Marianne Boruch: Worlds Old and New (July 1997)

In this lecture, Marianne Boruch weaves together a consideration of Dvorak’s Symphony #9, also known as the New World Symphony, with reflections on Whitman’s poetry and life. Examining how in the work of each artist we can trace both a celebration of America and a “long abiding homesickness,” a loneliness and sorrow that provide a crucial counterbalance to that celebration, Boruch shows how both music and poetry can “still and darken,” even as they “give us the shining world.”