on how H.D. takes a symbol usually linked to romance and softness and makes it rough, battered, and still somehow valuable, raising questions about femininity, endurance, and what it means to keep going in the wrong conditions. The episode closes with ‘Helen’, where H.D. rewrites a famous figure through the language of blame, silence, and public hatred, and asks what happens when a woman becomes a story people keep projecting onto. For more insights into H.D. and the Imagist movement, visit PoemAnalysis.com, where you can explore a wide range of analyzed poems, with thousands of PDFs, study tools, and more. Send us Fan Mail Support the show As always, for the ultimate poetry experience, join Poetry+ and explore all things poetry at PoemAnalysis.com.

    42 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    PoemAnalysis.com
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Beyond the Verse
  • Show Website
    Beyond the Verse

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