Series

Watch Six Centuries of Verse (1984) Online

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8.02 votes19846h 40mEndedDrama

Synopsis

Sir John Gielgud is joined by an outstanding repertory of actors in this pioneering, imaginative series demonstrating the immense variety and emotional impact of English-language poetry, from the fourteenth century to the contemporary era.

Episodes

Season 1

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1. Chaucer - Ted HughesNow viewing1984-05-026h 40mThis introductory programme establishes the continuity and variety of poetry over six centuries, touching on different genres by using extracts from some of the many poems featured in the series - from Chaucer to Ted Hughes.
2. Old English1984-05-096h 40mA look at the poetry composed between the mid-seventh century and the Norman Conquest, including Julian Glover's reading of part of his own adaptation of the heroic epic Beowulf.
3. Chaucer 1340-14001984-05-166h 40mChaucer was the first great named poet in English. This programme focuses on The Canterbury Tales, with a reading of the introduction by Gary Watson and a detailed exploration of The Pardoner's Tale.
4. Medieval - Elizabethan 1400-16001984-05-236h 40mThis programme explores the late Medieval period leading into the Renaissance, discussing poems dealing with love, death and ambition by Skelton, Wyatt, Raleigh, Marlowe and Shakespeare.
5. Shakespeare 1564-16161984-05-306h 40mA chronological look at Shakespeare's dramatic genius, using extracts from eight plays: Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, Cymbeline and The Tempest.
6. Metaphysical and Devotional 1590-16701984-06-066h 40mThe vigour and audacity of John Donne's love poetry is contrasted with his equally powerful devotional works. The programme then explores the work of Donne's disciple George Herbert, and Andrew Marvell.
7. Milton 1608-16741984-06-136h 40mMilton's dedication, his humanity and his blindness are all given illustration in Ian Richardson's reading of the sonnet to his dead wife, Katharine, while his eloquence is highlighted in Richardson's spectacular readings from Paradise Lost.
8. Restoration and Augustan 1660-17451984-06-206h 40mAn overview of the great age of satire: among the works featured are Rochester's 'A Satire Against Reason and Mankind', Dryden's 'Absalom and Achitophel' and the mock-heroic 'MacFlecknoe', and Pope's masterpiece of mordant wit, 'The Dunciad'.
9. Romantic Pioneers 1750-18051984-10-216h 40mThis programme features excerpts from Jonathan Smart's 'Jubilate Agno', written in Bedlam, five poems by Blake, Coleridge's 'Kubla Khan', and Wordsworth's 'The Solitary Reaper' - a fine example of "emotion recollected in tranquillity".
10. Wordsworth 1770-18501984-10-286h 40m'Upon Westminster Bridge', 'Daffodils', 'A Slumber Did My Spirit Steal', and an extract from Book I of 'The Prelude' are among the poems read by Julian Glover; all were filmed in Wordsworth's native Lake District.
11. Younger Romantics1984-11-046h 40mAmong the poems featured are Shelly's 'Ozymandias', 'The Mask of Anarchy' and 'Adonais'; Keats' 'La Belle Dame sans Merci' and 'To Autumn'; and part of Byron's 'Don Juan'.
12. Victorians 1837-19011984-11-116h 40mThe Victorian period of richly represented with extracts of poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Emily Bronte, Christina Rossetti, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold and Agernon Charles Swinburne.
13. American Pioneers 1855-19101984-11-186h 40mLee Remick reads Julia Ward Howe's 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic' along with poems by Edgar Allen Poe and Emily Dickinson; Stacy Keach reads poems by Walt Whitman and Herman Melville; John Gielgud recites Robinson's 'Miniver Cheevy'.
14. Romantics and Realists1984-11-256h 40mThis programme covers verse of the late Victorian period and the early twentieth century, with poems by Thomas Hardy, Gerard Manley, A.E. Houseman and Rudyard Kipling.
15. Early Twentieth Century 1914-19391984-12-026h 40mWilfred Owen's 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' and Edward Thomas' 'Old Man' are among the featured poems, while Cyril Cusack reads a selection of poems by W.B. Yeats, and Ian Richardson and Isla Blair give voices to an excerpt from Eliot's 'The Waste Land'.
16. Towards the Present 1934-19841984-12-096h 40mAnthony Hopkins reads two of Dylan Thomas' most widely known poems, and Stacy Keach reads Robert Lowell's 'For the Union Dead'; poetry by Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes close the series.

Cast

Top Billed Cast

John Gielgud
Self - Presenter

Availability

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FAQ

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Is Six Centuries of Verse available to watch online?

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How many seasons does Six Centuries of Verse have?

Six Centuries of Verse has 1 season and 16 episodes.

When did Six Centuries of Verse first air?

Six Centuries of Verse first aired in 1984.

Is Six Centuries of Verse still running?

Six Centuries of Verse's status on TMDB is: Ended.

What genre is Six Centuries of Verse?

Six Centuries of Verse is classified as Drama.