As a favor to a friend, I’ll repost this old podcast. It is the Eve of the Feast of St. Agnes, which of course reminds us of the famous poem by Keats.
I, fan of poetry that I am, read out Keat’s poem, 42 Spencerian stanzas. It is torrid and lush, with marvelous moments and imagery, imbued with the revival of romantic, courtly love which was coming back into vogue in the early 19th century.
The poem takes inspiration from a superstition, which I explain in an introduction.