The Art That Comes out of Plague with Elise Ryan

Dr. Elise Ryan, scholar of early modern literature and faculty fellow at Beatrice Institute, joins us to discuss the poetry that comes out of experiences of trauma. She and Prof. McDermott take a close look at John Lydgate’s “Dance of Death,” Larry Levis’s “Anastasia and Sandman,” and Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “Carrion Comfort.” They discuss how poetry helps articulate experiences of grief, why poetry comes long after community trauma, and the link between poetry and prayer.

The images referenced in this episode can be found on our website: https://beatriceinstitute.org/art-that-comes-out-of-plague-images

Medieval poetry and the Black Death

The cultural impact of despair and grief

Ring around the rosie

Belated responses to crisis

Articulating experiences of trauma

Repetition in lieu of coherent narrative

Memory and trauma

The power found in witnessing

The link between poetry and prayer

Poetry as a lifesaver rather than escapism.

Links:

“Dance of Death” by John Lydgate “Anastasia and Sandman” by Larry Levis

“Carrion Comfort” by Gerard Manley Hopkins