Nothing But The Poem – Jack Gilbert
March 2026
This edition of Nothing But The Poem features two poems by the American poet Jack Gilbert (1925-2012), both of which are included in Gilbert’s penultimate collection ‘Refusing Heaven‘.
Our regular podcast host, Samuel Tongue, after discussing the poems with the Friends of the SPL group (who meet monthly on Zoom), takes his customary deep dive into the stanzas, lines, words and sounds.
“He takes himself away to a place more inward than is safe to go; from that awful silence and tightening, he returns to us poems of savage compassion.” – James Dickey, on Jack Gilbert
“The unique kernel of Gilbert’s poetry is its fearless exploration of the adult heart. It takes a moment to have a fling or write one good line, but sustaining authentic emotional participation, as Gilbert has in his life as a poet, is terrifying and hard, and is practically a lost art.” – Sarah Manguso, The Poetry Foundation
The two poems by Jack Gilbert read and discussed on the podcast are:
2. How Much of That is Left in Me