665 Keats's Great Odes (with Anahid Nersessian) [Ad-Free Encore Edition]

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2024

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1819, John Keats quit his job as an assistant surgeon, abandoned an epic poem he was writing, and focused his poetic energies on shorter works. What followed was one of the most fertile periods in the history of poetry, as in a few months' time Keats completed six masterpieces, including such celebrated classics as "To Autumn," "Ode to a Nightingale," and "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Now, two hundred years later, an American scholar has written an exciting new book called Keats's Odes: A Lover's Discourse, in which she gathers and revisits the Great Odes, viewing them through a personal prism. Anahid Nersessian was born and grew up in New York City. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and has taught at Columbia University and UCLA. Her first book, Utopia, Limited: Romanticism and Adjustment was published by Harvard University Press in 2015, and her second book, The Calamity Form: On Poetry and Social Life, by the University of Chicago in 2020. She lives in Los Angeles, CA. [This episode, presented without commercial interruption, was originally released on February 8, 2021.] Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. 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 Podglomerate Network and Lit Hub Radio.
0:28.2	Hello, this is Jack Wilson at the end of 2024. Are you having a good end of the year?
0:35.7	And are you ready for 2025? We're hoping to roll out some new things in 2025, so stay tuned. And we also hope to have lots of good literary content for you here
0:41.0	at the History of Literature Podcast. Today, we're releasing another ad-free episode, this time
0:47.1	going back to 2021 with our guest, Anaheed Nersesian. No editing this time.
0:54.7	The episode is in full, including the tale of the Spenetian emailer.
1:01.7	We'll see you on Thursday with an all-new episode featuring Mike Pallandrome and a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
1:08.0	And now, episode 306, Keats says Great Oads with Anaheed, Nersessian.
1:24.3	I have a student who came to me and said, you know, I think it's so wonderful that when you teach this poem, you tell us it's your favorite poem.
1:31.7	And I thought, oh, yes, I do do that.
1:33.2	And these of them, I think it's so wonderful that when you read it out loud, you cry.
1:36.2	And I thought, I cry when I read this out loud.
1:41.0	Because I hadn't been aware of that at all. And so I realized that apparently when I've been reading this poem aloud to my students,
1:47.5	I've been choking up or tearing up slightly in a way that's visible to them,
1:51.2	even though it was not visible to me.
1:58.0	That's Professor Anaheed Nersetian talking about one of the poems that puts tears in her eyes and a catch in her throat.
2:05.6	We'll hear what poem she's referring to, along with her longtime love for the poetry of John Keats,
2:11.5	her background as a literature devotee, and her new book, Keats' Oads, A Lovers' Discourse, which looks at Keats'
2:19.8	six great odes through a personal prism.
2:23.6	That's all coming up today on the history of literature.
2:27.2	Music Okay, here we go.
2:37.0	Okay, here we go. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the podcast. I'm your host, Jack Wilson. So we have
	...

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