Belshazzar had a letter

"Belshazzar had a letter" is a compact poem that turns the biblical feast of King Belshazzar into a riddle about conscience. In just eight lines, a king receives his only message, written by a mysterious correspondent on a palace wall. Dickinson hints that this warning is one every reader can decipher without spectacles. The mood is wry, solemn and quietly unsettling, built around a single image of judgment arriving in glowing script. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Oct 18, 2026

Embed this episode

Attribution link and audio player

Ready to play

Belshazzar had a letter

0:00 0:18

1×

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Share this episode

Similar Episodes

No similar episodes found.

Similar Podcasts

Song Against Songs, The by G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936) LibriVox LibriVox volunteers bring you 9 recordings of The Song Against Songs by G. K. Chesterton. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for October 16, 2011. Chesterton was a large man, standing 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and weighing around 21 stone (130 kg; 290 lb). His girth gave rise to a famous anecdote. During World War I a lady in London asked why he was not 'out at the Front'; he replied, 'If you go round to the side, you will see that I am.' On another occasion he remarked to his friend George Bernard Shaw: "To look at you, anyone would think a famine had struck England". Shaw retorted, "To look at you, anyone would think you have caused it". P. G. Wodehouse once described a very loud crash as "a sound like Chesterton falling onto a sheet of tin."( Summary from Wikipedia )

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Ririro.com - Poetry?

This episode is 0 minutes long.

When was this Ririro.com - Poetry episode published?

This episode was published on October 18, 2026.

Can I download this Ririro.com - Poetry episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.

URL copied to clipboard!