EPISODE · May 12, 2025 · 14 MIN
Love and Death: Self-Elegies by Plath, Larkin, Hardy and more
from Close Readings · host London Review of Books
Philip Larkin was terrified of death from an early age; Thomas Hardy contemplated what the neighbours would say after he had gone; and Sylvia Plath imagined her own death in vivid and controversial ways. The genre of self-elegy, in which poets have reflected on their own passing, is a small but eloquent one in the history of English poetry. In this episode, Seamus and Mark consider some of its most striking examples, including Chidiock Tichborne’s laconic lament on the night of his execution in 1586, Jonathan Swift’s breezy anticipation of his posthumous reception, and the more comfortless efforts of 20th-century poets confronting godless extinction. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and to all our other Close Readings series, subscribe: Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applecrld In other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingsld Read more in the LRB: Jacqueline Rose on Plath: https://lrb.me/ldself1 David Runciman on Larkin and his father: https://lrb.me/ldself2 John Bayley on Larkin https://lrb.me/ldself3 Matthew Bevis on Hardy: https://lrb.me/ldself4 LRB Audiobooks Discover audiobooks from the LRB: https://lrb.me/audiobooksld Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What this episode covers
Philip Larkin was terrified of death from an early age; Thomas Hardy contemplated what the neighbours would say after he had gone; and Sylvia Plath imagined her own death in vivid and controversial ways. The genre of self-elegy, in which poets have reflected on their own passing, is a small but eloquent one in the history of English poetry. In this episode, Seamus and Mark consider some of its most striking examples, including Chidiock Tichborne’s laconic lament on the night of his execution in 1586, Jonathan Swift’s breezy anticipation of his posthumous reception, and the more comfortless efforts of 20th-century poets confronting godless extinction. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen to the full episode, and to all our other Close Readings series, subscribe: Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/applecrld In other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/closereadingsld Read more in the LRB: Jacqueline Rose on Plath: https://lrb.me/ldself1 David Runciman on Larkin and his father: https://lrb.me/ldself2 John Bayley on Larkin https://lrb.me/ldself3 Matthew Bevis on Hardy: https://lrb.me/ldself4 LRB Audiobooks Discover audiobooks from the LRB: https://lrb.me/audiobooksld Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Love and Death: Self-Elegies by Plath, Larkin, Hardy and more
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