"Epitaph" by Gwendolyn Bennett

Mea culpa: at around 6:40 I say "5 lines" when I meant to say "5 feet."

Topics discussed in this episode include:

-My upcoming sojourn to fair Albion -The master of Persian poetry gives me a light slap on the wrist -The Harlem Renaissance! -Form is important, but it should follow function -Form as intellectual and creative scaffolding -English on the outside, Italian on the inside (A "Rossetti" sonnet?) -Syllabic Variation, and its usefulness for beginners -"Get off your ath let's do some math!" -The maternal onus on womankind -Big death = little lives -We want the best for our children, even if they're plants -The paradox of the suffering corpse -The misery at the heart of this poem

Text of the poem:

Epitaph

When I am dead, carve this upon my stone: Here lies a woman, fit root for flower and tree, Whose living flesh, now mouldering round the bone, Wants nothing more than this for immortality, That in her heart, where love so long unfruited lay A seed for grass or weed shall grow, And push to light and air its heedless way; That she who lies here dead may know Through all the putrid marrow of her bones The searing pangs of birth, While none may know the pains nor hear the groans Of she who lived with barrenness upon the earth.

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My favorite poetry podcasts for: Sharp thoughts and cutting truths (Matthew): Sleerickets Lovely introspection and sensitive reflection (Alice): Poetry Says The landscape of Ohioan poetry (Jeremy): Poetry Spotlight

Supported in part by The Ohio Poetry Association Art by David Anthony Klug

List of the most common metrical feet: Iamb: weak-STRONG (u /) Trochee: STRONG-weak (/ u) Anapest: weak-weak-STRONG (u u /) Amphibrach: weak-STRONG-weak (u / u) Dactyl: STRONG-weak-weak (/ u u) Cretic: STRONG-weak-STRONG (/ u /) Pyrrhic: weak-weak (u u) Spondee: STRONG-STRONG (/ /)