Access to this video is a benefit for members through PBS Passport.
Up Next
Back to Show
Poetry in America
Musée des Beaux Arts by W.H. Auden
Season 1
Episode 7
How are ordinary people to regard, and respond to, suffering they have not caused? Ponder W.H. Auden’s World War II era reflections on suffering in “Musée des Beaux Arts" with Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, with journalist and ethicist David Brooks, and with poet, professor, and painter Peter Sacks.
Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:22
Cassandra Wilson, Elisa New & more read Evie Shockley’s “you can say that again, billie.”
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:21
DJ Spooky, Joshua Bennett, & more discuss A.R. Ammon’s “Cascadilla Falls” with Elisa New.
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:02
Gloria Estefan & more read Richard Blanco’s "Looking for The Gulf Motel" with Elisa New.
Unlock with PBS Passport
25:11
Tony Kushner, David Strathairn & more read Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser” with Elisa New.
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Join host Elisa New to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Walt Whitman’s birth.
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:49
Williams' poem “This is Just to Say” is only 28 words and ireads like a refrigerator note.
Unlock with PBS Passport
27:01
Explore the mingled beauty and horror of war, with this Yusef Komunyakaa poem.
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Stephen Sondheim blends lyrics and music in his poem "Finishing the Hat".
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
In Doty's poem “This Your Home Now,” a barber shops sparks a meditation on love and more.
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Explore Moore’s great poem of marine life, with Al Gore, Jorie Graham, and others.
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Katie Couric, Mary Chapin Carpenter and others explore Elizabeth Bishop's poem "One Art".
Unlock with PBS Passport
26:46
Maxine Hong Kingston, Randy Komisar and others explore Marilyn Chin's "Urban Love Poem".