Our class will explore British and American verse beginning with Shakespeare and working into the twentieth-century. The course investigates how poetry develops over the centuries, how movements achieve definition, and how one period replies to its predecessor(s). In other words, we will focus largely on literary history. However, in-class lectures and discussions will often draw on historical contexts and other media so as to demonstrate how an artwork engages with multiple relationships; furthermore, students will encounter formal, historical, and phenomenological strategies for accessing poetry. Some questions the class will consider: How does poetry work? What is the function of poetry? How does the figure of the poet evolve?


Authors, schools, and movements include: Shakespeare, the Metaphysical Poets, Milton, Swift, Pope, Romanticism, Modernism, the Confessional poets, the Black Mountain poets, and the New York School.



Students should be prepared to write one long paper divided into two parts (a 5 page paper revised and extended to 10-12 pages), comparing and contrasting at least two major time periods, movements, or authors. Bi-weekly analyses of the poetry are required as is daily participation during class discussion. While there may be an occasional lecture, class discussion will serve as our primary mode of engagement.

Texts:

• Ferguson, Margaret W, Mary J. Salter, and Jon Stallworthy. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. Shorter 5th ed. New York: Norton, 2005. [9780393979213]