Poetry is the verbal record of human life and experience in verse form. But how does poetry require a special kind of reading? How does a poem ‘work’? And how should poetry be read and enjoyed?
As we explore these questions and others, we will learn to enjoy poetry through the art of close reading. The lectures will introduce students to the elements of poetry, such as figures of speech, sound devices, rhythm and meter, imagery, tone, form, genre, and more.
We will read and learn from many English-speaking poets, including Mary Sidney Herbert, John Donne, George Herbert, John Milton, Lady Anne Finch, Edward Young, William Cowper, William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and others!
In this course, you will learn to:
- encounter poetry as an experience
- appreciate poetry as an artform
- acquire the tools to interpret meaning in poems
- understand meter, form, and literary devices