The Concise Verse

Recent Episodes

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Nov. 15, 2026

"To a Locomotive in Winter" by Walt Whitman (Excerpt)

Fierce-throated beauty! Roll through my chant with all thy lawless music, thy swinging lamps at night, Thy madly-whistled laughter, echoing, rumbling like an earthquake, rousing all.
59
Nov. 8, 2026

"A Song the Grass Sings" by Charles G. Blanden

THE violet is much too shy, The rose too little so; I think I'll ask the buttercup If I may be her beau. When winds go by, I'll nod to her And she will nod to me, And I will kiss her on the cheek As gently as may be. And when the mower cuts us down, Together we will pass, I smiling at the buttercup, She smiling at the grass.
58
Nov. 1, 2026

"Madman's Song" by Elinor Wylie

Better to see your cheek grown hollow, Better to see your temple worn, Than to forget to follow, follow, After the sound of a silver horn. Better to bind your brow with willow And follow, follow until you die, Than to sleep with your head on a golden pillow, Nor lift it up when the hunt goes by. Better to see your cheek grow sallow And your hair grown gray, so soon, so soon, Than to forget to hallo, hallo, After the milk-white hounds of the moon.
57
Oct. 25, 2026

"Gold in the Mountain" by Herman Melville

Gold in the mountain, And gold in the glen, And greed in the heart, Heaven having no part, And unsatisfied men.
56
Oct. 18, 2026

"Chicago" by Carl Sandburg (Excerpt)

HOG Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders:
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Oct. 11, 2026

"How Still the Bells in Steeples Stand" by Emily Dickinson

HOW still the bells in steeples stand, Till, swollen with the sky, They leap upon their silver feet In frantic melody!

Recent Blog Posts

Nov. 15, 2026

Industrial Majesty: Walt Whitman's "To a Locomotive in Winter" (Excerpt)

First published in 1876 in the New-York Daily Tribune before being incorporated into later editions of Leaves of Grass,"To a Locomotive in Winter" is a revolutionary ode to modern industrial energy by Walt Whitman (1819–1892). While many 19th-centur…
Nov. 8, 2026

Gentle Devotion: Charles G. Blanden's "A Song the Grass Sings"

First published in 1902 in his collection A Harvest of Verse, "A Song the Grass Sings" is an extraordinarily charming pastoral poem by Charles G. Blanden (1857–1933). Blanden was a prominent Midwestern poet, banker, and civic leader who served as ma…
Nov. 1, 2026

Untamed Passion: Elinor Wylie's "Madman's Song"

First published in 1921 in her acclaimed breakout collection Nets to Catch the Wind, "Madman's Song" is a hypnotic, musical exploration of wild obsession by Elinor Wylie (1885–1928). Wylie was a central figure in the 1920s New York literary scene, r…