English 2380-2039: Introduction to Poetry Dr. Frontain

TTH 2.40-3.55 Office: Irby 118B

Irby 304 Office Hours: TTH 9-10.45 a.m. and 1-2:30 p.m.

TEXTS

Allen Ginsberg, Collected Poems 1947-1980 (Harper)

George Herbert, Complete English Poems, ed. John Torbin (Penguin)

Gerard Manley Hopkins, Selected Poetry, ed. Catherine Phillips (Oxford)

William Shakespeare, Sonnets, ed. Stephen Booth (Yale)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Poetry is the suggestion of a larger meaning. Its "creating ambiguity" makes it the best way that humans have of coming at the things which matter to us most, those values and experiences which cannot be accessed referentially with their resonance intact. Poetry is a gesture made on the brink of something happening. Making, even reciting, a poem makes a person more whole. This course aims to help students live more poetically.

SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND ACTIVITIES

Aug. 29: Language, Sex, and the Sacred: An Introduction to Poetry

Sept. 3, 5, 10, 12, and 17: Shakespeare, Sonnets 1, 15, 18, 20, 29, 30, 55, 60, 64, 65, 73, 116, 129, 130, 138, and 144

Sept. 19: EXAMINATION #1

Sept. 24, 26, Oct. 1, 3, and 8: Herbert, "The Altar," "Easter Wings," "Prayer (1)," "Prayer (2)," "Love (1)," "Love (2)," "Jordan (1)," "Jordan (2)," "Artillery," "The Collar," "The Pulley," "The Flower," "Love (3)"

Oct. 10: EXAMINATION #2

Oct. 15, 17, 22, 24, and 29: Hopkins, "God’s Grandeur," "The Starlight Night," "As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame," "Spring," "The Windhover," "Pied Beauty,""Spring and Fall," "No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief," "(Carrion Comfort)," "That Nature is Heraclitean Fire and of the comfort of the Resurrection"

Oct. 31: EXAMINATION #3

Nov. 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, and 21: Ginsberg, "In Society," "Pull My Daisy," "Howl," "A Supermarket in California," "Sunflower Sutra," "Kral Majales," "Wichita Vortex Sutra"

Nov. 26: EXAMINATION #4

Nov. 28 THANKSGIVING RECESS