About This Course
 
This is a video instructional series on American poetry for
college and high school classrooms and adult learners, presented in 13 one-hour video
programs.
Free sign up required for first-time users.
To hear the sound and view video, you should have Windows Media Player, DSL, a cable modem,
or a LAN connection to a T1 line or greater, and have Javascript enabled.
Acknowledgements
Video for Voices and Vision and the individual
program descriptions are provided courtesty of Annenberg/CPB.
This site is not affiliated with nor endorsed by
Annenberg/CPB |
Programs
(Select One)
1.  Elizabeth Bishop
From childhood in Nova Scotia to travels in
Brazil, this program illustrates the geographic spirit of Bishop's life and works with
scenes from her poems.
2. Hart Crane
Diverse locations and dramatizations of his life
illustrate Crane's poetry and his greatest work, "The Bridge."
3. Emily Dickinson
Dramatic scenarios and New England landscapes
illuminate the passionate genius of Dickinson, whose poems represent a broad range of
imaginative experience.
4. T. S. Eliot
Eliot's life, influence, and poetry from the
bold originality of "Prufrock" to the probing, meditative style of "Four
Quartets" are explored with photos, archival footage, and discussion with friends,
critics, and scholars.
5. Robert Frost
Frost's image as elder statesman is vividly
contrasted with his vigorous, poetic exploration of the darker forces of nature and the
human condition. Readings and interviews with the poet reveal compelling insights into his
work.
6. Langston Hughes
Hughes wrote of the beauty, dignity, and
heritage of blacks in America. Interviews, music, and dance performances convey his work
and influence, discussed by James Baldwin and biographer Arnold Rampersad.
7. Robert Lowell
Lowell's political passion encompasses much of
his greatest poetry. Lowell himself reads from his work. Elizabeth Hardwick, Robert Hass,
and others discuss his development and style as illustrated by "Lord Weary's
Castle" and "Life Studies."
8. Marianne Moore
Funny, formidable, and paradoxical, the poet and
her work are analyzed by critics and friends, including Monroe Wheeler, Grace Shulman, and
Patricia Willis. Her most memorable poems display her power of observation and moral
force.
9. Sylvia Plath
The creative intensity with which Plath
confronted her experiences as daughter, wife, mother, and writer is explored in
documentary and archival footage intercut with visualizations of her work.
10. Ezra Pound
The most controversial of American poets —
artistic catalyst, legendary confidant, and author of brilliant cantos — Ezra Pound
and his poetry and role in the modernist movement are explored by friends and critics.
11. Wallace Stevens
Stevens's flamboyant verbal technique and
philosophical vision of American life are beautifully illustrated by archival footage.
12. PG Walt Whitman
Brilliant readings of Whitman's poems
demonstrate his American vision and style and vividly convey their poignance and sheer
power. Whitman's sources, including Emerson, the King James Bible, opera, and political
oratory, are revealed.
13. PG William Carlos
Williams "No ideas but in things,"
Williams's aesthetic dictum sought to capture, not analyze. A collage of documentary
footage, interviews, animation, and dramatization capture the poet's often visual work and
intense life.
|
|
