The Long and Short: Tennyson's 'Maud' episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 24, 2023 · 10 MIN

The Long and Short: Tennyson's 'Maud'

from Close Readings · host London Review of Books

Mark Ford and Seamus Perry start their series, The Long and Short, with Tennyson’s ‘Maud’, a weird and disturbing poem about obsession that Tennyson himself was obsessed by. He would recite it in full at the drop of a hat, sometimes more than once, to friends and foes alike – even though it received notoriously bad reviews when it was published. This episode considers why the poem meant so much to him, and what it tells us about the Victorian age. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/tlasapple In other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/tlassignuppod Seamus Perry is Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and Mark Ford is Professor of English Literature at University College London. Read more on Tennyson in the LRB: Seamus Perry: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n02/seamus-perry/are-we-there-yet Danny Karlin: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v09/n20/danny-karlin/tennyson-s-text Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Ford and Seamus Perry start their series, The Long and Short, with Tennyson’s ‘Maud’, a weird and disturbing poem about obsession that Tennyson himself was obsessed by. He would recite it in full at the drop of a hat, sometimes more than once, to friends and foes alike – even though it received notoriously bad reviews when it was published. This episode considers why the poem meant so much to him, and what it tells us about the Victorian age. Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full, and all our other Close Readings series, sign up: Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://lrb.me/tlasapple In other podcast apps: https://lrb.me/tlassignuppod Seamus Perry is Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and Mark Ford is Professor of English Literature at University College London. Read more on Tennyson in the LRB: Seamus Perry: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v33/n02/seamus-perry/are-we-there-yet Danny Karlin: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v09/n20/danny-karlin/tennyson-s-text Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The Long and Short: Tennyson's 'Maud'

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This episode was published on January 24, 2023.

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Mark Ford and Seamus Perry start their series, The Long and Short, with Tennyson’s ‘Maud’, a weird and disturbing poem about obsession that Tennyson himself was obsessed by. He would recite it in full at the drop of a hat, sometimes more than once,...

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