12. A Country for Old Men (and Women)

Program Description

Before the 20th century few great poets lived to old age, and still fewer continued to write important poetry when they did. Perhaps under the influence of T. S. Eliot, who even when young wrote in the voice of an old man, modernist poets explored this territory in a profound and thorough way. We will read the late poetry of W. B. Yeats, Elizabeth Bishop, and Wallace Stevens, all of whom developed new ways of writing in the last years of their lives and took as their subject matter the experiences of aging and facing death. Despite vast differences of style and beliefs, they discovered similar insights in those experiences. The poems are suffused with a luminous apprehension of spirit beyond and yet intrinsic to nature. They dwell, without self-pity or sentimentality, on the poets' grief and fear, and at the same time celebrate a sense of renewed power in their creative genius. These are often difficult poems, and the breadth of vision they hold means we will inevitably only touch on a little of all they have to offer, but the journey to that country will be a great adventure.

Discussion Leader

Rosemary Gould currently raises three small children in Charlottesville, Va. In her spare time she leads discussions of poetry for the Jefferson Institute for Lifelong Learning (JILL). Working with the participants in JILL has taught her how delightful it is to discuss poetry with grown-ups, and she looks forward to a soulful exploration of the wisdom of these extraordinary poets.

Books

Last Poems (1938 - 1939) William Butler Yeats
The Rock (1954) Wallace Stevens
Geography III (1976) and New Poems (1979) Elizabeth Bishop
More Selected Poems Elizabeth Bishop