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Perfectly Poetic Podcast
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About Perfectly Poetic
Perfectly Poetic—the podcast for people who love poetry, hate poetry, love to hate poetry, or just enjoy listening to someone question why we’re still talking about 19th-century dead guys with trust issues.
Hosted by Allen Mowery, a self-proclaimed Purveyor of Satire and lifelong questioner of literary orthodoxy, Perfectly Poetic isn’t your high school English class. This show digs into poetry, dragging it out of dusty anthologies and holding it up to the light—sometimes with reverence, sometimes with irreverence, and always with a bit of bite.
Think of it as poetry with personality: part literary exploration, part cultural commentary, part “therapy session for emotionally stunted bards.” Whether we’re unraveling Romantic melodrama, eavesdropping on modernist breakdowns, or just marveling at how many ways you can rhyme “death” with “breath,” each episode offers a mix of insight, humor, history, and a healthy dose of skepticism.
This isn’t a love letter to poetry. It’s more like a series of strongly-worded texts from someone who keeps coming back anyway.
New episodes drop semi-regularly (because structure is a construct), running 15–30 minutes—just enough time to make you feel smart and slightly existential.
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Latest Episode
Ep. 86 — Feelings Are Not Facts: Romanticism’s Reckoning
In this final chapter of our Romanticism series, we bring the velvet curtain down with a sharp, necessary reality check. After indulging in the beauty, the yearning, and the drama of Romanticism, it’s time to ask the uncomfortable questions: What happens when feelings become fact? When perception overrides truth? When self-expression becomes a...
Recent Episodes
Perfectly Poetic is a podcast that digs into poetry from every angle—classic, modern, obscure, and everything in between. Hosted by Allen Mowery, it’s a show for the curious and the critical, exploring the meaning, context, and cultural weight behind the lines. It’s not about idolizing poets or pretending every poem is profound. It’s about engaging with language, questioning assumptions, and finding unexpected insight in verse—whether it moves you, annoys you, or leaves you wondering why it exists.
In this final chapter of our Romanticism series, we bring the velvet curtain down with a sharp, necessary reality check. After indulging in the beauty, the yearning, and the drama of Romanticism, it’s time to ask the uncomfortable questions: What happens when feelings become fact? When perception overrides truth? When self-expression becomes a substitute for self-governance?
In this episode, Allen Mowery unpacks the paradox at the heart of Romanticism and explores the cultural consequences of turning emotion into moral authority. From Oscar Wilde’s unexpected transformation to T.S. Eliot’s quiet call to humility, we examine the poets who pushed back — and what their work still demands of us today.
We don’t just critique Romanticism’s legacy; we wrestle with it. And in the process, we offer an alternative: a life rooted not in the whims of feeling, but in the enduring clarity of truth.
Topics Covered:
Why feelings are not facts (even if they feel really, really factual)
The paradox of Romanticism’s emotional revolution
The dangers of moral relativism and cultural narcissism
Poets who resisted the emotional freefall: Eliot, Auden, Herbert, and more
The difference between being expressive and being whole
A call to choose truth — especially when it’s uncomfortable
Featured Poets & Texts:
T.S. Eliot – Four Quartets, Ash Wednesday
W.H. Auden – September 1, 1939
George Herbert – The Elixir
Oscar Wilde – De Profundis
Selections from Romantic-era and post-Romantic poets
Connect with Perfectly Poetic:
Website: https://perfectlypoetic.com
Instagram: @perfectlypoeticpodcast
Facebook: Perfectly Poetic Podcast
YouTube: Perfectly Poetic on YouTube
Email: poetic@perfectlypoetic.com
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Meet The Host
Allen Mowery
Allen Mowery is the voice behind Perfectly Poetic, a podcast that explores poetry without the whispering or berets. A writer, visual storyteller, and lifelong skeptic, he brings wit, insight, and just enough sarcasm to make poetry feel more like a late-night conversation than a literature lecture.
From his home in Central Pennsylvania, Allen unpacks beauty, absurdity, and the occasional 19th-century meltdown—armed with a mic, a bookshelf, and far too many coffee mugs.
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Looking to connect? Want to be a guest on the show? Then taken a moment to drop us a message! We love to hear from our listeners as well as other writers, and we never turn down a literary joke when it’s offered.
Perfectly Poetic
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