English 160

Poetry and Poetics

T Th 3:00-4:20 PM, Fall Quarter 2023
380-380D

Instructor: Max Ashton, [email protected]

Office Hours: Thursdays 12 PM to 2 PM, 460-305
Teaching Assistant: Catrin Haberfield, [email protected]

Course Description

Introduction to the reading and study of English poetry. We will cover the
evolution of poetic forms; trends in the purpose and content of poetry;
varieties of poetic technique; etc. The course is structured as a historical
survey; its core content will move from the medieval period to the present,
but texts from other periods will be included according to their relevance to
the lesson at hand. By the end of this course, you will be able to confidently
and methodically interpret much of English poetry; be able to recognize
major poetic forms and their relationship to poetic content; have developed
an understanding of the historical shape of the tradition of English poetry;
have cultivated some kind of personal taste for poetry.

Schedule

September 26th Introduction

Poetic Form and the First English Poem
September 28th Poetic Form II: Scansion
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “In Golden Gate Park That Day…”
George Herbert, “Easter Wings”

October 3rd Form, Voice, and Occasional Poetry

“The Battle of Brunanburh” + Tennyson’s Translation
(Canvas)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson “The Kraken” 1034
Tennyson “The Charge of the Light Brigade” 1053
Thomas Hardy “The Convergence of the Twain” 1214
October 5th Geoffrey Chaucer, “The General Prologue” 24-44

October 10th Thomas Wyatt “[Whoso list to hunt]” 131

Wyatt “[My lute awake!]” 134
Wyatt “[Blame not my lute]” 136
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey “Wyatt Resteth Here” 143
Sara Teasdale “After Love” (Canvas)
October 12th William Shakespeare
Sonnets
“1” 269
“2” 270
“18” 272
“20” 272
“55” 274
“65” 275
“129” 279
“146” 282
“The Phoenix and the Turtle” 283

October 17th John Donne

“The Good Morrow” 306
“The Sun Rising” 308
“The Canonization” 309
“A Nocturnal Upon St. Lucy’s Day, Being the Shortest Day”
315
“The Flea” 321
October 19th John Milton
“On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” 415
“On Shakespeare” 423
“L’Allegro” 425
“Il Penseroso” 427
“Lycidas” 432
Selections from Paradise Lost 442-448

October 24th In this order:

Anne Finch, “The Spleen” 596
Alexander Pope, “The Rape of the Lock” 644
Pope, “Impromptu” 676
Finch, “The Answer” 603

October 26th William Blake, From Songs of Innocence

“Introduction” 772
“The Lamb” 773
“The Little Black Boy” 773
“The Little Boy Lost” 774
“The Little Boy Found” 775
“The Divine Image” 775
“Holy Thursday” 776
From Songs of Experience
“Introduction” 776
“The Clod & the Pebble” 777
“Holy Thursday” 777
“The Sick Rose” 778
 “The Tyger” 778
“Ah! Sun-flower” 779
“The Garden of Love” 779
“London” 780
“A Poison Tree” 780
“A Divine Image” 781

October 30th Scansion due

October 31st William Wordsworth, from “The Prelude” 819
November 2nd Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan” 848
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” 854-70

November 7th No class

November 9th Christina Rossetti, “Goblin Market” 1159
John Keats, "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" 964
"Ode to a Nightingale" 980
"Ode on a Grecian Urn" 984

November 14th Emily Dickinson, "68" 1173

"112" 1173
"202" 1175
"145" 1175
"260" 1176
"320" 1177
"339" 1177
"340" 1178
"348" 1178
"359" 1179
"895" 1186
"905" 1186
"1263" 1188
"1577" 1189
"1788" 1189
November 16th Gerard Manley Hopkins, “The Windhover” 1222
“[As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame]” 1223
William Butler Yeats, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” 1242
“Adam’s Curse” 1243
“Sailing to Byzantium” 1254
“Byzantium” 1255
Memorization performance presented in section
November 17th First assignment selection (Personal
Reflection/Composition/Memorization Reflection) due

November 28th Wallace Stevens, "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" 1320

"Sunday Morning" 1321
"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" 1325
November 30th T. S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” 1400
William Empson, “Missing Dates” 1529
Elizabeth Bishop, “Sestina” 1588
“One Art” 1595
Dylan Thomas, “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”
1638
December 3rd Close Reading due

