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Poetry in America

Six Years Later, Epitaph for a Centaur

Season 4 Episode 2 | 25m 21s

Russian-born poet Joseph Brodsky wrote about the centaur as a Cold War self-portrait: a divided global refugee, created by a geopolitics of shifting borders and cultures. Theater of War artistic director Bryan Doerries, writer Yelena Akhtiorskaya, and scholars Sven Birkerts, Zakhar Ishtov, Jonathan Brent, and Joseph Ellis read two poems by Brodsky: one about love; the other, exile.

Aired: 04/07/24 | Expires: 05/06/24
Support for Poetry in America is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Dalio Family Fund, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Deborah Hayes Stone and Max Stone, Nancy Zimmerman and Walmart. Seasons 4 & 3 are distributed to PBS stations nationwide by PBS Plus, with Seasons 1 & 2 distributed nationally by American Public Television.
Extras
Watch • 0:30
Poetry in America
Season 4 Preview
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Preview: S4 | 0:30
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Poems by Wheatley with Amanda Gorman, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Richard Blanco, and more.
Episode: S4 E1 | 25:21
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Sonnet IV; I shall forget you presently, my dear, by Millay
Leslie Jamison, Olivia Gatwood, & more read a sonnet by Millay with host Elisa New.
Episode: S3 E8 | 25:41
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Poetry in America
Two poems, by Linda Hogan and Alberto Ríos
Linda Hogan & Alberto Ríos explore their poems with host Elisa New, Jeff Corwin & more.
Episode: S3 E7 | 25:14
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Poetry in America
Poems about Motherhood by Sharon Olds and Bernadette Mayer
Elisa New, Emily Oster, Sharon Olds, & Bernadette Mayer explore poems on motherhood.
Episode: S3 E6 | 25:38
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Poetry in America
Mending Wall, by Robert Frost
Caroline Kennedy, Tracy K. Smith & more read Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” with Elisa New.
Episode: S3 E5 | 25:21
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you can say that again, billie, by Evie Shockley
Cassandra Wilson, Elisa New & more read Evie Shockley’s “you can say that again, billie.”
Episode: S3 E4 | 25:22
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Cascadilla Falls, by A. R. Ammons
DJ Spooky, Joshua Bennett, & more discuss A.R. Ammon’s “Cascadilla Falls” with Elisa New.
Episode: S3 E3 | 25:21
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Poetry in America
Looking for The Gulf Motel, by Richard Blanco
Gloria Estefan & more read Richard Blanco’s "Looking for The Gulf Motel" with Elisa New.
Episode: S3 E2 | 25:02
Watch • 25:11
Poetry in America
The Wound-Dresser, by Walt Whitman
Tony Kushner, David Strathairn & more read Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser” with Elisa New.
Episode: S3 E1 | 25:11
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Consider the poetics, and politics, of fungi with poems by Sylvia Plath and Kay Ryan.
Episode: S4 E3 | 25:21
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Poems by Wheatley with Amanda Gorman, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Richard Blanco, and more.
Episode: S4 E1 | 25:21
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Leslie Jamison, Olivia Gatwood, & more read a sonnet by Millay with host Elisa New.
Episode: S3 E8 | 25:41
Watch • 25:14
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Two poems, by Linda Hogan and Alberto Ríos
Linda Hogan & Alberto Ríos explore their poems with host Elisa New, Jeff Corwin & more.
Episode: S3 E7 | 25:14
Watch • 25:38
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Elisa New, Emily Oster, Sharon Olds, & Bernadette Mayer explore poems on motherhood.
Episode: S3 E6 | 25:38