CLASSIFICATION
Swallow ID:
8340
Partner Institution:
University of Calgary
Source Collection Title:
Earle Birney fonds
Source Collection ID:
Source Collection Contributing Unit:
University of Calgary, Archives and Special Collections
Source Collection URI:
Source Collection Image URL:
ITEM DESCRIPTION
Title:
Earle Birney reading from Selected poems 1940-1966 (Tape 2)
Title Source:
Transcribed from the artifact
Title Note:
Label of recording title and included poems taped to box. Box stamped JS 0X6.
Language:
English
Production Context:
Studio recording
Identifiers:
[7.3.2]
Rights
Rights:
The Public Domain Mark (PDM)
CREATORS
Name:
Birney, Earle
Dates:
1904-1995
CONTRIBUTORS
MATERIAL DESCRIPTION
Recording Type:
Analogue
AV Type:
Audio
Material Designation:
Reel to Reel
Physical Composition:
Magnetic Tape
Extent:
1/4 inch
Playing Speed:
7 1/2 ips
Tape Brand:
CBC Radio - Canada
Sound Quality:
Excellent
Physical Condition:
Good
DIGITAL FILE DESCRIPTION
Duration:
T00:27:56
Size:
460.31 MB
Dates
Date:
1966
Type:
Performance Date
Notes:
Date taken from creation dates listed for item level descriptions in archival finding aid for the Earle Birney fonds Item number 7.3.2
LOCATION
CONTENT
Contents:
Earle Birney
[00:00:00]
Reads "El Greco: Espolio".
Earle Birney
[00:01:58]
Reads "The stick-thighed fellow…".
Earle Birney
[00:02:55]
Reads "Introvert".
Earle Birney
[00:04:31]
Reads "St Valentine is Past".
Earle Birney
[00:06:56]
Reads "Ellesmereland I" and "Ellesmereland II".
Earle Birney
[00:10:22]
Reads "Transcontinental".
Earle Birney
[00:10:22]
Reads "The Ballad of Mr. Chubb".
Earle Birney
[00:13:03]
Reads "An Appeal to a Lady with a Diaper".
Earle Birney
[00:15:55]
Reads "We are leaving the park now...".
Earle Birney
[00:16:55]
Reads "Oldster".
Earle Birney
[00:18:08]
Reads "Billboards build freedom of choice".
Earle Birney
[00:21:05]
Reads "Campus Theatre Steps".
Earle Birney
[00:22:37]
Reads "Looking from Oregon".
Earle Birney
[00:25:31]
"Mammorial Stanzas for Aimee Semple McPherson".
Notes:
Title based on contents of file.
- “The stick-thighed fellow…” inspired by a London poetry pub.
- “St Valentine is Past” written in Vancouver Island 1951, inspired by the question asked by Theseus in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream: “St Valentine is past, begin these woodbirds but to couple now?”
- Ellesmereland I & II are twins, 1952 and 1965, where I is speculating about the barren top of Canada, and II is responding to the Americans putting a station up there.
- “The Ballad of Mr Chubbs” inspired by road signs, especially from strange little village in Minnesota.
- “An Appeal to a Lady with a Diaper” is not really a poem, more a topical satire which requires constant revision to remain relevant. Poem with gaps or slots to insert whatever cliché is operating at the moment. Anti-North American poem.
- "We are leaving the park now...": coming out of Yellowstone National Park 1952, but could be applied to any park.
- “Oldster”: Salt Lake City, 1952
- "Billboards build freedom of choice": Driving down a road in Oregon, 1961-62, Birney’s favourite state. Obstructed view by signboards, Birney invents hitchhiker who he picks up to explain these signs to him. Birney puts on voices to indicate himself and the hitchhiker.
- “Campus Theatre Steps”: audiovisual poem. University of Oregon theatre just before it opens for the evening.
- "Looking from Oregon": Written on the coast of Oregon August 7th, 1964. The day the American warships moved into the Gulf of Tonkin. Begins with quote from poet friend Robinson Jeffers.
- "Mammorial Stanzas for Aimee Semple McPherson": Canada and California. Joycean celebration of forgotten Ontario heroine Aimee McPherson, evangelist who made significant money off of her evangelizing.
NOTES
RELATED WORKS
Citation:
Selected Poems, 1940-1966