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The History of Literature

56 Shelley, HD, Yeats, Frost, Stevens – The Poetry of Ruins (with Professor Bill Hogan)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Arts, Books

4.61.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2016

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 1818, the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley published his classic poem “Ozymandias,” depicting the fallen statue of a once-powerful king whose inscription “Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” has long since crumbled into the desert. A hundred years later, a set of Modernist poets revisited the subject of ruins, injecting the poetic trope with some surprising new ideas. Professor Bill Hogan of Providence College joins Jacke for a look at the treatment of ruins in the poetry of H.D. (1886-1961), William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), Robert Frost (1874-1963), and Wallace Stevens (1879-1955).  Works Discussed:  “Ozymandias” (1818) – Percy Bysshe Shelley  “The Walls Do Not Fall” (1944) – H.D.  “The Tower” (1928) – W.B. Yeats  “The Directive” (1946) – Robert Frost  “The Anecdote of the Jar” (1919) and “The Man on the Dump” (1939) – Wallace Stevens  Show Notes:  Brand new! Check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/historyofliterature. You can find more literary discussion at jackewilson.com and more episodes of the series at historyofliterature.com. Contact the host at jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com or by leaving a voicemail at 1-361-4WILSON (1-361-494-5766). Music Credits: “Handel – Entrance to the Queen of Sheba” by Advent Chamber Orchestra (From the Free Music Archive / CC by SA).    *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy.  Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.

0:07.0

Hello everyone, this is Jack Wilson, the host of the History of Literature Podcast.

0:14.0

I'm so glad you're here and welcome to the show.

0:17.0

One quick note before we begin, you have found one of the oldest episodes in our archive.

0:23.0

The show doesn't discuss literature in chronological order,

0:26.2

so you won't be missing anything if you start with the more recent episodes

0:29.6

instead of the earliest ones.

0:31.4

And, let's be honest honest the show's quality has improved

0:34.4

quite a bit since these early days. But of course where you begin is up to you and

0:39.4

if you'd like to give this one a try, please be my guest.

0:43.0

All of the episodes in the archive are yours to enjoy for free.

0:47.0

I met a traveler from an antique land who said,

0:55.0

two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert.

1:01.0

Near them on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown and wrinkled

1:07.6

lip and sneer of cold command. Tell that it sculptor well, those passions read which yet survive stamped on these

1:17.3

lifeless things the hand that mocked and the heart that felluck than the heart that fell.

1:24.0

And on the pedestal these words appear.

1:28.0

My name is Ozzy Mandius, king of kings.

1:33.0

Look on my works ye mighty and despair.

1:37.0

Nothing beside remains.

1:42.0

Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

1:47.0

Alone and level sands, stretch far away.

...

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