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Hopeful Romantics

Andrew Marr explores the age of the Romantics. Was this the period when poetry went completely off the rails? With Richard Holmes. Poems by Wordsworth, Byron, Coleridge and Clare.

The British are brilliant at writing poems. On National Poetry Day, Andrew Marr is using them to tell our story.

The British are supposedly poor at romance, but they make excellent Romantics. The Romantics dominate our sense of what a poet is. Infact they loom pretty large in our sense of what an individual is. An outpouring of poetic genius not seen before or since. Yet this might just be the period when poetry went completely off the rails.

With Richard Holmes and Lucy Newlyn. Poems by Wordsworth, Byron, Coleridge and Clare and a new one by Andrew Motion; plus the archteypal romantic artist - a singing nightingale. Reader: Siobhan Redmond.

30 minutes

Last on

Thu 8 Oct 2015 16:30

Broadcast

  • Thu 8 Oct 2015 16:30

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Contains Strong Language

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A season of poets and poetry, centred around National Poetry Day on 8 October 2015.

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