Here I give a reading of one of my all-time favorite poems by T.S. Eliott The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1910/15). The opening Italian section is from Dante Inferno (XXVII, 61–66).
I love love love this poem! Its evocation of a decaying Boston is just unbelievable. In high school I did Speech & Debate; I actually won the NYS championship interpreting this poem, and went on to National Finals! You might ask what moved the judges about a 17 year-old Catholic school girl reading a poem from the point of view of an older, possibly dying, man? lol Well that’s the thing about great art! Its meaning, its pneuma, its genesis changes over time as we relate to it, and it relates to us.
This is also when, as an actress, I started experimenting with breaking the line. As the founder of a medieval drama troupe in England, this is something we demanded of all our actors. #Breaktheline! #DOIDAREEATAPEACH