A reading of the anonymous medieval lyric Thou Wanderest in this False World, a religious meditation on mortality, vanity, and the transience of earthly life.
A combined reading and analysis of the anonymous medieval riddle lyric I Have a Yong Suster, exploring its playful treatment of courtly love conventions through a series of witty paradoxes.
A combined reading and analysis of the anonymous medieval lyric Wanne Mine Eyhnen Misten, a short contemplation on death and mortality written in Middle English.
A combined reading and analysis of the anonymous medieval carol I Syng of a Mayden, examining its Marian devotion, its delicate imagery of the Annunciation, and its carol form.
A combined reading and analysis of the anonymous medieval lyric Westron Wynde, exploring its expression of love, longing, and desire for homecoming in just four lines.
A combined reading and analysis of Edwin Brock’s Five Ways to Kill a Man, a satirical war poem tracing the history of human violence from crucifixion to modern warfare.
A combined reading and analysis of Jarrell’s The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner, one of the most powerful short poems of the Second World War, exploring its brutal imagery of dehumanisation and death.
An experimental jazz reading of Yeats’s Sailing to Byzantium, bringing the poem’s themes of aging, art, and the soul’s journey toward immortality to life through music.
A combined reading and analysis of Yeats’s Mad as the Mist and Snow, exploring its themes of aging, madness, and the passing of time in the context of his later poetry.
The second part of an analysis of Milton’s Lycidas, exploring its themes of fame, religious consolation, and the place of the poem in Milton’s development as a poet.