
Episode 09: Lyric Poetry - Late Modern and Contemporary Cambridge Lines
Recorded on 9 December 2011 in the Judith E. Wilson Drama Studio, these recordings bring together scholars, poets, and researchers from the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of English. Spanning six centuries of verse, from medieval lyrics to the poetry of the Romantics, this nine-part educational archive explores the changing voice, shape, and structure of the English lyric. Originally created in connection with the teaching of English at Cambridge, the episodes feature readings of a wide range of poems and explore the development of song, poetic form, wit, and expressions of love across the centuries. Episode 9: Lyric Po...
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- 139 words a minute: a natural pace.
- 275 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
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Red cocks and red hens, nicked and in separate partitions.
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Hook a pulley on an inert chain, Crunch down shingle with a hauser,
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Is this episode right for you?
B1 · Intermediate
Fine if you can follow simple news
- 90% of the words are B1 or easier.
- 139 words a minute: a natural pace.
- 275 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.
Transcript
The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.
harder words (B2+)
The screen of Tamarisk stops the wind, shades Greek lyrics on their page. Granite style on field path hoists boots away from this hollow. The blackbird in the stone pine and the well beneath the pine follow in our foreign tongue the songs these poets tried to record.
Down on the detailed beach a fisher is gutting a dogfish by a blue boat floored with crabs. Red cocks and red hens, nicked and in separate partitions. Friends from separate cottages stacked on shelves in the cove, Hook a pulley on an inert chain, Crunch down shingle with a hauser,
Start up communal winch, Are hauling a neighbour's boat in. Empty now is standing the hut on the hill, No longer pilchard shoals so near inshore, Nor a hewer's cry jump boats, Nor girls and wives crowd to help with the catch. One is the dinner-hour sea, fishing is done with,
That was the opening. The rest of the episode (31 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.
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