The Preaching Poetry Podcast

This is our present to you this holiday season from the Preaching Poetry Podcast!In this episode, longtime listener Sean joins us to help host a special Christmas edition of the Preaching Poetry Podcast! Check out our present to you this year with "Christmas Bells."In this episode, we ring the news on Longfellow's most famous Christmas poem, which would also be set to music as the popular Christmas carol "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."We discuss Longfellow's personal tragedies and how they fit into the greater historical context of the poem. We explore the role of bells in pre-industrial society. We also go on a motivational and inspirational journey through the lyrics of the poem and Sean asks us to consider our role as bells, spreading "peace on earth, goodwill to men.'“Christmas Bells" by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowI heard the bells on Christmas DayTheir old, familiar carols play,    And wild and sweet    The words repeatOf peace on earth, good-will to men!And thought how, as the day had come,The belfries of all Christendom    Had rolled along    The unbroken songOf peace on earth, good-will to men!Till ringing, singing on its way,The world revolved from night to day,    A voice, a chime,    A chant sublimeOf peace on earth, good-will to men!Then from each black, accursed mouthThe cannon thundered in the South,    And with the sound    The carols drownedOf peace on earth, good-will to men!It was as if an earthquake rentThe hearth-stones of a continent,    And made forlorn    The households bornOf peace on earth, good-will to men!And in despair I bowed my head;"There is no peace on earth," I said;    "For hate is strong,    And mocks the songOf peace on earth, good-will to men!"Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;    The Wrong shall fail,    The Right prevail,With peace on earth, good-will to men."

In this edition of the Preaching Poetry Podcast, we delve into life and death and resurrection with Dylan Thomas.We get personal here, sharing stories of grief and loss. We find comfort and hope in Thomas' vision of the coming defeat of death. Drawing inspiration from the Bible (Romans 6:9 to be specific), Thomas paints a beautiful picture of loss and loneliness and defies the shadows with the refrain "and death shall have no dominion."We get personal, talking about what we believe about death and life after. Thomas encourages us to come to clarity about our own convictions. Can you agree with him? Is death final? Does love conquer all? Do you believe in the resurrection of the dead?Also, has anyone rated or reviewed this podcast yet?We get into all this and more here at the Preaching Poetry Podcast!“And death shall have no dominion” by Dylan ThomasAnd death shall have no dominion.Dead men naked they shall be oneWith the man in the wind and the west moon;When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,They shall have stars at elbow and foot;Though they go mad they shall be sane,Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;Though lovers be lost love shall not;And death shall have no dominion.

In part 2 of our episode on Ulysses, we get into the meat of the poem. We explained the context of the story from Part 1, and now we get to dive into the epilogue of the life of Ulysses.We explore his wanderlust and lament with him that Ithaca doesn't hold the charm that it used to. All Ulysses could think about during his travels was being able to return home/ Now that he is home, he cannot stop thinking about his adventures and travels and feel as though he is languishing in backward Ithaca.We explore his relationship with his son, Telemachus, a man he admires and trusts, but doesn't relate to. He seems ready to leave his son in his place as king. He gazes out at his ship in the harbor and resolves to set out into the wild seas again. Ulysses is determined to sail to or wash up upon the blessed isles, one way or another.We take the chance to admire Ulysses, a man who "cannot rest from travel" and who yearns to "follow knowledge like a sinking star." He is a heroic figure, but he is also tragic. From another point of view, we can see the downside to such a self-absorbed pursuit. Ultimately, we think we would rather have Telemachus as a king and leader and example than Ulysses.What do you think?

