Poetry Videos and Audio Recordings

. . . . . Appreciating Shakespeare by Evan Mantyk Why do people think Shakespeare is so great? Why do they keep returning to his plays 400 years later? And for other classical literature, even thousands of years later? Hi, I’m Evan Mantyk, teacher of literature and history, and in...

. . Learn Now, Learn Now, Young Master ‘Learn now, learn now, young master; You soon will take your test. The books to learn are plenty; You need to do your best; No time to take a rest. Your marriage is awaiting; A house you have to buy. Keep on...

. SCP Poet Cynthia Erlandson of Michigan has won the 2023 Maria W. Faust Sonnet Competition.  Her sonnet, "Fire and Ice," is a Top Four prize winner, which is the highest designation in the contest.  A Zoom reading will take place this Saturday, July 15th, 12 pm noon (EST), and...

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 5 Parts I & II: Why Amanda Gorman Is Not a Poet / Building a Renaissance  If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to support the production. . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPsbQLPUXHU . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XRk4pgRDOw . .

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 4: Poetry in the Age of AI If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to support the production. . https://youtu.be/WKQD9jfHpsk . .

. Congratulations to SCP Poet Monika Cooper who took First Place in the 2023 Annual Sacred Poetry Contest held by Catholic Literary Arts. See details here: https://www.catholicliteraryarts.org/2023-poetry There will be "a virtual Celebration of Winners and Finalists," on Tuesday June 6 at 7 p.m. CST (that's 8 p.m. EST) including...

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 3: Embrace the Epic, Not the Opaque If you enjoy this video, please like and subscribe on YouTube to support the production. . Podcast on Spotify: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/PW0LljpabAb Podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/classical-poets-live/id1685283102 . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMBAsu3BkqA . .

. Target If you’re too young to take a marriage vow, Stuck at an awkward age that won’t allow A dizzy dose of liquor-laden brew Or puffs of buzzy stuff… just one or two--- __Target beckons you---right now! If you’re too juvenile to drive a car, Too green to party at the bluest bar, Too innocent to fight a gory war, Too ignorant to know what’s...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILvvmtpOaOg

. Classical Poets Live with Andrew Benson Brown Episode 2: Fake Poets and Hollow Prestige . Audio version available here: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7nbFbs2YtvlgZ2B4RtQOcG Apple Music: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/classical-poets-live/id1685283102 . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XHnlF7kU4o . Thomas Gray complete poem "Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes" read in this episode by...

. If you enjoy this video from Andrew Benson Brown's Classical Poets Live, please click on "Watch on YouTube" and then press like and subscribe. . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VahmUnlLEY0 . .

. . Sophisticated Lady—Small Town Girl “Sophisticated lady” gropes the table at her bedside, blindly taking random swipes to kill the morning scream That shatters little privacies she shares with no one else, and steals, with full impunity, her one recurring dream. Cursing imperceptibly, she slaps the tiny box wherein...

. This inaugural episode features an interview with Society of Classical Poets' co-founder and editor Evan Mantyk who talks about the founding of the SCP and its growth. He also discusses the FoFG Poetry Competition, which has a quickly approaching April 30 deadline and no submission fee. Audio version available...

. . Ballerina The balanced ballerina on her toe was poised with perfect posture—back and chest. The crowd, in silent awe, enjoyed the show, as she maintained a flawless arabesque. The dancer twirled to glide a sweet chassé with ease and elegance of mastery. This student of the classical ballet...

. To the Reader of Verse Ah, lover, critic, arbiter of verse, divulge your passions, fill a lusting soul with praises. Let the balladeer coerce the skeptic. Let the troubadour cajole Antaéus: wrestle not with me, unclench your fists. Behold the Muse Calliope, her flights and fancies. Bear the hellish...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDSWs61Ye0E . Sonnet XVIII of the Sacred Rhymes by Lope de Vega (1562-1635) translated by Martin Rizley What have I, that you’d seek me as a friend? What interest draws you, Jesus, to my door, All drenched with dew, as you have come before, In winter’s dark, the long...

. . A Broadside Drawn up before us, proud and sure, Costumed in their haute couture, And sporting all the best coiffures, With colours purple and azure, Loom the powers of disarray, Armed with bromide and cliché, With which to tar or to gainsay Whomever pines for yesterday. Though theirs...

. . An Iffy Christmas   with a nod and a wink to Rudyard Kipling If you can’t rise above the treetop fairy (That plastic risk to Rudolph’s rosy nose); If you can’t marvel at the Virgin Mary And Jesus in the face of weather woes; If you can’t quit your...

. . Instructions Set in Bone With my own knife, by my own hand, I carve these words in no-man’s-land Upon the skull of my late foe, Who sheltered here some weeks ago. He’d only paused to rest a time, And plug a hole, broad as a dime, Drilled into...

. . Vanderbilt’s Nemesis Written for Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire who has called out the evils of lucrative transgender surgery on minors at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. They have since “paused gender affirming surgeries for patients under the age of eighteen.”  They reveled in the...

. . The Night When most have fled the day and sought their beds Pre-empting stealthy onset of the night; When every corner holds its store of dread And the courage my soul held has taken flight; When my eyes can’t see past the evening veil Nor the eerie shadows...

. . Non Existent One day my body disappeared, __nor could I touch or taste, but I could feel the flood of tears __that filled my missing face. My presence was by no-one known. __Not felt, nor seen, nor heard, imprisoned in a realm alone, __dissevered from the herd. Back...

