Department of English

This is a class for anyone that wishes to explore and practice the “oldest art.” In this class we will look at ancient and sacred texts, as well as, contemporary poetry. We will experiment with the traditional fixed forms of poetry such as the sonnet and the sestina. We will explore the journey a poem makes down the page. We will look at diction, syntax, the line, tone and rhythm in a variety of poems. We will look at literary lineages, poetic schools and communities, aesthetic and cultural values embodied in poems past and present, the art of translation, poets and painters, poets and musicians, visual forms of poetry, publication and what’s going on in the poetry world today. There will be lots of in-class writing, craft assignments, and response papers. You will also write and revise your own poems. We will read several collections of poetry and essays on craft and poetics.