Answering Community Questions with Joe & Maiya

In this week’s episode of Beyond the Verse, the official podcast of PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, Maiya and Joe close Season Three with a special Q&A from their listeners.

After nearly forty episodes, they pause to look back on their journey, answer community questions, and talk about what’s next for the show. The first question comes from Chandra, asking if a fourth season is coming and whether they’ll take on an epic like the ‘Ramayana’. Joe and Maiya share their excitement about exploring epics and how such poems might need a multi-episode format, similar to their World War I series.

They also reflect on favorite moments from the season. Joe mentions the ode episode and their discussion of Langston Hughes, while Maiya recalls how ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ by Toru Dutt and ‘The Man with the Saxophone’ by Ai expanded her research and deepened her love for discovering new poets.

A question from the community sparks a thoughtful discussion on modern poetry. Joe talks about diversity, access, and the dominance of free verse, while Maiya considers how social media has both opened and complicated poetry’s world. They agree that poetry remains powerful because it connects people, comforts them, and helps them understand life’s most complex moments.

Things take a playful turn with a quick-fire poet quiz. From Shakespeare to Heaney, Joe is forced to make impossible choices, ending with Seamus Heaney as his final pick.

As they wrap up the season, the hosts thank listeners from more than 195 countries and invite everyone to keep sharing ideas on the PoemAnalysis.com community. With Season Four already in the works, they promise more poems, more voices, and the same thoughtful conversation that’s made the show a global favorite.

Featured Mentions (PDF Guides for each):

• Toru Dutt
• Ai 
• Langston Hughes
• Seamus Heaney
• Patrick Kavanagh
• Ocean Vuong
• Louise Glück

Transcript

Episode 10

Maiya: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Beyond the Verse, a poetry podcast brought to you by PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+. Now, today is a very, very special episode for Joe and I. It's our final one of season three. I personally cannot believe it's been three seasons already and nearly 40 episodes, which is.

Just insane. But like I say, a special episode up ahead. We're doing a Q&A based on questions we've received via email on our community and more. So Joe, I'm gonna hand over to you for the first question.

Joe: Thanks Maiya. Yeah, I can't believe season three, it's gone by like an absolute blur. And just before we begin, just wanna say thanks again for all the support, all the comments or the likes, and all the questions we received. It's always great to hear the community is engaging, and if you do have questions for us moving forward for the podcast or for any other elements of poetry, do go and check out the community at PoemAnalysis.com.

It's the best place to find anything you need for poetry, whether you're a writer, a teacher, or a student. [00:01:00] So the first question, which you had on our community from Chandra, so thank you Chandra, for your question. It's a two-parter. First of all, are we going to be doing another season? Well, I can jump in and answer that straight away. Yes, we are. We're already thinking about season four and we cannot wait to get to it. But the other part of Chandra's question, which I'll ask you Maiya, is will we be looking at the Ramayana, this Epic Sanskrit poem, as an example, but are there other poems perhaps that we haven't got to yet that you'd like to explore in the next season?

The Ramayana, as an example

Maiya: I would love to explore an epic poem like the Ramayana. I think there are so many poems out there that Joe, I know you and I have talked about this outside of the podcast as well. We would love to discuss.

Unfortunately, we have such limited episodes to do so. But I do hope that our podcast continues for a long, long time into the future. So it means that we have all of the time in the world to cover all of your suggestions, but the Ramayana will take it on board. We'll have a look and obviously if you have any other suggestions for us, we would love to hear.

So please come on the community. Joe and I monitor it all the time. We're constantly chatting, so come and chat to us. Send your suggestions in and we would [00:02:00] love to hear, I do notice that in the second part of her question, she does say, is it a challenge? And absolutely. I mean, Joe, I'd love to know what you think, but I think those epic poems can be such a slog to get through. You know, it takes a lot out of you and it is complicated. So for us, we love challenging ourselves. We love seeing poems that, maybe we're not familiar with or that we haven't necessarily sat with before. So anything like that I absolutely do think is a challenge, but one that we are very open to.

But Joe, what do you think? I mean, would this be a challenge for us?