In this epic edition of Preaching Poetry Podcast, we embark upon a voyage through Alfred Lord Tennyson's famous poem, Ulysses. This week, we spend most of our time discussing the backstory and history of the character of Ulysses, known as Odysseus to his Greek fans. We march through Homer's great epics, the Illiad, and the Odyssey so that you can better understand what Tennyson reintroduces us the fabled Greek hero as an old man, longing for adventure again.Join us as we talk about all this and more, such as why you should keep it in your pants, avoid feuding Olympians, and why you should probably just avoid ever getting on a boat with anyone named Odysseus.“Ulysses" by Alfred Lord TennysonIt little profits that an idle king,By this still hearth, among these barren crags,Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and doleUnequal laws unto a savage race,That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.I cannot rest from travel: I will drinkLife to the lees: All times I have enjoy'dGreatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with thoseThat loved me, and alone, on shore, and whenThro' scudding drifts the rainy HyadesVext the dim sea: I am become a name;For always roaming with a hungry heartMuch have I seen and known; cities of menAnd manners, climates, councils, governments,Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;And drunk delight of battle with my peers,Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.I am a part of all that I have met;Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fadesFor ever and forever when I move.How dull it is to pause, to make an end,To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on lifeWere all too little, and of one to meLittle remains: but every hour is savedFrom that eternal silence, something more,A bringer of new things; and vile it wereFor some three suns to store and hoard myself,And this gray spirit yearning in desireTo follow knowledge like a sinking star,Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.         This is my son, mine own Telemachus,To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfilThis labour, by slow prudence to make mildA rugged people, and thro' soft degreesSubdue them to the useful and the good.Most blameless is he, centred in the sphereOf common duties, decent not to failIn offices of tenderness, and payMeet adoration to my household gods,When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.         There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me—That ever with a frolic welcome tookThe thunder and the sunshine, and opposedFree hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;Death closes all: but something ere the end,Some work of noble note, may yet be done,Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deepMoans round with many voices. Come, my friends,'T is not too late to seek a newer world.Push off, and sitting well in order smiteThe sounding furrows; for my purpose holdsTo sail beyond the sunset, and the bathsOf all the western stars, until I die.It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'We are not now that strength which in old daysMoved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;One equal temper of heroic hearts,Made weak by time and fate, but strong in willTo strive, to seek, to find,

In this classic episode of the Preaching Poetry Podcast, we delve into the richness of Edmund Vance Cooke's poem, "How Did You Die?"Cooke is well known and regarded as a children's poet, but he has a lot to teach us. Sometimes the most important lessons we need to learn are learned when children, and it is never too late to learn how to live with purpose and intention.In this poem, we explore how to take responsibility for ourselves and how to become resilient in the face of adversity. We also discuss how to death with death and loss, not as a defeat, but as the inevitable consequence of living. Instead of focusing on what we cannot control or overcome, we ask ourselves what it would look like if we lived in such a way as to "play our part in the world of men" and have our intentionality recognized by observing our lives. Join us as we seek inspiration and as we aim to grow into the kind of people who tackle our troubles with resolute hearts, who come up from being beaten to the earth with smiles on our faces, and who battle the best we can.“How Did You Die?" by Edmund Vance CookeDid you tackle that trouble that came your wayWith a resolute heart and cheerful?Or hide your face from the light of dayWith a craven soul and fearful?Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce,Or a trouble is what you make it,And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,But only how did you take it?You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what's that?Come up with a smiling face.It's nothing against you to fall down flat,But to lie there -- that's disgrace.The harder you're thrown, why the higher you bounce;Be proud of your blackened eye!It isn't the fact that you're licked that counts,It's how did you fight --  and why?And though you be done to the death, what then?If you battled the best you could,If you played your part in the world of men,Why, the Critic will call it good.Death comes with a crawl, or comes with a pounce,And whether he's slow or spry,It isn't the fact that you're dead that counts,But only how did you die?

In this nautical edition of the PPP, we proclaim the history and poetry of the USS Constitution. We sail through the storied past of one of the United States of America's first naval innovations and how early American naval strategy was designed to play out.We look at the service history of the ship and the gallant actions of her captains and crew. We then go on to delve the depths of public opinion and the role Holmes' poem played in galvanizing the people to demand that they ship be spared the scrapyard.This episode was more history lesson than sermon, but even still, we discuss what it means to admire and remember out past. We discuss the art of inspiration and look at a way to spur others on to a worthy cause. We ask ourselves if history is worth preserving and what we gain from it. Is it mere sentiment, or is it a mythology that helps us become who we desire to be.“Old Ironsides" by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.Aye tear her tattered ensign downLong has it waved on high,And many an eye has danced to see That banner in the sky;Beneath it rung the battle shout,And burst the cannon's roar;—The meteor of the ocean airShall sweep the clouds no more.Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,Where knelt the vanquished foe,When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,And waves were white below,No more shall feel the victor's tread,Or know the conquered knee;—The harpies of the shore shall pluckThe eagle of the sea!Oh, better that her shattered hulkShould sink beneath the wave;Her thunders shook the mighty deep,And there should be her grave;Nail to the mast her holy flag,Set every threadbare sail,And give her to the god of storms,The lightning and the gale!

