Best Haven Hopkins Podcasts (2024)

1
Gerard Manley Hopkins' "Heaven-Haven" 4:45

8d ago4:45

4:45

Today’s poem, subtitled “a nun takes the veil,” is one of Hopkins’ earliest surviving works. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Luci Shaw's "Judas, Peter" 6:54

5m ago6:54

6:54

Luci Shaw was born in 1928 in London, England, and has lived in Canada, Australia and the U.S.A. A graduate of Wheaton College, she became co-founder and later president of Harold Shaw Publishers, and since 1988 has been a Writer in Residence at Regent College, Vancouver, Canada. Shaw has lectured in North America and abroad on topics such as art a…

1
Jonathan Swift's "A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed" 4:15

2h ago4:15

4:15

In today’s poem, while everyone else is dressing up to become something terrible, the acerbic Jonathan Swift gives us a domestic horror story in reverse. Happy reading. Anglo-Irish poet, satirist, essayist, and political pamphleteer Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland. He spent much of his early adult life in England before returning to Dubl…

1
Kenn Nesbitt's "Halloween Party" 3:07

2h ago3:07

3:07

Today’s poem is the stuff real nightmares are made of. Happy reading. Nesbitt’s poetry for children is “irrepressible, unpredictable, and raucously popular,” in the words of former Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis. Nesbitt’s poems frequently deal with humorous, relatable situations that verge on the madcap. He is the author of numerous boo…

1
William Shakespeare's "Advice to Laertes" (from Hamlet I.3) 4:18

14h ago4:18

4:18

Today’s poem is some of the greatest ironic advice ever offered on the stage–do as Polonius says, not as he does, and you’ll be just fine. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Bob Hicok's "O My Pa-Pa" 17:11

1d ago17:11

17:11

Bob Hicok was born in 1960 in Michigan and worked for many years in the automotive die industry. A published poet long before he earned his MFA, Hicok is the author of several collections of poems, including The Legend of Light, winner of the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry in 1995 and named a 1997 ALA Booklist Notable Book of the Year; Plus Shipping …

1
J. R. R. Tolkien's "When winter first begins to bite" 7:15

4d ago7:15

7:15

Today’s poem commemorates the Council of Elrond, testifies to the love (and fussiness) of hobbits, and even boasts a possible Shakespearean connection. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Henry Taylor's "Somewhere Along the Way" 4:05

6d ago4:05

4:05

Poet and translator Henry Taylor was born in Lincoln, Virginia on June 21, 1942. He earned a BA from the University of Virginia and an MA from Hollins University. Taylor’s many poetry collections include Crooked Run (2006); Understanding Fiction: Poems 1986-1996; The Flying Change (1985), for which he received the Pulitzer Prize; An Afternoon of Po…

1
Amy Lowell's "Trades" 7:07

7d ago7:07

7:07

Today’s poem is a particularly novel example of an ancient writerly tradition: writing about how hard it is to write. Happy reading. On February 9, 1874, Amy Lowell was born at Sevenels, a ten-acre family estate in Brookline, Massachusetts. Her family was Episcopalian, of old New England stock, and at the top of Boston society. Lowell was the young…

1
Ernest Lawrence Thayer's "Casey at the Bat" 7:15

9d ago7:15

7:15

Though its author remained otherwise undistinguished, today's poem–with all its ecstasy, agony, and irony–has become almost as essential to the American experience as baseball itself. Happy reading! Ernest Lawrence Thayer was born on August 14, 1863, in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He graduated with a BA in philosophy from Harvard University in 1885, w…

1
Billy Collins' "Shoveling Snow With Buddha" 4:37

12d ago4:37

4:37

Today’s poem is an appreciation of little things. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
James Whitcomb Riley's "When the Frost is on the Punkin" 4:57

13d ago4:57

4:57

Today’s poem celebrates the crisp, cool days of early Autumn as the most hospitable season of the year. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
John Masefield's "Laugh and Be Merry" 8:03

16d ago8:03

8:03

The world-wandering John Masefield waxes Solomonic in today’s poem. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Donald Hall's "My Son, My Executioner" 6:19

15d ago6:19

6:19

Today’s poem is for everyone who knows that children keep you young, but also know how old you feel while it’s happening. Hall, taken aback by the success of this poem, expressed some regret that he became “the fellow whose son strapped him into the electric chair,” explaining that its inspiration came from 2 a.m. bottle-feedings that he conducted …

1
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Sonnet: On Receiving a Letter Informing Me of the Birth of a Son" 10:11

16d ago10:11

10:11

The title of today’s poem is a mouthful, but it is fittingly emblematic of the poet’s full heart. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Ben Jonson's "On My First Sonne" 6:41

19d ago6:41

6:41

Never have rhyming couplets been so full of pathos as in today’s poem, where they symbolize the bond between father and son, tragically cut short. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
John Keats' "To Autumn" 4:09

