Shows / The Daily Poem
The Daily Poem
The Daily Poem offers one essential poem each weekday morning. From Shakespeare and John Donne to Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, The Daily Poem curates a broad and generous audio anthology of the best poetry ever written, read-aloud by David Kern and an assortment of various contributors. Some lite commentary is included and the shorter poems are often read twice, as time permits. The Daily Poem is presented by Goldberry Studios.
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Episodes
The Daily PoemSiegfried Sassoon's "Picture-Show"
Today’s poem–published in 1920–is one of the early intersections between poetry and cinema. Happy reading. Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) is best remembered for…
The Daily PoemHart Crane's "Chaplinesque"
In today’s poem, written a century ago, cinema (and Charlie Chaplin) is already supplying metaphors for the work and experience of modern poets. Happy reading…
The Daily PoemJoseph Stanton's "Edward Hopper's 'New York Movie'"
Today’s poem (from an art scholar and master of ekphrastic poetry) features another classic Hopper painting and a contemplative trip to the movies. Happy…
The Daily PoemCornelius Eady's "Charlie Chaplin Impersonates a Poet"
This week The Daily Poem heads to the movies. Cornelius Eady is the founder of the poetry group Cave Canem and his published collections include Victims of the…
The Daily PoemAllison Adelle Hedge Coke's "America, I Sing You Back"
Today’s poem both responds to and carries on the work of Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes. Happy reading! Allison Adelle Hedge Coke has written seven books of…
The Daily PoemTwo for the Fourth
Today’s (frequently-paired) poems form an antiphonal song between Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes on the complicated ideal of “being American.” Happy…
The Daily PoemGrace Schulman's "American Solitude"
Today’s poem is lovely, dark, and deep. Loneliness, Americana, Edward Hopper, literary illusions, clams: it has it all. Happy reading! Poet and editor Grace…
The Daily PoemJohn Ciardi's "Mummy Slept Late and Daddy Fixed Breakfast"
Today’s poem from John Ciardi goes out to all of the dads who can cook, all of the dads who can’t, all of the children who have endured the latter, and all of…
The Daily PoemEdgar Allan Poe's "To Helen"
In today’s poem, Poe offers us an ode to the Homeric beauty that is also definitely giving some Stacy’s-mom vibes. This is a public episode. If you'd like to…
The Daily PoemEmily Dickinson's "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,"
On one of her darker days, Emily Dickinson dreams of a fate worse than death. Happy(?) reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with…
The Daily PoemPaul Laurence Dunbar's "The Lawyers' Ways"
Happy birthday to the trailblazing Paul Laurence Dunbar. For more meditations on “lawyers’ ways,” come join our discussion of To Kill a Mockingbird over on the…
The Daily PoemAdam's "Bone of My Bone"
Though rarely anthologized or even contemplated as such, today’s poem is arguably the very first–and its a solid beginning. Happy reading. This is a public…
The Daily PoemWilliam Butler Yeats' "Brown Penny"
Today’s poem is one of the purest and most earnest offerings from one of the most indefatigable lover-poets of the twentieth century. Happy reading! This is a…
The Daily PoemMarianne Moore's "Silence"
Marianne Craig Moore (November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for its formal…
The Daily PoemMatthew Hollis' "The Diomedes"
Today’s poem comes from Matthew Hollis’ remarkable collection, Earth House, which blends explorations of the four cardinal directions and original translations…
The Daily PoemJim Daniels' "Short-Order Cook"
Today’s poem goes out to all the unsung heroes of the grease trap and the fry basket. Happy reading. Jim Daniels is the author of numerous collections of…
The Daily PoemLucille Clifton's "cutting greens"
Lucille Clifton was born in Depew, New York, on June 27, 1936. Her first book of poems, Good Times (Random House, 1969), was rated one of the best books of the…
The Daily PoemRobert Graves' "I'd Love to Be a Fairy's Child"
Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval…
The Daily PoemCarl Sandburg's "Fog"
Today’s economical little poem from Carl Sandburg is jam-packed with allusion and metaphor. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss…
The Daily PoemDonald Davidson's "Lee in the Mountains" Pt. 2
The conclusion to yesterday’s poem. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus…
The Daily PoemDonald Davidson's "Lee in the Mountains" Pt. 1
Today, while the host works in the mountains, we are featuring the first half of a longer poem by Fugitive poet Donald Davidson, imagining the inner agonies of…
The Daily PoemRobert Bly's "The Moon"
Robert Bly (born December 23, 1926, in Madison, Minnesota) is the author of more than thirty books of poetry, including Stealing Sugar from the Castle…
The Daily PoemJane Kenyon's "Otherwise"
Jane Kenyon (1947–1995), former Poet Laureate of New Hampshire, was the author of four volumes of poetry. Her collected poems were published by Graywolf Press…
The Daily PoemR. S. Gwynn's "Shakespearean Sonnet"
Today’s poem isn’t what you think, until you do some thinking–then its exactly what you thought. R. S. Gwynn (born 1948) is the author of six collections of…
The Daily PoemWilliam Shakespeare's Sonnet 94 ("They that have power")
Today’s poem, a lover’s plea disguised as a meditation on virtuous restraint, marks the end of our week of sonnets. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If…
The Daily PoemWilliam Shakespeare's Sonnet 147 ("My love is as a fever...")
Today, the Bard gets bitter. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit…
The Daily PoemWilliam Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 ("That time of year...")
Today’s sonnet details a painful reality: even great poets lose their hair sometimes. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other…
The Daily PoemWilliam Shakespeare's Sonnet 55 ("Not marble...")
Today, a (biased) case for poems as the monuments that can outlast monuments. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or…
The Daily PoemWilliam Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 ("Shall I compare thee...")
Today’s poem–arguably the Bard’s most famous sonnet–will set the stage for four days of dramatically underrated Shakespearean sonnets. Happy reading! This is a…
The Daily PoemOliver Herford's "The Early Owl"
From a New York Times obituary of Oliver Herford (1860-1935): "His wit…was too original at first to go down with the very delectable highly respectable…
The Daily PoemA. A. Milne's "Bad Sir Brian Botany"
Today’s poem is a good reminder about noblesse obliges. Happy reading! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get…
The Daily PoemRobert Louis Stevenson's "My Bed is a Boat"
Today’s poem might be a perfect companion to a bedtime-reading of Where the Wild Things Are on a balmy summer evening. This is a public episode. If you'd like…
The Daily PoemHilaire Belloc's "Rebecca, Who Slammed Doors for Fun and Perished Miserably"
Today’s poem is another from Belloc–one of his Cautionary Tales for Children just in time for the beginning of a quiet summer (maybe?). This is a public…
The Daily PoemHilaire Belloc's "On the Gift of a Book to a Child"
Today’s poem is a series of increasingly vital pleas. Happy reading. For more of Belloc’s advice to the young, find yourself a copy of Cautionary Tales for…
The Daily PoemBonus: "Morituri Salutamus" in full
Today we’re feeling out a Saturday bonus episode featuring a reading of “Morituri Salutamus” in its entirety. Happy reading! This is a public episode. If you'd…
The Daily PoemSelections From Longfellow's "Morituri Salutamus"
Today’s episode features selections from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s fifty-year retrospective on his own graduation, the lengthy speech-in-verse, “Morituri…
The Daily PoemChristina Rossetti's "Up-Hill"
Today’s poem from Christina Rossetti is not about high school or college, but it might still be about graduation. Happy reading! This is a public episode. If…
The Daily PoemC. P. Cavafy's "Che Fece...Il Gran Rifiuto"
Konstantinos Petrou Kavafis, known, especially in English, as Constantine P. Cavafy and often published as C. P. Cavafy, was a Greek poet, journalist, and…
The Daily PoemMatthew Zapruder's "Graduation Day"