In this edition of the Preaching Poetry Podcast, we examine one of the greatest American poets ever, at least in our opinion.We'll discuss who Paul Laurence Dunbar is, some of his more famous poems, and then we explore the melancholy of his poem "The Debt." Dunbar explores regret in a compelling and hauntingly beautiful way. He becomes slightly vulnerable in the poem, revealing a pain of regret while hiding the specifics. We explore the way that Dunbar compares regret to interest on a loan, one that can never be finally remitted, even though each day demands payment of its own. We also explore the implications of this cautionary tale as we make our own decisions and strive to grow as people capable of making good decisions and counting the costs of what we set out to do in life.“The Debt" by Paul Laurence DunbarThis is the debt I payJust for one riotous day,Years of regret and grief,Sorrow without relief.Pay it I will to the end —Until the grave, my friend,Gives me a true release —Gives me the clasp of peace.Slight was the thing I bought,Small was the debt I thought,Poor was the loan at best —God! but the interest!

In part 2 of our episode on Kipling's beloved poem, If, we continue to examine the concepts of toxic masculinity, humility, self-confidence, resilience, and friendship. We examine Kipling's good ideas and a few of his more questionable ones. Ultimately, we explore what it means to define ourselves without the trapping of success or failure. We also look at the meaning of the last line in the poem and examine what it means to be a man, and what it means to inherit the earth and all that is in it. We also talk about how to read authors who have written in the past, holding different views that we have today. This poem is art. It is worth attacking, defending, critiquing, and enjoying. If nothing else, it is certainly worth talking about.“If" by Rudyard Kipling“If you can keep your head when all about you       Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,    But make allowance for their doubting too;   If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,    Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way to hating,    And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;       If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster    And treat those two impostors just the same;   If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,    And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:If you can make one heap of all your winnings    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginnings    And never breathe a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   And so hold on when there is nothing in you    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!'If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,       Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,    If all men count with you, but none too much;If you can fill the unforgiving minute    With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,   Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,       And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son

In part 1 of this episode, we dig into one of the most famous poems written in English. If you can keep up with us as we discuss toxic masculinity, the author of the poem, and what Kipling is trying to teach his son, you'll enjoy one of our favorite episodes yet. Can you keep your cool under pressure? Can you avoid overestimating AND underestimating yourself? Can you stay honest? Can you place a higher value on substance than appearance? Can you overcome both Triumph and Disaster, and be defined by neither?If you can, then you're my new hero and you probably don't need to listen to this episode. If not, then listen to this poem for some inspiration and motivation“If" by Rudyard Kipling“If you can keep your head when all about you       Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,    But make allowance for their doubting too;   If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,    Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way to hating,    And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;       If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster    And treat those two impostors just the same;   If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,    And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:If you can make one heap of all your winnings    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginnings    And never breathe a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   And so hold on when there is nothing in you    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!'If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,       Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,    If all men count with you, but none too much;If you can fill the unforgiving minute    With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,   Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,       And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son 

In this episode, we examine a poem written by a female poet (Finally!), "Crumbling is not an Instant's Act" by Emily Dickinson. In this episode we get a bit philosophical, digging into what it means to have a soul and what it means that a soul might decay. We examine the process of moral failure, and how to prevent ourselves from crumbling. Finally, we look at how we can rebuild ourselves if we do indeed crumble, and what to expect in such a process.Crumbling is not an instant's Act by Emily DickinsonCrumbling is not an instant's ActA fundamental pauseDilapidation's processesAre organized Decays —‘Tis first a Cobweb on the SoulA Cuticle of DustA Borer in the AxisAn Elemental Rust —Ruin is formal — Devil's workConsecutive and slow —Fail in an instant, no man didSlipping — is Crashe's law —”

In this episode, we examine Percy Bysshe Shelly's poem "Ozymandias." We explore the frivolity of power, and how time eventually grinds fame into dust... or does it? Join us as we examine ourselves and as we determine what we can do with our lives that may stand the test of time. Also, do you have any idea how to pronounce "Bysshe?" Asking for a friend...Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe ShellyI met a traveller from an antique land,Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;And on the pedestal, these words appear:My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal Wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.