21d ago4:09

4:09

If pumpkin-spice-everything or the sea of puffy vests and Ugg boots at the cider stand are getting you down, let today’s poem remind you of all that is great about Autumn. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
David McCord's "Mr. Macklin's Jack O'Lantern" 6:21

21d ago6:21

6:21

Today’s poem offers a folksy look at the subtleties of terror. Happy reading. David Thompson Watson McCord was born on December 15, 1897, in New York. A poet and fundraiser, McCord grew up in Portland, Oregon. He received both a BA and MA from Harvard University and briefly served in the military at the end of World War I. In 1922, McCord became as…

1
Ogden Nash's "A Word to Husbands" 4:32

22d ago4:32

4:32

Today’s poem offers a recipe for domestic bliss. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Walter Savage Landor's "To Robert Browning" 7:20

22d ago7:20

7:20

Though we remember Browning far more readily than we do Landor, this poem dates from a period when their fortunes were reversed and the latter was eager to acquaint the world with the budding talent he had discovered. Walter Savage Landor (30 January 1775 – 17 September 1864) was an English writer, poet, and activist. His best known works were the …

1
J. R. R. Tolkien's "Mythopoeia" 13:56

26d ago13:56

13:56

Today’s poem is a defense of myths and myth-making, inspired by an argument with C. S. Lewis. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
R. S. Thomas' "Poetry for Supper" 8:30

27d ago8:30

8:30

Ronald Stuart Thomas (29 March 1913 – 25 September 2000), published as R. S. Thomas, was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest noted for nationalism, spirituality and dislike of the anglicisation of Wales. John Betjeman, introducing Song at the Year's Turning (1955), the first collection of Thomas's poetry from a major publisher, predicted that Thomas w…

1
Dorothy Parker's "The Trifler" 4:47

1M ago4:47

4:47

Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet and writer of fiction, plays and screenplays based in New York; she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. Parker rose to acclaim, both for her literary works published in magazines, such as The New Yorker, and as a founding m…

1
Louis Untermeyer's "A Man" 5:02

29d ago5:02

5:02

Today’s poem offers a needful portrait of ‘manly talk.’ Happy reading. Louis Untermeyer was the author, editor or compiler, and translator of more than 100 books for readers of all ages. He will be best remembered as the prolific anthologist whose collections have introduced students to contemporary American poetry since 1919. The son of an establi…

1
William Butler Yeats' "Sailing to Byzantium" 14:30

30d ago14:30

14:30

Today’s poem is one of the most-discussed pieces of twentieth-century verse and, love it or hate it, features one of literature’s best extended metaphors for eternal yearnings–the quest for the great and holy city. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe…

1
Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" 6:17

1M ago6:17

6:17

If the strained relationship between science and Romanticism had an anthem, it might be today’s poem. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Matthew Arnold's "Shakespeare" 6:37

1M ago6:37

6:37

Today’s poem demonstrates that, unlike Arnold’s sideburns, loving the Bard never goes out of style. Although remembered now for his elegantly argued critical essays, Matthew Arnold, born in Laleham, Middlesex, on December 24, 1822, began his career as a poet, winning early recognition as a student at the Rugby School where his father, Thomas Arnold…

1
James Wright's "A Blessing" 6:06

1M ago6:06

6:06

James Arlington Wright was born on December 13, 1927, in Martins Ferry, Ohio. His father worked for fifty years at a glass factory, and his mother left school at fourteen to work in a laundry; neither attended school beyond the eighth grade. While in high school in 1943, Wright suffered a nervous breakdown and missed a year of school. When he gradu…

1
Wendy Cope's "Emily Dickinson" 4:57

1M ago4:57

4:57

Today’s poem, from the delightfully clever Wendy Cope, epitomizes the rare and complicated light verse form: the double-dactyl. Wendy Cope was raised in Kent, England, where her parents often recited poetry to her. She earned a BA in history and trained as a teacher at Oxford University. Cope taught in primary schools for many years before publishi…

1
Donald Hall's "The Baseball Players" 5:52

1M ago5:52

5:52

Today’s poem is for all those already wondering what they will do when the baseball season ends next month. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Richard Wilbur's "Advice to a Prophet" 5:58

1M ago5:58

5:58

Richard Wilbur was born in New York City on March 1, 1921 and studied at Amherst College before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. He later attended Harvard University. Wilbur’s first book of poems, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems (Reynal & Hitchcock) was published in 1947. Since then, he has published several books of poems, inclu…

1
Countee Cullen's "Yet Do I Marvel" 7:56

1M ago7:56

7:56

Cullen’s exact birthplace is unknown, but in 1918, at the age of 15, Countee LeRoy was adopted by Reverend Frederick A. Cullen, the minster to the largest church congregation in Harlem. Cullen kept his finger on the pulse of Harlem during the 1920s while he attended New York University and then a graduate program at Harvard. His poetry became popul…

1
Samuel Johnson's "On the Death of Dr. Robert Levet" 5:43

1M ago5:43

5:43

In today’s poem, the inimitably magnanimous Dr. Johnson eulogizes the man of “The single talent well employed.” Happy birthday to the good doctor, and happy reading to the rest. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Lear and Cordelia ("Come, let's away to prison") 7:47

