Geoffrey Hill reads from English Poetry

Delivered at Boston University, 2006.
I have excised the portions of the recording that do not feature Hill himself.

[@Droolx]

Many years ago, Boston U.'s show "World of Ideas" featured a reading by Hill of "English Devotional Poetry" from c. 16th-20th centuries. For some reason they took it down a long time ago. Any chance anyone got a copy of that before it was memory-holed?

[@art.and.lit.matters]

Hi Drooix, Curious you mention Hill's "English Devotional Poetry" recording. I found it mesmerizing on first hearing and listened to it many times after till it became my favorite poetry recording ever. I was unsettled when it disappeared and have looked for it ever since. I hope someone finds it or reposts it.

[@samantlee]

Have you tried writing to them to ask about it? The other possible sources might be the wayback machine or some admins at ubuweb

[@art.and.lit.matters]

@@samantlee Thank you for the thoughtful suggestions. It isn’t on wayback and when it disappeared Hill was very much still alive so I assumed he had something to do with the disappearance. I will write BU. Curious timing on your comment. I was just working on a video on Donne, Hopkins and Hill.

[@Joe-ov2nl]

​@@art.and.lit.mattersdid you ever get a response?

[@matthewmcnaught8118]

This is awesome, thanks so much for putting these videos together!

[@ludwin9313]

Amazing thank you

[@DrewlarkFun]

This is great thank you

[@abbonent]

I wonder why the version he reads of Wyatt's sonnet is so different from the one on the screen. I don't mean to imply that the poster of the video got it wrong; maybe Hill did, in spite of his persuasive arguing for the usage of non-modernized versions of texts. The screened sonnet certainly does not look modernized.

[@jacksonpowers]

Yeah I think Hill must have been reading from a different edition, I couldn't find it myself so I posted the version from Tottel's Miscellany, which is the first print of the poem. Most of the differences aren't major, but in the penultimate line he reads "kindly", where the first edition has "vnkindely."

[@abbonent]

But even the minor differences arent minor according to Hill’s stated views. I wont press the point further, I am just very confused. It seems so unlike him to be careless with versions

[@jacksonpowers]

@@abbonent You might have noticed that he likewise read the final Psalm somewhat differently from the KJV text, perhaps he was working from memory in some of the shorter pieces like the two aforementioned.

[@toddhearon6017]

@@jacksonpowers Tottel edited and "polished up" Wyatt's manuscript meter to better satisfy his tastes and the tastes of his time.

[@jacksonpowers]

@@toddhearon6017 can one access the original MS somewhere?