CLASSIFICATION
Swallow ID:
8356
Partner Institution:
University of Calgary
Source Collection Label:
Earle Birney fonds
Sub Series:
Earle Birney fonds
ITEM DESCRIPTION
Title:
Earle Birney reading from David, and other poems.
Title Source:
Transcribed from the artifact
Title Note:
Label of recording title and included poems taped to box. Box stamped JH 2W5.
Language:
English
Production Context:
Studio recording
Identifiers:
[7.6]
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:
T00:28:53
Size:
475.89 MB
Dates
Date:
1966
Type:
Performance Date
Notes:
Dates supplied through research for copyright.
LOCATION
CONTENT
Contents:
Earle Birney
[00:00:00]
Reads "Man on a Tractor".
Earle Birney
[00:06:55]
Reads "World War III".
Earle Birney
[00:09:34]
Reads "West Vancouver Ferry".
Earle Birney
[00:11:17]
Reads "October in Utah".
Earle Birney
[00:12:30]
Reads "Grey-Rocks".
Earle Birney
[00:14:01]
Reads "Eagle Island".
Earle Birney
[00:19:25]
Reads "Kootenay Still-Life".
Earle Birney
[00:20:05]
Reads "These with Winds".
Earle Birney
[00:20:58]
Reads "Monody of a Century".
Earle Birney
[00:21:40]
Reads "European Nocturne".
Earle Birney
[00:22:40]
Reads "France 1941".
Earle Birney
[00:23:28]
Reads "On Going to the Wars".
Earle Birney
[00:37:40]
Reads "Villanelle".
Notes:
Title based on contents of file.
- “Man”: Written at the end of the war, when Birney was briefly in Alberta.
- “West”: Ferry system that stopped functioning thirty years ago.
- “October”: Written when teaching in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah.
- “Grey”: Written in Vancouver, early poem, a sonnet. Written when Birney was an undergraduate student. Refers to a cove in the farthest reaches of Burrard Inlet, where an old girlfriend’s family had a cabin.
- “Eagle”: Coastal terrain of Vancouver. At the time of writing, Eagle Island had only two cabins and could only be accessed with a small boat or swimming. Birney wrote this while nostalgic in Toronto. After reading poem notes, “Yes, I was an unregenerate Westerner in those days.”
- “European”: Moving into wartime poems again.
- “France”: The beginning of the de Gaul movement of resistance in conquered France.
- “On Going”: Ended the book. Written to his wife. Birney starts the reading over after a few lines.
- “Villanelle”: Early vintage piece. Birney’s voice begins higher, and then becomes normal again.
NOTES
RELATED WORKS
Citation:
The Strait of Anian; David, and Other Poems