. . A Happy 80th Birthday Wish for the Poet's Father I wish for you the golden years Odysseus had Retired from life’s long strife, a sort of Trojan War: The births and deaths were bloody fights, some good, some bad; And there were far-flung journeys bringing more Adventures than...

. . Forked   a palindrome poem I’m a toxic-tongued witch with some bitching to weave. No trite tittle-tattle will make me believe My lips drip with syrup and never with sin--- That’s ludicrous gossip---nonsensical din. My tongue bursts with bile and has barbs at its tip--- Its scornful, it’s sharp,...

. You are invited to a reading of poetry that shines a light on the plight of ordinary, innocent people in China today who are unjustly persecuted by the communist government---a government indirectly funded by you, me, and everyone reading this. . Submit to Read Anyone published by the Society...

. https://youtu.be/DIhS6QTHh90 . Hosted by British poet James Sale and held by the Society of Classical Poets, the theme of this reading is classical figures in the broad sense. The 100 Days of Dante Poetry Competition’s winning poems are part of the event, as well as poems from the SCP's...

. . My Thoughts Laid Bear  “Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering” ---Winnie the Pooh I like to mull. I like to muse. I like perusing others’ views. Philosophers, I've read a few (a Sartre,...

. You are invited to a reading of exquisite poetry and conversations with the poets.  . Date & Time Sunday June 26, 2022 2 p.m. (New York time), 7 p.m. (U.K. time) Duration: 1 hour . Location Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81501939758?pwd=MnNncmo0YjZabzlCWFk2VUxRNE1udz09 Meeting ID: 815 0193 9758 Passcode: 777770 One tap...

. . Shanghai's Robo Dogs With quick unnatural steps, and side to side Focusing glances, robo dogs preside And prowl the streets. They wear their growls in little Speakers around their necks, their barking spittle A blare of words: Go home, home now, now go. They click, record, and scurry...

. https://youtu.be/6gDs63kyLhc . CREDITS Poetry: Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) Voice-Over: S.A. Todd Photos/Footage: Photo of Pharaoh by ArchaiOptix, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License Music: “Elysium ” by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License . .

. FIRST PLACE https://youtu.be/F3aTnHiJ4yU . Amends to the Innocent by Brian Yapko Dear Falun Gong, I owe you my amends. I heard but would not listen to the sighs Of battered souls I should have known as friends. An Evil which I failed to recognize I fed with foolishness. My...

. Read by Susan Jarvis Bryant . In This House... In this house... We value science so much we accept that male and female chromosomes exist and gender is not merely a suggestion. In this house... We know that love is love. We also think that love should be both...

. A recording of our Christmas and New Year Poetry Reading in December has just been made available. Thank you again to the host, James Sale, and all of the poets and readers! . https://youtu.be/ujRomBreh50 . .

. . Shhh… Shanghai trembles at the edge of hell As horror wafts and weaves its way through streets. The moon melts in the flare of terror’s yell--- Hot howls of raw despair till morning greets Locked up souls locked down for safety’s sake As Satan prowls for hearts he burns to break. He gulps the tears the hopeless start...

    . https://youtu.be/PguXX2PRzvI . CREDITS Poetry: Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) Voice-Over: Katy Mantyk Photos/Footage: “Unveiling the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World” by Edward Moran, 1886 (Public Domain) Music: “Slow Walk Into The Sunset” by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License . .  

. https://youtu.be/LRxFaGgdazE Our Worthy Sons dedicated to Samuel by Susan Jarvis Bryant Our worthy sons should never be ashamedOf who they are and who they’re meant to be.For far too long men’s gender has been blamedIn wars that weaponize identity. To hell with toxic masculinity—That noxious term indelibly ingrainedIn minds so...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaAv09XqwAY . Young Strongbow anonymous American ballad (Words in parentheses are alternate lyrics suggested by other extant versions of the song.) To Dartmouth’s scientific hall __In olden times there came A sprightly Red Boy from the woods, __And Strongbow was his name. Much had he heard of Dartmouth’s skill,...

.   https://youtu.be/3XWcnISYGSE . Rondel for Saint Valentine's Day by Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340–1400) | modernized in the original lyric form by Margaret Coats Now welcome, springtime, with your gentle sunThat wintry weather milder soon will make,And tiresome nights' long shroud of blackness shake. Saint Valentine, great triumph you have won,And...

. https://youtu.be/RMcLVFNbueY . Complete poem text here. CREDITSPoetry: Alan Nordstrom (1939-)Audio/Visual Work: Society of Classical PoetsVoice-Over: Evan MantykPhotos/Footage:“Milky Way with Tree” by Videvo, licensed under Videvo’s Royalty-Free License (videvo.net)Music:“Valley Sunset” by Alejandro Magaña (A. M.) licensed under the Mixkit Stock Music Free License (mixkit.co)Sound FX:“Crickets and insects in the wild...

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4HH4MeT9Mo . Read the complete poem here: https://staging.classicalpoets.org/2013/12/12/two-psalms/#/ CREDITS Poetry: Evan Mantyk (b. 1982) Audio/Visual Work: Society of Classical Poets Voice-Over: Evan Mantyk Photos/Footage: (1) Stock footage (“Bangkok Train From Above at Sunset”) provided by Videvo, downloaded from www.videvo.net (Videvo Attribution License); (2) “In the Foothills” (1861) by Albert...