Joe: I, I think, yeah, certainly. I mean, one of the things that you and I talk about a lot my work with the podcast is how do we condense down all the things we want to say into a reasonable episode length for our listeners? I think when it comes to an epic poem, that becomes even more difficult. And I wonder whether, if we were to take on an epic poem, we'd have to approach it like we did our World War I miniseries on the poets of the First World War and break it into multiple episodes to really get the required depth. but certainly for a poem like the Ramayana, which I confess I'm not particularly familiar with, it [00:03:00] would of course be a challenge to try and do the necessary background reading to make sure we're doing justice to the poem, to make sure that we're remaining culturally sensitive. And those bits of the podcast are a challenge, but it's one of my favorite things about the podcast, discovering new poets, discovering new poems I haven't, explored before. And yeah, it would be a challenge, but I'd love to take it on. And epic poetry in general, I mean. As you say, we haven't discussed an epic poem on the podcast yet, but of course, you know, 2026 is a big year for epic poetry with the release of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.

So who knows whether we might be able to, do an episode that coincides with the release of that film and try and jump on some of that epic poetry buzz, which is doesn't come around that often.

Maiya: Absolutely. I mean, I’d personally be very excited and I loved our miniseries that we did. I think there was something really nice about having a bit more time and space to explore these poems. for us, you know, we condense things into 30 minutes, 40 minutes. But there's so much more to be said and often, we leave the podcast and I think, oh, I wish I'd have said something else.

Or a point will pop up to me, you know, 30 minutes after we've recorded. So there's always opportunities even to revisit poems that we've done before and [00:04:00] potentially take an entirely different view. Because of course, as you grow, as you change, as you experience more. Poems will mean something entirely different to you.

this actually leads me onto one of our next questions, which is from our lovely founder Will. He asks if we have a favorite episode from this season.

Joe: Oh, that's a great question. I think the episode we did on the ode form, I loved that episode. I loved how we were jumping between nations and millennia and languages and, finding something cohesive amongst all of these different writers.

It was a really sprawling episode that I, I really enjoyed the flow I think. The Langston Hughes episode we did, we talked to about four of Langston Hughes's poems. I know how much Maiya enjoys, his poetry. I love him as a poet. And I thought that was a fantastic episode, a really kind of complicated discussion around the issues of language and cultural inheritance and trauma.

And it was a really, really interesting episode of, if listeners haven't enjoyed those two yet, I would really suggest they go and listen to them. And the other eight, of course, we love all of our episodes equally. but I, yeah, I really enjoyed those two. What about you, [00:05:00] Maiya?

Maiya: Well, if you get to choose two, I definitely get to choose two. I think the one that stands out the most to me is ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ by Toru Dutt. I really loved, again, I think that sprawling energy that that poem and that exploration had, you know, Toru Dutt was not a poet that I was familiar with in advance and.

on that theme of challenge, I had to do so much more research for that episode, and that, I think, opened up so many new doors for me as a, researcher, as a poet, as a writer. So I really loved that episode I mean, the poem felt so magical to me. There's something really beautiful about it and I, I loved the way that, know, Joe, I think you are particularly good at this, but like the weaving in of mythologies. and I think if I were to choose a second one, it is a tough call, but I actually think it would be our last episode, episode nine, which was Ai’s ‘The Man with the Saxophone’. There's something very unique, I think about urban landscapes that are described outside of the terms that you usually hear them, you know, I did a, really wonderful job of exploring New York as something [00:06:00] unfamiliar, something empty, I would say that most of the American fiction or American poetry that I've read describes New York quite differently to that. So I found it really interesting, I think just as a piece. But there was something very unique about the way that she writes. So I found her work, and the research beforehand, particularly fascinating as well.

But I think that's one of the benefits of our podcast, to be honest, you know? We've both had a certain level of education and those are very much topic focused. So I think one of the nice things is to discover poets that you may not have listened to before or read before, or someone that you wouldn't pick up off the shelf because you're unfamiliar with the name.

Joe and I have talked about this in podcasts before, but we tend to go back to our favorites quite a lot, and to find someone new who actually inspires that level of research in you is a really exciting thing, don't you think?

Joe: Yeah, 100%. I think that's definitely one of the things about the podcast that I value the most. And on that, you know, this notion of returning to favorite poets. Uh, another question we've had is which poems do you find yourself returning to, again and again? either on the [00:07:00] podcast or just in your private life. 

Maiya: I was gonna say, that's a hard question, but it's not because I say the same person every time a question like this rolls around. for me, Ocean Vuong, as regular listeners will know, is one of my absolute favorite poets. I think his work is just exceptional. But there's one specific poem that he writes, called My Father Writes From Prison.

