Skip to main content
Access to this video is a benefit for members through PBS Passport.

Up Next

Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper

Who Burns for the Perfection of Paper

Season 4 Episode 7
25:21
Poetry in America Season 4

Steps

Season 4 Episode 8
24:42
Episode 5: The Calling

The Calling

Season 4 Episode 5
53:05
When Whales Could Walk

When Whales Could Walk

Season 51 Episode 1
53:31
Back to Show
Poetry in America

Hill Country

Season 4 Episode 5

God drives down from the mountains behind the wheel of a Jeep, in this poem by Tracy K. Smith, former U.S. poet laureate. Smith illuminates the ambrosial bounty of Texas Hill Country, where she’s joined by country music singer-songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore, members of both Christian and Jewish communities, and host Elisa New.

Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By
Season
Cascadilla Falls, by A. R. Ammons
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:21
DJ Spooky, Joshua Bennett, & more discuss A.R. Ammon’s “Cascadilla Falls” with Elisa New.
Looking for The Gulf Motel, by Richard Blanco
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:02
Gloria Estefan & more read Richard Blanco’s "Looking for The Gulf Motel" with Elisa New.
The Wound-Dresser, by Walt Whitman
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:11
Tony Kushner, David Strathairn & more read Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser” with Elisa New.
Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Join host Elisa New to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman’s birth.
This Is Just to Say, by William Carlos Williams
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:49
Williams' poem “This is Just to Say” is only 28 words and ireads like a refrigerator note.
You and I Are Disappearing, by Yusef Komunyakaa
Unlock with PBS Passport
27:01
Explore the mingled beauty and horror of war, with this Yusef Komunyakaa poem.
Finishing the Hat, by Stephen Sondheim
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Stephen Sondheim blends lyrics and music in his poem "Finishing the Hat".
This Your Home Now, by Mark Doty
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
In Doty's poem “This Your Home Now,” a barber shops sparks a meditation on love and more.
The Fish, by Marianne Moore
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Explore Moore’s great poem of marine life, with Al Gore, Jorie Graham, and others.
One Art, by Elizabeth Bishop
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Katie Couric, Mary Chapin Carpenter and others explore Elizabeth Bishop's poem "One Art".
Urban Love Poem, by Marilyn Chin
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Maxine Hong Kingston, Randy Komisar and others explore Marilyn Chin's "Urban Love Poem".
The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:27
Contemplate the physical—and figurative—journeys charted by all immigrants.
Active loading indicator