Episode 76: Philip Levine, What Work Is


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Aug 22 2024 24 mins   25

In this episode, we read and discuss Philip Levine's most famous poem, "What Work Is." We consider his deft use of the second-person perspective, the sociability and narrative energy of his poetry, and his deep concern for the insecurity that defines the lives of so working-class laborers.



Click here to read "What Work Is": https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52173/what-work-is



Photo credit: Geoffrey Berliner



"What Work Is" was published in What Work Is (Knopf, 1991). Thanks to Penguin Random House for granting us permission to read this poem.