And actually, this is maybe a slightly more selfish answer 'cause it's nothing to do with the podcast, but that poem. Really reframed for me what poetry could look like and what it could sound like and how language could be interpolated. I think it's such a stunning exploration of form. for those who aren't familiar, I would hugely recommend to, go and read that poem, but it's written in free verse in kind of a block of text, but it's segmented with, forward slashes throughout the whole poem.

and it's actually inter interpolating, some Vietnamese in there. Obviously as someone who doesn't speak Vietnamese, there is a separation that you feel, which is absolutely intentional from the poet, but there's a really beautiful exploration of [00:08:00] fatherhood and what it means to be, a child in that relationship.

So that poem really inspired me to be more experimental with my own writing and how I explored form and actually, after I read that poem for the first time, I wrote my own poem in response and it's become one of my favorites that I've written. So there is a level of, Interest and excitement that I think comes from poems like that. And it's one that I return to, when I'm getting that writer's block or I'm feeling a little bit, anxious about my own writing and that maybe it's not going somewhere because it's just so impactful and thoughtful.

I mean, every collection he has is just exceptional. But that one poem that sticks in my mind even to this day. but what about you, Joe? I mean, you mentioned so many of your favorite poets throughout this. It's gonna be hard, I feel for you to pick just one.

Joe: Yeah, I dunno. I mean, I suppose Honorable mentions if that's my way of, getting other, poems in and giving myself more time to choose. I think. Louise Glück’s ‘The Triumph of Achilles.’ Such an incredible kind of mediation on grief and loss and, very [00:09:00] much viewed through the lens of something I know an interest that you and I share Maiya, which is classical retellings of ancient Greek stories, and it's an incredible poem. I've been reading a lot of Michael Longley recently, the, wonderful late, Northern Irish writer. so he writes a wonderful poem called The Pear Set in a French Cemetery . he writes a poem called “Ceasefire”, which is a remarkable poem about, again, a bit of a classical retelling, but very much, a reflection of Ireland during the nineties, which I love.

But I think if I was gonna pick one that I come to again and again, it would be a really simple poem, and simplicity is very much at the core of what it's doing. And it's, Patrick Kavanagh’s ‘Memory of My Father.’, Which is only a couple of stands as long.

It's really gentle, but it's kind of hauntingly beautiful in the way that it strips back the feeling of grief, the feeling of longing and yearning, and the way in which, hope, when hope is spurned can become a kind of torture. And it's an incredible poem and I mean, I dunno if any of our listeners have read Patrick Kavanagh before, but I would really suggest they go and do that.

And actually what the best way to kind of get into Patrick Kavanagh's [00:10:00] poetry would be to listen to an album that was released of celebrities reading his poems. And I think memory of my father was read by Liam Neeson. So a very enigmatic. Really definitive Irish voice reading this poem.

It's a really, really beautiful, idea and there's lots of other Irish celebrities who've contributed and, read their favorite Kavanaugh poem. So I think Gun to my head, I’d go with ‘Memory of My Father’ by Patrick Kavanagh, but ask me again in five minutes and it could well be something else.

Maiya: What an amazing poem to choose. I think it's so hard to get questions like this ' I've actually recently been challenging myself to try and read outside of my favorite poets. I think it's very easy to get familiar with someone because you love them and consume media. That's very, very similar to that, especially for me with poetry.

You know, I read what I like and then I write what I like as well. Else I think I've been trying to push out of my comfort zone, let's say, and read poems I wouldn't necessarily read. And I've been following Instagram pages that post random poems and one of them. I found the other day was a really wonderful poem.

I'm just looking at it now, called Meditations in an Emergency by Cameron Awkward-Rich. [00:11:00] And for listeners, I would hugely recommend you to check out this poem because there is something so simple and stunning about it, and I mean, I'll just read the first two lines. ‘Wake up and it breaks my heart.’ I draw the blinds and the thrill of rain breaks my heart there is just something so poignant and so simple.

About that idea. And you know, without even saying anything about the season, you understand this kind of heaviness that accompanies them. It doesn't matter whether it's a spring rain or a summer rain, or a winter rain, or an autumn rain. It is just so loaded with emotion, I find that there's something really special about discovering new writers. You know, this is a poet that I hadn't heard of before, but I went into a bit of a rabbit hole and I think there's a certain magic that comes with it where you are inspired or it sets a spark in you and you feel a certain way for the 20 minutes, 30 minutes that you are reading their work.

