Shaping Grief with Language
Be us guardians and caretakers.
December 12, 2020
‘This was the road which Xerxes took, and it was hereabouts that he came across
a plane-tree of
such beauty that he was moved
to decorate it
with golden ornaments and
to appoint a guardian for it
in perpetuity.’
~Herodotus, The Histories
440 BC
We know poetry to be a critical pillar of public life. It rises up when official language fails us. And it gives voice to what is human and what is true, how we connect and what questions we hold.
Poetry has moved to the heart of what we offer on the radio and in podcasts, which is why we’re excited to have partnered with talented illustrators, animators, and directors to reimagine poetry in visual, dynamic ways.
“This is what was bequeathed us” by Gregory Orr is part of our “Visualizing Poetry” series, which features animated interpretations of beloved poems from our archive.
This poem was originally read in the On Being episode with Gregorry Orr, “Shaping Grief With Language.”
-The Onbeing Project