We’re talking today about some of the origins of the themes of this podcast, my personal interest in combining poetry and the psychoanalytical, which are of course two instances of exploring psyche through language and the relational, searching the self through lyrical uncertainty and narrative. It’s almost frustrating to listen back to the conversation because there is always so much more to add, and embellish on, and be more precise about—not least our cute fumbling through the myth of Psyche and eros, which we will no doubt revisit with more inquiry into myth in future episodes. For now, I will say that rather than get frustrated, I am excited that this is simply an ongoing imperfect conversation—that spirit is at the heart of poetry, and psychoanalysis. For here too I want to expand outward from the limitations of knowing. To acknowledge that there is, deliciously, so much to know and unknow. “Shadowy thought” Keats calls it in Ode to Psyche, that wins soft-delight.
I’m joined in this discussion as I will be for many future ones, on the podcast by Ben Pease, a poet and multi-disciplinary writer who is dedicated to fostering a more accessible literary community in Vermont and beyond. He is the author of the full-length poetry collection Chateau Wichman: A Blockbuster in Verse, a Dungeons & Dragons adventure module set on the Ruth Stone property called The Light of Mount Horrid, the hybrid illustrated edition Furniture in Space, and several chapbooks. He holds undergraduate degree from Emerson College and an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University. He is the Executive Director of the Ruth Stone House, Communication Coordinator at Otter Creek Engineering, and book designer for factory hollow press.
Please enjoy and you can always reach out to me with questions or comments at bianca@ruthstonehouse.org or on Twitter: https://twitter.com/biancastone
Thank you to everyone who proposed questions on Twitter! We will address them in proceeding episodes. In this one we spoke towards two: “How do you define Psyche” (From Ben Fama) and “The role of the involuntary in poetry: a gateway to unconscious riches or a mouthpiece for our limiting complexes?” (from David Cameron)
To join us in a close reading of Keats, read the full poem here:
BOOKS MENTIONED:
Dara Barrois/Dixon’s Tolstoy Killed Anna Karenina
News of the Universe: Poems of Twofold Consciousness (Editor, Robert Bly)
