A Verse Reaction
A Verse Reaction is a poetry podcast with Dr. Ann Beebe, Professor of English at The University of Texas at Tyler. Series One includes episodes on the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Anne Bradstreet, Phillis Wheatley, Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Robert Lowell, Lucille Clifton, and Mary Oliver. Episodes include interviews with subject-area experts in the fields of Civil War history, Puritanism, Economics, Jazz, Math & Meter, Portrait Painting, Civil Rights, and Birds.
A Verse Reaction
5 - Robert Frost & Poetic Meter
Episode Summary: Dr. Beebe interviews Dr. Nathan Smith on the connection between poetic meter and math. She then applies this context to four poems by Robert Frost: “Acquainted with the Night,” “Design,” “Once by the Pacific,” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”
Part 1 (Biography & Overview) Starts: 00.00
Part 2 (Interview with Dr. Nathan Smith) Starts: 16:51
Part 3 (Four Poems) Starts: 37:14
Dr. Beebe’s LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-beebe
Emily Dickinson: A Companion: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/emily-dickinson/
12-Question Survey for Readers: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R2TGWNM
Dr. Nathan Smith grew up in Maryland and went to school in Virginia, but eventually found his way to Texas and has been here for over 20 years, so if he's not a ``real Texan'' by now he's as close as you can get while wearing flip flops instead of cowboy boots. His mathematical interests range from statistics to math education to oddball algebraic structures that break all of the rules. In his spare time, he likes playing musical instruments, practicing taekwondo (badly), and homebrewing beer. He also spent years writing poems for his kids and is an unaccomplished children's poet.
Some links to projects that might interest non-mathematicians:
A Preliminary Investigation Into the Effect of Bell Cover and Filter on Pitch of Wind Instruments:
https://www.tmea.org/wp-content/uploads/Research/Emg2022.pdf
Minimal Knotting Numbers:
https://faculty.washington.edu/cemann/S0218216509007373.pdf
Resources:
Frost: Collected Poetry, Prose, and Plays. Library of America, 1995.
Parini, Jay. Robert Frost: A Life. Holt, 1999.
Steele, Timothy. All the Fun’s in How You Say a Thing: An Explanation of Meter & Versification. Ohio University Press, 1999.
Video of Robert Frost at JFK’s Inauguration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AILGO3gVlTU
Video of Robert Frost Reading 4 Poems: https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/center/other/2020/robert-frost/
