From human suffering to political chicanery to environmental degradation, the tide of bad news, blared in headlines every day, seems overwhelming. One poet and classics scholar asks: What can be done?

Catastrophe overload? Read philosophers and poetry instead of headlines

What is a society without its poets? If all poetry disappeared from our libraries and shelves and virtual depositories tomorrow, would it make much difference to us? If we were forbidden to write poetry…

From execrable to memorable: an essay on the hatred of poetry

Over the years, Bill Moyers has welcomed some of America’s best poets to share their works and inspiration. Many of those writers have performed at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, which Bill and his colleagues covered for television specials including Fooling with Words (1999), The Language of Life (1995) and Sounds of Poetry (1999). Below, enjoy a showcase of such poetry from past productions and very recently from Moyers & Company, performed by the poets who dreamed them up, or by other artists who, like Bill, simply adore poetry.

Poets in Performance

Keats's Winchester walk was no idyllic stroll – he had espionage on his mind.

Keats’s ode To Autumn warns about mass surveillance and social sharing

The anxiety that young people are messing things up goes back centuries.

Millennial bashing in medieval times

Laden with animals, conspiracy theories and apocalyptic visions, Muhammad Fanatil al-Hajaya's poetry reflects how many Arabs – urban and rural, rich and poor – view the world.

In the verses of Jordan’s most popular poet, the hopes and fears of the Arab world