The Daily Poem
893 episodes — Page 2 of 18
Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Feast”
Today’s poem is one in which “increase of appetite grows by what it feeds on” (or so she says). Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
William Wordsworth's "Character of the Happy Warrior"
“Who is the happy Warrior? Who is he/That every man in arms should wish to be?” In today’s poem, Wordsworth asks unfamiliar questions. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
William Blake's "The Ecchoing Green"
Today’s poem is a snapshot of a lost world. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Alfred Noyes' "Daddy Fell Into the Pond"
Today’s poem reminds us of a father’s value. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Paul J. Pastor's "The Oracle"
Today’s poem offers a new year’s resolution worth keeping. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Philip Appleman’s “To the Garbage Collectors in Bloomington, Indiana, the First Pickup of the New Year”
It’s that time of (new) year again. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
A. A. Milne’s “King John’s Christmas”
As we say farewell to the Christmas season, today’s poem playfully reminds us that the feast is for the good and bad alike. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Clare Bevan's "Just Doing My Job"
A poem of innocence and experience for the turning of the year. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Cecil Day-Lewis' "The Christmas Tree"
A merry continuation of Christmas, and happy reading! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Christmas Bells"
Merry Christmas! The Daily Poem will return next week! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Anna Kamienska's "Elijah Widow"
Today’s poem intimates that it may be better to receive than to give. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Helen Maria Williams' "To Mrs K____, On Her Sending Me an English Christmas Plum-Cake at Paris"
Today’s poem is an ode to the power of holiday baked goods. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
W. H. Auden's "For the Time Being" pt. 5
Today’s episode brings us to the eternal aftermath of Christmas and the end of For the Time Being. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
W. H. Auden's "For the Time Being" pt. 4
In today’s installment, St. Simeon has finally seen the light and humanity struggles against itself. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
W. H. Auden's "For the Time Being" pt. 3
In today’s selections, the shepherds and wise men are the broken fragments of human life being drawn together around the manger. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
W. H. Auden's "For the Time Being" pt. 2
More from Auden’s poem–today the full cast of characters is summoned. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
W. H. Auden "For the Time Being" pt. 1
This week’s episodes will feature selections from Auden’s lengthy “Christmas Oratorio,” in which he claimed to treat of “a religious event which eternally recurs every time it is accepted.” Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Ted Kooser's "Christmas Mail"
Today’s poem is for all of the mail carriers. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
John Robert Lee's "XIX: I often wonder whether the prodigal son"
Today’s poem–from Lee’s new book, After Poems, Psalms–offers memory and the psalter as parallel texts for Lectio Divina. Happy reading.Lee’s book is backordered at US outlets like Bookshop.org, but is in stock at Barnes & Noble and can be acquired directly from Peepal Tree Press (or in digital format from the behemoth-that-shall-not-be-named). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Robert Frost's "Dust of Snow"
Robert Frost is having one of those days. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Mary Mapes Dodge's "A Song for St. Nicholas"
Today’s poem is an appeal to the jolly giver of gifts. Happy reading!For more St. Nick poems, head over to the St. Nicholas Center. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Luci Shaw's "Holding On"
Today’s poem is a tribute to the kind and lovely Luci Shaw, who died earlier this week. The poem–a contemplation of mortality–is a representative sample of her contemplative verse, and takes on new meaning after her passing. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
John Keats' "In drear nighted December"
Today’s poem speaks of speaking the unspeakable, and feeling the un-feelable. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Jane Kenyon's "Let Evening Come"
Whether your burgeoning inter-holiday malaise needs pruning or a little low-key encouragement, today’s poem (on a Monday, no less!) might be just the thing. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Dorianne Laux's "A Short History of the Apple"
Today’s poem goes out as a palate-cleanser for everyone who may have lost their relish for eating after the Thanksgiving holiday. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Ben Jonson's "Inviting a Friend to Supper"
Today’s poem is just the thing if you need to make any last-minute invitations to Thanksgiving dinner. Happy reading! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
William Matthews' "Onions"
Today’s poem is the perfect prelude to Thanksgiving–not only by whetting the appetite, but by uncovering the hidden glories of one of the most enduring and ubiquitous of nature’s gifts. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
George Herbert's "Anagram"
Today’s poem, though brief, is arguably “bigger on the inside,” just like its subject. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Archibald MacLeish's "Ars Poetica"
It’s one thing to write a poem claiming poetry should show rather than tell; it is another thing entirely for that poem to follow its own advice. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Robert Burns' "Epistle to a Young Friend"