So, as much as I do have my favorites, I think it changes day to day, to be honest. There's a poem for every day, 

To be fair, that was a very accidental lead in [00:12:00] to our next question, but a really wonderful question that came through our community from Batard. And they ask, what is the problem of modern poetry and how important is poetry for society?

Joe: Wow. big questions. Well, yeah, a couple of them. I mean, my goodness. Let's take that one at a time. What is the problem of modern poetry? I guess I'm gonna take that in two ways. I'm gonna take the first question, split it in half again. in terms of style and form. I'm not sure the question has an answer because obviously modern poetry is not singular.

It is not one thing. The poetry that's being produced in the modern world and how far you date modern is another interesting question. but poetry in the modern world is so diverse and so rich that there it would be impossible to dislike all of it because there is no singular thing that represents Modern poetry.

Poetry being written in, in one corner of the United States is different to poetry being written. in a different building in the same city, let alone a different part of the country, a different country, a different continent. So, stylistically, I don't think there is anything wrong with on poetry.

I [00:13:00] suppose if we're talking in broad strokes, poetry in the modern world is, more likely to be written in free verse. it's much less likely to be written in traditional forms, although traditional forms still exist.

There are great sonnet tears, for example, writing today. and some people don't like free verse poetry. That's okay. It doesn't mean there's a problem with modern poetry. and the brilliant thing about poetry and indeed all art is that just because you live in the modern world doesn't mean you have to exclusively read modern work.

So if you don't like. free verse poetry. Well, brilliant. There's decades and centuries and millennia before the turn of the 20th century where the vast majority of poetry was not written in free verse. So you can go and enjoy those poems. But the thing I take from the question, what is the problem among poetry is much less about the style and the form of poetry itself and more about the ongoing conversation about access, about who decides what great poetry is about who populate the academic positions. That conversation is very much ongoing. I mean, poetry is a boundary crossing art form, and it has always been at the forefront of social change. Doesn't mean that every poet has to be an activist, but of course [00:14:00] many poets are, at the forefront of different social causes. And I think that when it comes to. The makeup of awards, boards, the makeup of grants, boards, the people who, populate, as I said, these important positions. It is a responsibility of the whole poetic community to make sure that those positions are achieved on merits, that they are not the result of biases, that poets from diverse backgrounds have opportunities. and I mean opportunities to win awards, but I of course, also mean opportunities to earn a living from their writing. the vast, vast, vast majority of poets working today. Are not full-time writers. that is an unfortunate reality about the economics of, the written word. But I think when it comes to the, problem of modern poetry, I would be more interested in talking about, well, how do we make sure that the best poets, wherever they are, wherever they come from, have the opportunity to share their work with as broader range of readers as possible. stylistically, I think there's just simply so much diversity that if you don't like something brilliant, you can pick up something else and you're more likely to enjoy it. But what do you think, Maiya, on that first question Of modern poetry [00:15:00] and issues, it might have.

Maiya: I think you've touched on something really critical to, I guess, modern discourse about poetry is that on the one hand has never been more accessible because of things like social media, you know, you can see. Poets that are writing, in their living rooms, in their bedrooms that are posting on social media gaining a following.

But on the other hand, it's never been more inaccessible because you have this abundance of very talented poets who are unable to find, I'm gonna call them legitimate roots of access into publishing, purely by virtue of the fact that, I've seen it coined quite recently this term of Instagram poet, and they can never escape that label.

I think it's a really tough position to be in as a modern writer because publishing yourself is a wonderful way to take agency of, of your own work, put out exactly what you want, curate your audience, get people listening to you that would never have the chance to because they don't live in the same country. They don't live in the same town. You don't get to go to the same readings. But this kind of coinage of what an [00:16:00] Instagram poet is seems on the one hand to, discredit talent that a lot of those poets have. I think there's obviously an ongoing conversation, which is entirely separate to this one about what social media is and what it means to upcoming generations.

But I find that there's something really. That gets taken from poets who are exclusively using social media because they don't have other means of access. So modern poetry for me has that issue. You know, there was a point where I was writing and I started to get quite disenchanted with, I guess publishing institutions because, it costs money to submit to competitions.