1M ago7:47

7:47

Today’s poem is a passage of blank verse from Act 5, Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s King Lear. In the action of the play the scene is a prelude to tragedy, but as a picture of love between father and daughter it is almost perfect. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe…

1
A. A. Milne's "Us Two" 4:00

1M ago4:00

4:00

Some Mondays call for a poem that is uncomplicated and perfectly delightful–and Milne never disappoints. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Rudyard Kipling's "The Roman Centurion's Song" 7:27

2M ago7:27

7:27

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. Kipling's works of fiction include the Jungle Book duology (The Jungle Book, 1894; The Second Jungle Book, 1895), Kim (1901), the Just So Stories (1902) and man…

1
Ted Kooser's "A Happy Birthday" 5:32

2M ago5:32

5:32

There comes a point in every life when “birthday” goes from meaning "pizza party” to meaning “memento mori.” Today’s poem goes out to everyone in the latter group. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "In Memoriam: 27" 6:20

2M ago6:20

6:20

Today the age-old question of loss and grief is answered…by the man who raised it in the first place. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Alice Dunbar-Nelson's "I Sit and Sew" 10:24

2M ago10:24

10:24

Nelson is likely best known for her literary output as a poet. She regularly published in Opportunity and Crisis magazines between 1917 and 1928. Her poems also appeared in James Weldon Johnson’s seminal anthology, The Book of American Negro Poetry (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1931). Nelson began to keep a personal diary in 1921. Her entries from …

1
Dorianne Laux's "I Dare You" 8:10

2M ago8:10

8:10

The author of several collections of poetry–most recently Life on Earth–Dorianne Laux was the recipient of the Oregon Book Award and a finalist for the National Books Critics Circle Award for her book Facts About the Moon. She has also authored several works of non-fiction including The Poet’s Companion and Finger Exercises For Poets. She was elect…

1
John Donne's "Resurrection" 7:28

2M ago7:28

7:28

Today’s poem–#6 in Donne’s La Corona sonnet cycle–is an ideal consummation for many of the themes introduced in this week’s selections. Now go read the rest of his holy sonnets! Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
John Donne's "Divine Meditation 10: 'Death be not proud...'" 10:47

2M ago10:47

10:47

Today, Donne’s best-known poem, but maybe not his last word on death. Happy reading! Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
John Donne's "Divine Meditation 7: 'At the round earth's imagined corners...'" 6:27

2M ago6:27

6:27

Today’s poem dramatizes Donne’s inner turmoil and conflicting desires, but is not without hope. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
John Donne's "Temple" 5:24

2M ago5:24

5:24

Today’s Holy Sonnet is the fourth in Donne’s underrated (if a poet as great as Donne can have underrated work) sonnet cycle, La Corona. The title translates to “crown” and the cycle’s opening line introduces the poems as a woven “crown of prayer and praise” offered to God, narrating and commenting upon significant events in the life of Jesus. Sonne…

1
John Donne's "Divine Meditation 1" 6:32

2M ago6:32

6:32

Today marks the beginning of a week of Donne’s “Holy Sonnets” (interpreted generously to also include selections from his sonnet cycle, “La Corona”). In this first sonnet, he establishes the themes––human weakness, self-doubt, terrestrial anguish, and divine transcendence and consolation––that will return throughout the series. Happy reading! Get f…

1
Scott Cairns' "Change Your Life" 10:48

2M ago10:48

10:48

Today, one of our favorite living poets asks questions about one of our favorite poems. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Thomas Merton's "The Quickening Of St. John The Baptist" 5:28

2M ago5:28

5:28

In today’s poem Thomas Merton, 20th-century author and mystic, comes to an understanding of his monastic vocation through a contemplation of John the Baptist’s prenatal gymnastics. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

1
Ted Hughes' "The Thought-Fox" 7:02

2M ago7:02

7:02

Ted Hughes, one of the giants of twentieth-century British poetry, was born in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire. After serving in the Royal Air Force, Hughes attended Cambridge, where he studied archeology and anthropology and took a special interest in myths and legends. In 1956, he met and married the American poet Sylvia Plath, who encouraged him to submi…

1
Mark Strand's "The Prediction" 5:09

2M ago5:09

5:09

Mark Strand was born on Canada’s Prince Edward Island on April 11, 1934. He received a BA from Antioch College in Ohio in 1957 and attended Yale University, where he was awarded the Cook Prize and the Bergin Prize. After receiving his BFA degree in 1959, Strand spent a year studying at the University of Florence on a Fulbright fellowship. In 1962 h…

1
John Keats' "On the Sonnet" 7:11

2M ago7:11

7:11

Today’s poem is a meta-reflection on the constraints of poetic form that has something to say about all of life’s formal constraints. Happy reading. Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribeBy Sean Johnson

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Haven Hopkins Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide