Recent Episodes
Feb. 8, 2026
"Dusk" by Angelina Weld Grimké
Twin stars through my purpling pane, The shriveling husk Of a yellowing moon on the wane - And the dusk.
Feb. 1, 2026
"A Poison Tree" by William Blake
I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. And I watered it in fears, Night and morning with my tears; And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft ...
Jan. 25, 2026
"At Midnight" by Frank Dempster Sherman
See, yonder, the belfry tower That gleams in the moon’s pale light; Or is it a ghostly flower That dreams in the silent night? I listen and hear the chime Go quavering o’er the town, And out of this flower of Time Twelve peta...
Jan. 18, 2026
"A Cowboy's Prayer" by Badger Clark
Oh Lord, I've never lived where churches grow. I love creation better as it stood That day You finished it so long ago And looked upon Your work and called it good. I know that others find You in the light That's sifted down ...
Jan. 11, 2026
"Quatrain" by Gwendolyn Bennett
How strange that grass should sing— Grass is so still a thing . . . And strange the swift surprise of snow So soft it falls and slow.
Jan. 4, 2026
"All the World's a Stage" by William Shakespeare
All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts...
Recent Blog Posts
Feb. 8, 2026
The Weight of Shadows: Angelina Weld Grimké’s "Dusk"
A prominent voice of the Harlem Renaissance, Angelina Weld Grimké was a master of the "color poem," using brief, vivid snapshots of the natural world to convey complex emotional states. First published in the early 1920s, "Dusk" is a quintess…
Feb. 1, 2026
The Harvest of Wrath: William Blake’s "A Poison Tree"
William Blake, a visionary artist and poet of the Romantic era, often used his work to explore the "two contrary states of the human soul." His poem "A Poison Tree," first published in 1794 in the landmark collection Songs of Experience, serves as a…
Jan. 25, 2026
The Flower of Time: Frank Dempster Sherman’s "At Midnight"
Frank Dempster Sherman was a master of the "lyric" form—short, musical poems that capture a singular emotion or image with crystalline clarity. His poem "At Midnight," first published in 1890 in his collection Lyrics for a Lute, is a perfect e…