It costs money to get to festivals. It costs money to. Be present at open mic nights. And then also, you know, there might be one person there that likes what you do, but they might not have any investment and be able to push you forward in that sense. So it's a bit of a game of both luck and talent. so looking back, of course, when you had these huge writing circles and you had movements where poets were supporting each other, yes, there were fewer poets, but also they were in a way pushing [00:17:00] each other forward.

Not to say that it wasn't hard back in the day, but it's. bridging that point is too much access, actually a bad thing. but you are right Joe. I mean, it's an incredibly complex question. There is definitely a, problem, maybe problem isn't the right word, but there, definitely are unaddressed issues with especially young poets moving forward. And I completely understand why, they've asked this, because, even looking at our podcast, we've explored very well established poets and we've not explored people who, have maybe published only one collection and are writing in 2025.

So, that's on us as well to, expand our reach and. Promote those poets who maybe are a little bit less quote unquote experienced, but still have amazing, amazing talent. So it's a bit of a feedback loop, I suppose, for us, when we publish episodes of this podcast, we of course want to appeal to.

As many of you as possible, you want to talk about poems that you know and love, and unfortunately, much of the time that happens to be those well-established [00:18:00] poets. What happens to the person who has a real affinity for a poet that's maybe just on Instagram who has just posted thousands and thousands of poems on their singular feed and they don't want to go down traditional routes?

Does that discredit them at all? Because I personally think some of the best poems I've seen, like I said, you discover them on Instagram, you discover them on TikTok, you find someone who's doing a beautiful spoken word piece and you find out that they've only got 20 followers. It's a really. Unique position to be in now, socially, I think.

Joe: Well, I think that leads us on really nicely to the second part of the question, which is how important is poetry for society? Because I suppose there is this notion. and how true this is. Maybe we can get into, but I suppose there is this notion that there was a kind of golden age of society where everybody was much more aware of the poetic word and poetry had a much more explicit place at the center of, cultural discourse.

to an extent, of course, you know that's true. the further you go back and a pre-social media age, a pre televisual age, there are fewer forms of cultural [00:19:00] expression. Poetry is, at the moment in a much more contested field, We live in a society where our attention is constantly being fought for, by things like social media that have science on their side when it comes to the way they can get our brains to keep swiping and keep scrolling. It's worth remembering, of course, that this notion that there was a time when everybody was quoting poetry is not true, poetry has always been a kind of niche interest. But in terms of its importance to society, I think it's as important as ever. I think it might be more important than ever. The modern world is a complicated place, and our time and our attention is, being fought for so often, especially by social media. But there is no reason that poets can't utilize that and they can't use those mediums to share their work, as I mentioned. So it remains an important part of our everyday lives.

We see it on social media. We see it, written we see it quoted in adverts. We see it on the tube in London. We are surrounded by it in ways that we don't always realize. idioms that we sometimes think are just everyday speech are quotes from famous poems, et cetera. I mean, Maiya and I were talking about, ‘The Rime of the Ancient [00:20:00] Mariner’.

I end up using the phrase yesterday, the albatross around my neck. And it was only later that I realized I was quoting from a poem. So we are surrounded by it in our everyday lives. But I think more than that, we still use poetry and art in general. As a way to make sense of our own lives. You know, when you go to a funeral or a wedding or a christening or whatever it is, people aren't quoting their TV shows as much as they are reading poems, even if they're not a poetry lover in their everyday lives. When we have moments of crisis, moments of revelation, moments of doubt or certainty, we reach for art, we reach for poetry, and. that's as important today as ever. I mean, we can all remember, I imagine, the death of the late Queen of the UK. And Simon Armitage released an occasional poem, an occasional verse, the poet laureate, in response to her death, which went viral because again, people felt like it spoke to the moment. Likewise, the, inauguration of Joe Biden in 2021, the poem read by Amanda Gorman, again went viral because it spoke to the moment. and it's not just poetry, it's other forms of visual [00:21:00] art.

I mean. I was reading an article today about, Picasso's Guernica, and again, Guernica is not the only place that was ever bombed in the 20th century. We all know that, but its name kind of speaks and resonates throughout the generations, not only because of the, terrible bombing that occurred, but because of the artwork that accompanied that event, because it was able to make sense of. Or at least translate some of that trauma for people today. I mean, you can look at a painting. I can look at that painting and I was born decades after the bombing took place. And I can feel something. And I think it's very, very important in a world dominated by algorithms and dominated by non-human things, telling us how we are experiencing the world around us. To reflect on the fact that only human made art can truly capture the human experience, at least for now. Who knows?