December 5th Claudia Emerson, “Metastasis: Worry-Moth” 2119

Nicole Cooley, “My Daughter Quarantined in the
Basement”
R. K. Fauth, “Queer Utopia”
Michaella Batten, “in another string of the multiverse,
perhaps”
Debora Kuan, “The Night After You Lose Your Job”
December 7th Anonymous, Beowulf 2-9 (pages in Norton Anthology)
James Baldwin, “Precious Lord” also available on Spotify
and other streaming services, on the album A Lover’s
Question
Roger Reeves, “Grendel” (Canvas in Week 10 folder)
December 12th Second assignment selection (Personal
Reflection/Composition) due

Grading Breakdown
3-unit students can opt out of either the “Scansion,” “Memorization,” or
“Close Reading Essay.” Everything else
will be worth 25%.

 Attendance and Participation 20%

o Two free absences for both lecture and section. -1% point per
absence after that.
o Participation in section or lecture should be substantive and
reflect thoughtful engagement with the material. Don’t be afraid
to take risks, but don’t phone it in.
 Scansion + reflection 20%
o Scan a poem of any length (although perform the scansion on no
more than fifty lines) and write a two-page paper explaining how
the rhythm you’ve identified inflects the meaning of the poem.
Identify the prevailing metrical pattern if there is one (iambic
pentameter, trochaic tetrameter, etc). This can be any poem
from any era.
 Close Reading Essay 20%
o Perform a three-page close reading of any poem assigned in the
course so far.
 Pick two, 20% each
o Memorization + reflection 20%
 Memorize a poem (no longer than three minutes, no

shorter than twenty-five lines). Write a two-page reflection
on the how hearing or speaking the poem affects your
understanding of it or your personal relationship to it.
o Composition + reflection
 Compose a poem in any form, about anything, of any
length at least as long as one-hundred words. Write a two-
page reflection on your creative process; i.e., the
techniques you’ve used, what form you’ve chosen and why,
what the poem means to you, what works from the
syllabus inspired your choices, etc.
o Personal reflection
 Choose any poem from the syllabus and write a five-page
reflection on how it mediates between your personal
experience of life and your understanding of the world
around you. Concepts from the course should be mobilized
to explain this relationship; form, voice, genre, historical
context, poetic technique, etc. are examples of things to
consider.

Required Textbook

Margaret Ferguson and others, eds., The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 6th
edn (New York: Norton, 2019) ISBN-13: 978-0393679021

Other Resources
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics, ed. Roland Greene et al.,
4th edn. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012)
John Lennard, The Poetry Handbook, 2nd edn. (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2005)
M.H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms, 6th edn. (Fort Worth: Holt,
Rinehart, and Winston, 1993)
Provost’s Statement concerning Students with Disabilities

Students who have a disability which may necessitate an academic

accommodation or the use of auxiliary aids and services in a class must
initiate the request with the Office of Accessible Education’s Disability
Resource Center (DRC). The DRC will evaluate the request with required
documentation, recommend appropriate accommodations, and prepare a
verification letter dated in the current academic term in which the request
is being made. Please contact the DRC as soon as possible; timely notice is
needed to arrange for appropriate accommodations (phone 723-1066; TDD
725-1067).

Affordability
All students should retain receipts for books and other course-related
expenses, as these may be qualified educational expenses for tax purposes.
If you are an undergraduate receiving financial aid, you may be eligible for
additional financial aid for required books and course materials if these
expenses exceed the aid amount in your award letter. For more information,
review your award letter or visit the Student
Budget website.
(https://financialaid.stanford.edu/undergrad/budget/index.html)

FERPA: Student Record Privacy Policy

http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/registrar/students/ferpa

The Honor Code

The class adheres firmly to the practices outlined in Stanford's Honor Code
(http://registrar.stanford.edu/bulletin/5471.htm). The Honor Code is the
University's statement on academic integrity written by students in 1921. It
articulates University expectations of students and faculty in establishing
and maintaining the highest standards in academic work.
Violating the Honor Code is a serious offense, even when the violation is
unintentional. The Honor Code is available at:
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/vpsa/judicialaffairs/guiding/honorcode.htm.
You are responsible for understanding the University rules regarding
academic integrity; you should familiarize yourself with the code if you have
not already done so. In brief, conduct prohibited by the Honor Code
includes all forms of academic dishonesty, among them copying from
another’s exam, unpermitted collaboration and representing as one’s own
work the work of another. If you have any questions about these matters,
see one of your instructors during office hours.