Introduction to Poetry

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the complexity and pleasure of poetry. We will be learning about the aesthetics of English poetry by reading it in the context of Western poetic traditions. We will use the historical circumstances to understand the poetic choices behind poetic allusions, language, genre, diction, rhythm, and figurative language. The poems we read are chosen from a variety of genres, authors, and historical periods, ranging from sonnets to the Romantic period to the present. Our aim will be to understand how the various techniques and genres open to poets enable them to produce works of art which speak to us and push us to think. The course emphasizes close reading of the texts, and there will be frequent writing assignments.