Maiya: I couldn't have put that better myself. I think that's a, wonderful summary of how important art poetry is. You know, I was thinking even. At the weekend, I watched Hamlet. And for those who have read Hamlet [00:22:00] before or seen it as a play, know that there is art within art. There is a play within that play.

And it's so often that we see that there is a call to art, to explain things or to invoke emotion. And I really think that, the question is, really what are we without art and without art, we are just. People existing in a kind of a mindless space. You know, there is a sense that art makes you feel something that is different from the person next to you.

A poem makes you feel something that isn't just your base emotion. There is so much to be said for the power that art has to just change your life. You know, whether that's a moment or a landscape or. 20 years of your life could change because you've seen one thing that really spoke to you and you decide to live your life a different way.

I think there is a power that you don't get in many other forms. I think poetry, as you say, Joe, you know, you call to it in at weddings, at funerals, at moments of celebration, at [00:23:00] moments of crisis, and I don't think there is an emotion that can't be explained by a wonderful poem.

There is a comfort there. we're humans. We all seek comfort. We all seek peace and solace. And to be afforded that in. A short piece of writing or somebody speaking, you know, even, even you speaking to your closest friends, is, a poem in some senses because it makes you feel something.

It's a call to action or an exclamation of love and affection and care. Of course, sometimes it's just a poem about some socks. I'm thinking of the Neruda poem. We talked about a few episodes back.

There is just this really lovely opportunity, I think, in poetry to take a feeling, put it on paper, speak it out loud, and have someone else say, I understand you. There's a communion between you and the poet, or if you are the poet, you and the reader, there is a real sense that you give something up to the world and you can't exist in the world without, giving and taking from the world.

and it's [00:24:00] one of the questions that I think actually comes up quite a lot when we talk about poetry, which is, at what point. Does the poem stop being the poets? As soon as you write it and you release it into the world, does it still belong to you? And that's a question that I, grapple with quite a lot because of course, every poem that a poet writes will mean something to them, but if it means something else to someone else, it the poet's right to take that from them and say, no, that's not what I meant.

That wasn't my intention. I mean, what do you think?

Joe: my view on this has always been that. once a piece of work is put out into the world, and as you've mentioned, there's various ways of doing that, whether that's by traditional means or whether that's on social media. Then it kind of ceases to solely belong to you. It doesn't mean that you, you surrender all ownership of it.

Certainly not in a legal or financial sense. I'm not suggesting a poet shouldn't make money when they publish books. but I think that the act of putting it into the world means you enter into dialogue with the world and the world has the right to speak back and to say its opinion. I don't think that the average [00:25:00] reader alone. Kind of overrule a poet. I don't think their view is as important on a poet work as a poet themselves, nor do I think that the poet retains 100% of the right, to decide how that poem is going to be interpreted or what that poem means. I think art would be a much, much worse thing if we had to listen to what artists said about their own work. I'm not wishing to defend critics too much here. I mean, critics get things wrong all the time, but. sometimes when we, say things like that, we, fall into the trap of thinking that artists don't, and sometimes artists' views on their own work is, wildly inaccurate.

Maiya: I mean, there is something to be said about how boring it would be to go into a museum and see the artist's work, and then see an explanation of this is a painting of my cup of tea in the morning. It was Tuesday. there's definitely something that's taken away from it by the explanation.

I think the same with a poem. You very rarely see a poem that has a kind of precursor that explains exactly what that poem is about. And actually a lot of the power of poetry is through things like allegory or allusion. So I think, at the [00:26:00] risk of sounding very basic here.

It's not about being obvious all the time. it leads me onto a slightly more fun question. Um, I've been seeing the TikTok trends, so I thought it would be a fun opportunity to do a little quiz on you, 

Joe: Oh, 

Maiya: if you are ready. So it's quick fire. You are gonna have to basically choose your favorite poet and I'm gonna ask you A or B and we're gonna run through.

Joe: Okay. Right. Well,

let's take it away. I, well, I, I guess so. Let's take it away.

Maiya: We have to start with Big Man Shakespeare or Angelou,

Joe: Oh, Shakespeare..

Maiya: Shakespeare or Wordsworth

Joe: Shakespeare.

Maiya: Shakespeare, or Tagore

Joe: I do like to go Shakespeare.