In today’s poem (sometimes printed alternatively as “Letter to a Young Friend”), Scotland’s national poet gives life advice with his characteristic blend of sincerity and levity. Happy reading! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Emily Dickinson's "I dwell in Possibility"
Today’s poem is a little more (purposefully) enigmatic than most of Dickinson’s verse. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Robert Hass' "After the Gentle Poet Kobayashi Issa"
Today’s poem may be triggering for anyone who has had to endure a vacation they didn’t plan or really even want to go. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
John Keats' "To Autumn"
Today’s poem comes from a young man (he died at 25) whose Spring and Autumn were the same. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Robert Louis Stevenson's "Sing me a Song of a Lad that is Gone"
Today’s poem sings of one of the most painful and irremediable forms of nostalgia. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
George Starbuck's "Sonnet with a Different Letter at the End of Every Line"
Today’s poem is a “row of perfect rhymes” and an absolute delight. Happy reading.You can find the text of the poem here.George Starbuck was born in Columbus, Ohio on June 15, 1931. He grew up in Illinois and California. He attended the University of California at Berkeley for two years, and the University of Chicago for three. He then studied with Archibald MacLeish and Robert Lowell, alongside peers Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath, at Harvard University. Starbuck won the Yale Younger Poets Prize for his collection Bone Thoughts (1960). He is the author of several other books, including The Argot Merchant Disaster: New and Selected Poems (1982), Elegy in a Country Church Yard (1974), and White Paper (1966). He taught at the State University College at Buffalo, the University of Iowa, and Boston University.Starbuck’s witty songs of protest are usually concerned with love, war, and the spiritual temper of the times. John Holmes believed that “there hasn’t been as much word excitement ... for years,” as one finds in Bone Thoughts. Harvey Shapiro pointed out that Starbuck’s work is attractive because of its “witty, improvisational surface, slangy and familiar address, brilliant aural quality” and added that Starbuck may become a “spokesman for the bright, unhappy young men.” Louise Bogan asserted that his daring satire “sets him off from the poets of generalized rebellion.”After reading Bone Thoughts, Holmes hoped for other books in the same vein; R.F. Clayton found that, in White Paper(1966), the verse again stings with parody. Although Robert D. Spector wasn’t sure of Starbuck’s sincerity in Bone Thoughts, he rated the poems in White Paper, which range “from parody to elegy to sonnets, and even acrostic exercises,” as “generally superior examples of their kind.” In particular, Spector wrote, when Starbuck juxtaposes McNamara’s political language and a Quaker’s self-immolation by burning, or wryly offers an academician’s praise for this nation’s demonstration of humanity by halting its bombing for “five whole days,” we sense this poet’s genuine commitment.Starbuck died in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on August 1, 1996.-bio via Poetry Foundation This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Robert Frost's "My November Guest"
November mood. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' "Lemon Pie"
Today’s poem is about something very very spooky–a tough crust. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Seamus Heaney's "Follower"
Today’s poem reminds us that we are destined to become the parents of our parents. (I also dedicate it to a child who makes me feel better about that arrangement.) Happy reading! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Spring and Fall"
Why do we hate change? Today’s poem hazards a guess. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Ogden Nash's "A Lady Who Thinks She Is Thirty"
Today’s poem may be one of the most poem-y poems Nash ever wrote. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Wendell Berry's "Sabbath Poem III, 1994"
In today’s poem Berry draws King Lear into his sabbath reflections. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
R. S. Thomas' "The Fisherman"
Today’s poem typifies the earthy clarity that Welsh poet R. S. Thomas perfected in his verse. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Root of the Boot"
Today’s poem traveled across many years and iterations to finally end up on the tongue of Samwise Gamgee in The Fellowship of the Ring. Happy reading! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade"
Today’s poem is both metrical marvel and moving memorial. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Robert Frost's "Birches"
Today’s poem is a classical example of Frost’s virtuosity in crafting solid figures–here trees, climbing, etc.–that stubbornly defy allegorizing, but that simultaneously seem effortlessly to point beyond themselves. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Charles and Mary Lamb's "Feigned Courage"
Today’s poem couples a vanished past with a timeless present. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Ted Kooser's "How to Foretell a Change in the Weather"
My old knee injury usually alerts me to changes in the weather, but in today’s poem Kooser offers a litany of other indicators. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Linda Pastan's "The Dogwoods"
Today’s poem is a tribute to the seasonal liftings-of-the-veil that reveal to us the beauty undergirding the world. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
Lewis Carroll's "You Are Old, Father William"
In today’s poem: the dignity of old age, and Charles Dodgson as the Victorian Weird Al. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe
John Donne's "The Relic"
John Donne muses on the ineffability of a chaste love and devises a brilliant (or, at any rate, novel) scheme for reuniting with his loved one in the next life. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe