Poll - Who listens to "The Verb"?

[Lateralthinking1]

On the subject of response, Lat should note that on average a thread might have 30 times more views than responses. The Verb thread was well above average with 50 times more views - so people were reading it even if they weren't replying.

frenchfrank - Thank you for your kind comments and to those of aeolium too. I hope that the new approach will suffice in maintaining the interest of those who are keen and haven't written. If I hear anything that thrills me, you are still likely to hear about it. - Lat

[Anna]

If I hear anything that thrills me, you are still likely to hear about it. - Lat

[cloughie]

I like Ian McMillan's style and delivery - rarely listen to The Verb but if it were rescheduled to a more convenient hour I probably would. Radio 4 at 6.30pm instead of one of the dire comedy shows would be quite good!

[french frank]

I'd much rather have readings of poetry than discussions about it, which invariably (in my experience) reduce and detract from the work in some way.

Although it wouldn't necessarily have to be an either/or. I was thinking of the occasional programme about 'Poetry'/Poets rather than a dissection of a particular work, with time for contemporary work as well as classics.

I thought Venus and Adonis in the drama slot worked well and it's an ideal way to absorb such longer poems.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I'd much rather have readings of poetry than discussions about it, which invariably (in my experience) reduce and detract from the work in some way.

Gosh; it's the opposite for me. So often poems are ruined by an actorrr's sight-read "dramatic interpretation" - or by too-close mic-ing which amplifies breathing and masticatings.
I prefer discussions on the lines of Discovering Music (mind you, look what happened to that!) A discussion "reduces" a poem, aeoli? How so?

Best Wishes.

[aeolium]

So often poems are ruined by an actorrr's sight-read "dramatic interpretation"

I agree, fhg, that can happen, though with good readers experienced in radio poetry can be a great experience for the listener. The alternative is not to have it read aloud at all, which is surely not the best way of experiencing a poem.

What I meant when I said that a discussion often reduces a poem is that a fine poem is really untranslatable into prose, in its concision and unique sound patterns. A prose description of the meaning of a poem can never be a good substitute for hearing a poem, imo.

I wouldn't mind a brief discussion of a poem, though not a line by line dissection, always provided that the whole poem was read.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I agree, fhg, that can happen, though with good readers experienced in radio poetry can be a great experience for the listener.

On the "Edward Lear" thread, somebody mentioned John Holmstrom's readings of The Dong with the Luminous Nose which I remember brought out an intense sadness that I'd never associated with the poem before.

You are quite right: good readings of poems, by people with a passion for the work (and "radiogenic" voices), can say so much.

Best Wishes.

[Globaltruth]

For some reason I found the most recent edition of The Verb to be enjoyable.
Whilst lured over there by the promise of hearing Eliza Carthy 'live', I enjoyed a vinegary, and at times engagingly faltering rant from John Cooper Clarke, some translation work by Simon Armitage and a hackneyed but in parts amusing multi-vocal soliloquy from a Joe Bone.

Ian McMillan appeared to take a 'less is more' approach with his own contribution or was that simply because I haven't listened for a while?

I'll be adding it [back] to my regular listening schedule for a while. Recommended

Over to Lat.....

[Lateralthinking1]

For some reason I found the most recent edition of The Verb to be enjoyable.
Whilst lured over there by the promise of hearing Eliza Carthy 'live', I enjoyed a vinegary, and at times engagingly faltering rant from John Cooper Clarke, some translation work by Simon Armitage and a hackneyed but in parts amusing multi-vocal soliloquy from a Joe Bone.

Ian McMillan appeared to take a 'less is more' approach with his own contribution or was that simply because I haven't listened for a while?

I'll be adding it [back] to my regular listening schedule for a while. Recommended

Over to Lat.....

Thank you for these comments Global which I appreciate. Always good to hear Eliza - one of our best - and the rest of the programme wasn't too bad was it. Links to this programme and the one being broadcast tonight are going onto the main "Verb" thread.