Maiya: Shakespeare or Keats. This is not going the way I expected it to go.

Joe: I'm going Keats 

Maiya: Keats for that one. Okay. Keats or Walcott? 

Joe: Or Walcott.

Maiya: or Shelley,

Joe: Walcott.

Maiya: Well, or Byron.

Joe: or mad bad and dangerous to know. I've gotta go, Lord Byron. I think. 

Maiya: [00:27:00] Byron or Darwish.

Joe: Byron

Maiya: Byron or Blake.

Joe: Blake.

Maiya: Blake or Lord

Joe: Oh, Blake.

Maiya: Blake or Ridge.

Joe: Blake.

Maiya: Blake or Tennyson.

Joe: Tennyson. 

Maiya: Tennyson or Soyinka.

Joe: Oh, uh, Tennyson.

Maiya: Tennyson 

Joe: if anyone's listening to this and not seeing a clip, I'm, I'm really struggling with this as people can see. Um, what was that last one?

Maiya: There's a, there's a real look of panic on Joe's face right now for those who 

aren't seeing this, um, Tennyson or Barrett Browning. Barrett Browning.

Barrett Browning or Whitman.

Joe: Whitman

Maiya: Whitman or Dickinson.

Joe: Whitman,

Maiya: Whitman or any one of the Brontë's,

Joe: uh, Emily Brontë

Maiya: Brontë or Neruda

Joe: Uh, we're a poetry podcast. I'm gonna do poetry and I'm gonna go I’m gonna go Neruda, but 

go read Wuthering Heights if you haven't already. 

Maiya: Shameless plug, uh, we're up to the last few. Neruda or Hughes,

Joe: Um, are we [00:28:00] talking Ted or Langston

Maiya: Langston,

Joe: or Langston Hughes.

Maiya: then Hughes or Hughes,

Joe: Langston Hughes.

Maiya: Langston Hughes or Heaney.

Joe: Heaney.

Maiya: Heaney or Sexton?

Joe: Heaney.

Maiya: Heaney or Plath.

Joe: Heaney.

Maiya: Heaney or Armitage,

Joe: Heaney.

Maiya: Then Heaney’s the overall winner.

Joe: Seamus Heaney again. I I, I'm happy with that one. I was nervous. I was making some errors there and I'm, I'm already getting regrets, but I'm happy to end on Heaney.

Maiya: That was a nice little flash course. I mean, there's so many poets on that list. You know, I was just looking at it on the side. that we haven't done. We, we need more episodes, Joe.

Joe: We need, we need more time. I mean, there's not enough weeks in the year to release all these episodes. and again, if any, any of those poets, names inspired you to think, oh, I would love to hear an episode on one of their poems, do let us know. And the best way to do that, as we mentioned already, is on our community pages.

You can go there, you can have conversations about your own poetry. You can get tips from other poets. you can get book recommendations, you can learn about the podcast, and you can ask questions for the podcast, make suggestions. It's a really, [00:29:00] really exciting hub for the poetry conversation. We want to be part of that.

We want you guys to be a part of that.

Maiya: If you're lucky, you might even get to quiz us on your favorites and why you think they should be our favorites too.

Joe: Yes, because that was, that was torturous.

Maiya: I'm so lucky I jumped in and you don't have to do it to me.

Joe: Yes. Look at you. I should have to come up with another one for the next Q&A for you.

But on that torturous note, hopefully it was only torturous for me and not for you listeners, but, we just wanna say thanks again for all the support, not only on season three, but on our previous seasons as well. It really does mean an awful lot to us.

We really enjoyed making the podcast, and we're so grateful that so many of you have enjoyed it again. More than 80,000 of you in 195 countries have listened to the podcast and it really does blow my mind and Maiya’s mind when we go through those stats. So we can't wait to bring season four for you. we're still planning it in these early stages.

So if there are things you wanted to discuss, do get in touch. We are taking suggestions about, types of episodes. You know, we've done different kinds of episodes, this series. We've done miniseries in the past. We've done obviously lots of poem specific [00:30:00] episodes. We've done movement episodes, form episodes.

If you have ideas, we want to hear them. But for now, enjoy, the next few weeks while we're off. enjoy the back catalog of Beyond the Verse. Continue to like, share and subscribe, and we will be back with you very soon. But for now, it's goodbye from me.

Maiya: And goodbye from me and the whole team at PoemAnalysis.com and Poetry+, until next season.