“Why All This Music?” : On Retrospective Chord in W. D. Snodgrass’ Autobiographical Lyric
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Requested lectures |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | This interactive lecture examines three persona poems written at distinct stages of W. D. Snodgrass’ life and career, exploring how the poet—adopting the persona of a lutenist—reflects on his identity, his craft, his literary trajectory, and the critical responses to his work, as well as the irony running through all of these dimensions. By tracing the interplay between literature and music, the lecture shows how these two arts enrich and extend one another’s expressive potential. Ultimately, it argues that Snodgrass uses the recurring figure of the lutenist to construct a concise yet far-reaching “autobiography in miniature,” unfolding across nearly fifty years. |
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