Matthew Zapruder is the author of six collections of poetry, most recently I Love Hearing Your Dreams, forthcoming from Scribner in September 2024, as well as…
The Daily PoemJohn Ciardi's "An Emeritus Addresses the School"
About the creative process itself, John Ciardi argued in the Writer that “it isn’t easy to make a poem,” adding, “It is better than easy: it is joyously…
The Daily PoemMatsuo Bashō's Spring Haiku
Today’s poems are all about the ineffable experience of spring. Happy reading! The 17th-century Japanese haiku master Bashō was born Matsuo Kinsaku near Kyoto…
The Daily PoemThomas Nashe's "Spring, the sweet spring"
Today’s poem–an unambiguous paean to spring–suggests Thomas Nashe and T. S. Eliot had very different feelings about the month of April. Happy reading! Thomas…
The Daily PoemEdna St. Vincent Millay's "Spring"
Today’s poem is a more complicated take on spring. Happy reading. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access…
The Daily PoemE. E. Cummings' "[O sweet spontaneous]"
E.E. Cummings, in full Edward Estlin Cummings, (born October 14, 1894, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.—died September 3, 1962, North Conway, New Hampshire)…
The Daily PoemPhillis Levin's "End of April
What started as an early spring is now not long for this world. In an attempt to stave off an early summer, we have a week of poems dedicated to the fairest of…
The Daily PoemRobert Frost's "Mending Wall"
Today’s poem is a Robert Frost classic of which everyone always remembers the wrong part. Happy reading! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss…
The Daily PoemRobert Southey's "His Books"
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and…
The Daily PoemWilliam Butler Yeats' "When You Are Old"
Today’s poem goes out to all the ‘pilgrim souls.’ Happy reading! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access…
The Daily PoemJohn Keats' "How many bards gild the lapses of time"
In today’s poem, John Keats isn’t worried about authenticity–and that’s just fine. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other…
The Daily PoemDorothy Wordsworth's "Loving and Liking"
Today’s poem reminds us how much is sometimes riding on the proper grammatical distinctions. Born in Cumberland, British Romantic poet and prose writer Dorothy…
The Daily PoemEmily Dickinson's "Tell all the truth but tell it slant–"
Today’s poem is almost too bright for our infirm delight. Happy reading! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get…
The Daily PoemH. D.'s "Eurydice"
Today’s poem features a failed resurrection and a response that spirals through all the customary stages of grief. Hilda Doolittle was born on September 10…
The Daily PoemC. S. Lewis' "Stephen to Lazarus"
Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was…
The Daily PoemPaul Ruffin's "We Write Nasty Notes at the Academic Conference"
Find somebody to watch the kids while you giggle through today’s poem. Happy reading. Respected editor, publisher, writer and poet, Paul Ruffin often relied…
The Daily PoemA. E. Stallings' "Dead Language Lesson"
Today’s poem ponders what love makes of language. Happy reading. A.E. (Alicia) Stallings is the Oxford Professor of Poetry. She grew up in Decatur, Georgia…
The Daily PoemScott Cairns' "Musée"
Today’s poem is inspired by one of our favorites here at the Daily Poem. Librettist, essayist, translator, and author of ten poetry collections, Scott Cairns…
The Daily PoemTed Kooser's "After Years"
Ted Kooser, who worked in insurance for thirty-five years before becoming U.S. Poet Laureate, turns 85 today. Many happy returns of the day to him, and happy…
The Daily PoemT. S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
Have you measured out your life in coffee spoons? Feeling like a pair of ragged claws today? Afraid to eat messy food while other people are watching? Or are…
The Daily PoemWilliam Shakespeare's "It Was a Lover and His Lass"
Happy birthday to the Bard! NB: Anyone itching to dig deeper into Shakespeare’s plays should look no further than one of our sister podcasts, The Play’s the…
The Daily PoemLouise Glück's "The Wild Iris"
Louise Glück was born in New York City in 1943. She is the author of numerous poetry collections, including Winter Recipes from the Collective (2021); Faithful…