In this episode, we explore Longfellow's inspiring and beautifully crafted poem, "The Builders." Longfellow invites us on the construction site where we can take our place among the architects of fate. He exhorts us to take care with our work, and to see each day of our lives as blocks in a tower that will be built together with all on mankind into a glorious structure. Will such a tower become a triumphalist Tower of Babel or will it become a "house where gods may dwell?" Listen to find out!The Builders by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowAll are architects of Fate,  Working in these walls of Time;Some with massive deeds and great,  Some with ornaments of rhyme. Nothing useless is, or low;  Each thing in its place is best;And what seems but idle show  Strengthens and supports the rest. For the structure that we raise,  Time is with materials filled;Our to-days and yesterdays  Are the blocks with which we build. Truly shape and fashion these;  Leave no yawning gaps between;Think not, because no man sees,  Such things will remain unseen. In the elder days of Art,  Builders wrought with greatest careEach minute and unseen part;  For the Gods see everywhere. Let us do our work as well,  Both the unseen and the seen;Make the house, where Gods may dwell,  Beautiful, entire, and clean. Else our lives are incomplete,  Standing in these walls of Time,Broken stairways, where the feet  Stumble as they seek to climb. Build to-day, then, strong and sure,  With a firm and ample base;And ascending and secure  Shall to-morrow find its place. Thus alone can we attain  To those turrets, where the eyeSees the world as one vast plain,  And one boundless reach of sky.

In this famous poem about seizing the day (or is it the carp?) Horace cautions us against superstition and trying to divine the future. Instead, he encourages us to be wise and to cut short long-term hopes. Dive into this episode and see if you have what it takes to be an excellent Epicurean, and maybe reduce some of that anxiety you carry around about the days to come.Ode 1.11 by HoraceYou should not ask, it is unholy to know, for me or for youwhat end the gods will have given, O Leuconoe, nor Babyloniancalculations attempt. Much better it is whatever will be to endure,whether more winters Jupiter has allotted or the last,which now weakens against opposing rocks the seaTyrrhenian: be wise, strain your wines, and because of brief lifecut short long-term hopes. While we are speaking, envious will have fleda lifetime: seize the day, as little as possible trusting the future.

In this episode, we examine one of the most popular and widely quoted poems out there. We will examine Henley's bleak outlook on life and fate, and we will examine the good and the bad of this powerful poem about mastering our fates and captaining our souls.Invictus by William Ernest HenlyOut of the night that covers me,Black as the pit from pole to pole,I thank whatever gods may beFor my unconquerable soul.In the fell clutch of circumstanceI have not winced nor cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chanceMy head is bloody, but unbowed.Beyond this place of wrath and tearsLooms but the Horror of the shade,And yet the menace of the yearsFinds and shall find me unafraid.It matters not how strait the gate,How charged with punishments the scroll,I am the master of my fate,I am the captain of my soul.

In the premiere episode of the Preaching Poetry Podcast, join us as we dig into a poem that also serves as a morality tale. We will examine the Prince and the Craven and we will see how the poem compels us to choose who we will emulate. Will we make the most of our opportunities or will we throw away what we have a run?Opportunity by Edward R. SillThis I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:—There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;And underneath the cloud, or in it, ragedA furious battle, and men yelled, and swordsShocked upon swords and shields. A prince's bannerWavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.A craven hung along the battle's edge,And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel—That blue blade that the king's son bears,— but thisBlunt thing—!" He snapped and flung it from his hand,And lowering crept away and left the field.Then came the king's son, wounded sore bested,And weaponless, and saw the broken swordHilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shoutLifted afresh he hewed his enemy downAnd saved a great cause that heroic day.

This is not quite Episode 1. It is an introduction so that you can learn more about the Preaching Poetry Podcast. Here, you'll catch the vision and purpose of the podcast. You will also learn more about where the name "Preaching Poetry" came from. Join us soon for Episode 1: "Opportunity" by Edward R. Sill.