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Description
The critic and poet William Empson, Emeritus Professor of English at Sheffield University is interviewed by Karl Miller, Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University Colle...ge, London. Professor Empson talks about his time as a student at Magdalene College, Cambridge, his relationship with his tutor, I. A. Richards, and the background to his first publication, 'Seven Types of Ambiguity'. Professor Empson defends his view of the first type of ambiguity, talks about the writing of his own poetry and explains his position on the controversy over 'intention'.
The critic and poet William Empson, Emeritus Professor of English at Sheffield University is interviewed by Karl Miller, Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University Colle...ge, London. Professor Empson talks about his time as a student at Magdalene College, Cambridge, his relationship with his tutor, I. A. Richards, and the background to his first publication, 'Seven Types of Ambiguity'. Professor Empson defends his view of the first type of ambiguity, talks about the writing of his own poetry and explains his position on the controversy over 'intention'.
| Module code and title: | A306, Twentieth century poetry |
|---|---|
| Item code: | A306; 10 |
| First transmission date: | 19-06-1976 |
| Published: | 1976 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:19 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Paul Kafno |
| Contributors: | Alan Dobie; William Empson; Cicely Palser Havely |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Imagism; Language |
| Subject terms: | Poetry |
| Footage description: | Cicely Havely introduces the programme. She provides general background to the Monitor programme that follows and gives her view of William Empson. The narrator describes Empson's life, both in the Far East and in England. Film of a Buddhist religious ceremony. Shots of Sheffield and of Empson's home. Empson's view of poetry described. Description of Empson's poem Homage to the British Museum, which is read by Alan Dobie over shots of a gallery in the Museum. Empson makes a few comments about the poem, and goes on to make more general statements about morality and religion. Empson explains the writing of Poem to an Old Lady, and describes the reaction of his mother to it. Dobie reads the poem over stills of Empson's childhood home. Empson describes his home life and explains its effect on his poetry. He gives some background to the poem Legal Fiction, which Dobie reads. Empson gives his views on imagism. Film of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Empson explains the mood of the early 1930s. He gives an indication of how he felt about poetry at this time. Dobie reads the poem Aubade. Empson explains how he came to write Just a Smack at Auden. The reading of this poem over appropriate visual images concludes the programme. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/72166 |
| Production number: | 00525_3187 |
| Videofinder number: | 721 |
| Available to public: | no |
