Political Poems: 'Autumn Journal' by Louis MacNeice
<p>In his long 1938 poem, Louis MacNeice took many of the ideals shared by other young writers of his time – a desire for relevance, responsiveness and, above all, honesty – and applied them in a way that has few equivalents in English poetry. This diary-style work, written from August to December 1938, reflects with ‘documentary vividness’, as Ian Hamilton has described, on the international and personal crises swirling around MacNeice in those months. Seamus and Mark discuss the poem’s lively depiction of the anecdotal abundance of London life and the ways in which its innovative rhyming structure helps to capture the autumnal moment when England was slipping into an unknowable winter.</p><p>Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:</p><p>Directly in Apple Podcasts: <a href="https://apple.co/4dbjbjG" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://apple.co/4dbjbjG</a></p><p>In other podcast apps: <a href="https://lrb.me/ppsignup" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lrb.me/closereadings</a></p><p>Read more in the <em>LRB</em>:</p><p>Samuel Hynes: <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v11/n05/samuel-hynes/like-the-trees-on-primrose-hill" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v11/n05/samuel-hynes/like-the-trees-on-primrose-hill</a></p><p>Ian Hamilton: <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v17/n05/ian-hamilton/smartened-up" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v17/n05/ian-hamilton/smartened-up</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
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Show Notes
In his long 1938 poem, Louis MacNeice took many of the ideals shared by other young writers of his time – a desire for relevance, responsiveness and, above all, honesty – and applied them in a way that has few equivalents in English poetry. This diary-style work, written from August to December 1938, reflects with ‘documentary vividness’, as Ian Hamilton has described, on the international and personal crises swirling around MacNeice in those months. Seamus and Mark discuss the poem’s lively depiction of the anecdotal abundance of London life and the ways in which its innovative rhyming structure helps to capture the autumnal moment when England was slipping into an unknowable winter.
Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:
Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/4dbjbjG
In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings
Read more in the LRB:
Samuel Hynes: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v11/n05/samuel-hynes/like-the-trees-on-primrose-hill
Ian Hamilton: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v17/n05/ian-hamilton/smartened-up
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.