Original version

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Poetry Extra

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Weekly opportunity for listeners to revisit the riches of the BBC radio poetry archive

A brand new poetry slot on Radio 4 Extra gives listeners a weekly opportunity to revisit the riches of the BBC radio poetry archive

Poetry Extra: A House Divided: The Poetry of the American Civil War

08/07/2018

A House Divided: The Poetry of the American Civil War

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Poetry Extra, A House Divided: The Poetry of the American Civil War

Allan Gurganus considers the role of poetry in the American Civil War.

4 Extra Debut. Poet Daljit Nagra selects 'A House Divided', in which Allan Gurganus considers the role of poetry in the American Civil War. From April 2011.

Poet Daljit Nagra revisits the BBC's radio poetry archive with 'A House Divided - American Civil War'. 

The war inspired poets from Whitman to Dickinson. Southern author Allan Gurganus considers the role of poetry in understanding that conflict. 

On the 12th of April 1861 Confederate forces attacked the US Military's Fort Sumter, thus beginning the bloodiest war in American history. It is this conflict, more than the American Revolution or Second World War that has had the most dramatic impact on the nation's character. 

In a war of brother against brother; the conflict created a tragic human drama as the country struggled to define itself. America's most distinguished poets were affected by unprecedented levels of carnage. Herman Melville wrote a chronological, impressionistic volume of poetry on the Civil War. 

Walt Whitman, a volunteer nurse during the war wrote heart-wrenching poems about wounded soldiers beside piles of amputated limbs. Emily Dickinson was most productive during this time, though she never wrote directly about the war. However, her meditations on death, violence and the bloody landscape provide a deep insight into the nation's character.

Featuring music and poetry from before, during and after the war. 

Slaves like George Moses Horton who sold poetry in the hopes of buying his own freedom reflects on the meaning of liberty. Soldiers like Obediah Ethelbert Baker who wrote for his wife back home, talks about the righteousness of the Union cause. Northern abolitionist Quakers regale the noble Northern mission and the "poet laureate of the Confederacy", Henry Timrod, recalls the birth of a new nation. 

Producer: Colin McNulty
A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2011.

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Poetry Extra

A House Divided: The Poetry of the American Civil War

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 Extra

About BBC Radio 4 Extra