2:30P-3:45P TR (10) 3 cr

ABOVE SECTION MEETS WITH CMLT C315.

TOPIC: THE LYRIC POEM

A practical course with emphasis on strategies of interpretation.
Our primary concern will be the interplay between literal and
figurative uses of language: when and how do poems mean what they
say, and when and how do they mean something else? We shall be
looking at the ways poems are shaped, the ways they begin and
end, their reliance on clich=82, their ambiguous status as both
private and public statements, and their relations to their
readers, to tradition, and to one another. We'll use a standard
anthology of poems in English (possibly the Norton), supplemented
by brief readings in classical and biblical poetry, in European
poetry (with opposite-face translations), and in such
non-canonical forms as nursery rhymes, national anthems, hymns,
charms and oracles, epigrams, and song lyrics. A few essays about
poetry, often by well-known poets, will help direct our
discussions. The course will conclude by surveying the career of
a single poet, Elizabeth Bishop.

Written work: brief weekly exercises and either two short
critical essays or one longer essay on a topic chosen by the
student.