Robert Graves

"The White Goddess"

English poet and novelist Robert Graves reads an excerpt from "The White Goddess," a study of anthropology and mythology. Graves describes how poetry is rooted in the eternal battle between age and youth, male and female, and how the "White Goddess" or earth mother became the muse that inspired generations of European poets.

Robert Graves, Part 2

Robert Graves reads his poems "The Hills of May," "Angry Samson," "In Procession," "Warning to Children," "The Cool Web," "Song of Contrariety," and "The Presence." Graves was born in 1895 and was given the traditional English classical education. He became a classic scholar and poet, translating Greek literature and creating terse, tightly rhymed verses.

Robert Graves, Part 3

English poet Robert Graves reads "Flying Crooked," "Any Honest Housewife," "A Jealous Man," "The Cloak," "Time," "Ogres and Pygmies," "To Bring the Dead to Life," and "Like Snow." Graves' compact poems draw heavily on his classical background and include numerous allusions to classical themes.

Robert Graves, Part 4

Robert Graves, the English novelist and poet, reads his poems "To Juan at the Winter Solstice," "The Death Room," "My Name and I," "The Survivor, " The Foreboding," "Cat-Goddesses," "The Blue Fly," "Sirocco at Deya," and "Leaving the Rest Unsaid." Graves was seriously wounded in World War I, and his poems reflect his pain. Graves published more than a hundred books in his lifetime, including anthologies of poetry, translations, and the novels "I, Claudius" and "Claudius the God."

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