John Green Reads Poetry

So many poems to listen to!

Hey, there’s a missing poem!

Hi! This website is an ongoing labor of love inspired by John’s self-proclaimed love of poetry ¹ and the mission of Ours Poetica.²

We’re working very hard combing through the vast amounts of online content John and Hank have created ³ — and continue to create! — to find every instance of John reading poetry.⁴ Most of these were short poems that used to appear as an opening segment in the Dear Hank & John pod.⁵

Check out our growing list of missing or lost poetry-related John Green media:

Lost Media (help us out)!

We have a long way to go, and are using the posts’ dates as a way to organize everything chronologically with relevant tags to make everything extra useable!

So if you have a suggestion of something we missed or would like to share a piece of poetry-related media you’ve found…

Let us know!

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  1. This is also a recurring riff in many of the opening segments of Dear Hank & John
  2. A lovely play on the Latin phrase Ars Poetica (“The Art of Poetry”)
  3. Examples: 1 | 2
  4. And, occasionally, someone else, such as his wife, his brother, or a poem inspired by one of Hank’s rants. Admittedly, some things are qualified as ‘poems’ rather loosely — John has read lyrics, and other nontraditional items as poetry, and that’s a wonderful thing!
    Because poetry is, always, what we make it.
  5. And are still missed by Nerdfighters everywhere!
ALL POEMS

Related Resources

Dear Hank & John

Or as he likes to call it: “Dear John & Hank”

Transcripts*
Patreon | X | Email
Listen for free:

Other Resources

Tags & Categories

Lost Poetry-Related Media

Many of these are identified, but the video or media is no longer viewable due to deletion, upload corruption, or it being made ‘private’ and not archived in readily accessible ways.

If you know of more missing poetry-related John Green media examples OR have a copy of something listed here:

Let us know!
2014 CrashCourse Literature – John Reads “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath

He references it around the 5:37 mark of The Poetry of Sylvia Plath: Crash Course Literature 216:

Nerdfighteria Wiki – John Reads “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath

I have done it again. One year in every ten I manage it —   A sort of walking miracle, my skin Bright as a Nazi lampshade, My right foot   A paperweight, My face a featureless, fine Jew linen.   Peel off the napkin O my enemy. Do I terrify? —   The nose, the eye pits, the full set of teeth? The sour breath Will vanish in a day.   Soon, soon the flesh The grave cave ate will be At home on me   And I a smiling woman. I am only thirty. And like the cat I have nine times to die.   This is Number Three. What a trash To annihilate each decade.   What a million filaments. The peanut-crunching crowd Shoves in to see   Them unwrap me hand and foot The big strip tease. Gentlemen, ladies   These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone,   Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. The first time it happened I was ten. It was an accident.   The second time I meant To last it out and not come back at all. I rocked shut   As a seashell. They had to call and call And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.   Dying Is an art, like everything else, I do it exceptionally well.   I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I’ve a call.   It’s easy enough to do it in a cell. It’s easy enough to do it and stay put. It’s the theatrical   Comeback in broad day To the same place, the same face, the same brute Amused shout:   ‘A miracle!’ That knocks me out. There is a charge   For the eyeing of my scars, there is a charge For the hearing of my heart — It really goes.   And there is a charge, a very large charge For a word or a touch Or a bit of blood   Or a piece of my hair or my clothes. So, so, Herr Doktor. So, Herr Enemy.   I am your opus, I am your valuable, The pure gold baby   That melts to a shriek. I turn and burn. Do not think I underestimate your great concern.   Ash, ash — You poke and stir. Flesh, bone, there is nothing there —   A cake of soap, A wedding ring, A gold filling.   Herr God, Herr Lucifer Beware Beware.   Out of the ash I rise with my red hair And I eat men like air.

2015 Project for Awesome (P4A) livestream of John’s poetry reading
A list of the livestream videos
  1. Nerdfighteria Wiki – Project For Awesome 2015 Kickoff! – back in a moment!
  2. Nerdfighteria Wiki – Project For Awesome 2015 Livestream – Part 2
  3. Nerdfighteria Wiki – Project For Awesome 2015 Livestream – Part 3
  4. Nerdfighteria Wiki – Project For Awesome 2015 Livestream – Part 4
  5. Nerdfighteria Wiki – Project For Awesome 2015 Livestream – Part 5
    • (There was no “Part 6”)
  6. Nerdfighteria Wiki – Project For Awesome 2015 Livestream – Part 7

Archive.org: Project For Awesome 2015

Twitter: http://twitter.com/p4a2015

Nerdfighteria Wiki – 028 – John’s Top Ten Probable Apocalypse List

H: You forgot about your poetry podcast.

J: Oh yeah, and there’s also a digital perk where you can get me reading you some poems.  In fact, I read you the poem that I just read you, but the other version of it.

H: Oh!

J: Also, I read lots of longer poems

…