Political Poems: 'Autumn Journal' by Louis MacNeice

In his long 1938 poem, Louis MacNeice took many of the ideals shared by other young writers of his time - a desire for relevance, responsiveness and, above all, honesty - and applied them in a way that has few equivalents in English poetry. This diary-style work, written from August to December 1938, reflects with ‘documentary vividness’, as Ian Hamilton has described, on the international and personal crises swirling around MacNeice in those months. Seamus and Mark discuss the poem’s lively depiction of the anecdotal abundance of London life and the ways in which its innovative rhyming structure helps to capture the autumnal moment when England was slipping into an unknowable winter.
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Running in 2024:
ON SATIRE with Colin Burrow and Clare Bucknell
HUMAN CONDITIONS with Adam Shatz, Judith Butler, Pankaj Mishra and Brent Hayes Edwards
AMONG THE ANCIENTS II with Emily Wilson and Thomas Jones
MEDIEVAL LOLS with Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley
POLITICAL POEMS with Seamus Perry and Mark Ford
Also included in the Close Readings subscription, the full series of:
AMONG THE ANCIENTS I with Emily Wilson and Thomas Jones
MEDIEVAL BEGINNINGS with Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley
THE LONG AND SHORT with Mark Ford and Seamus Perry
MODERN-ISH POETS: SERIES 1 with Mark Ford and Seamus Perry
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[@purpledanny1958]

It's disappointing that this episode of POLITICAL POEMS is only 12 minutes long. Unlike other shows like AMONG THE ANCIENTS and HUMAN CONDITIONS, POLITICAL POEMS has always been freely available and I've enjoyed 8 episodes this year. I hope the producers will consider making the full episode accessible.

[@ManfromuncoolBlogspotstars]

Thank you so much!