Department of English

This course is a survey of British poetry from the seventeenth century to the early twentieth century. We’ll cover the formal elements of poetry, as well as situating major Renaissance, Restoration, eighteenth-century, Romantic, Victorian, and modernist poets in social, historical, and political context. Readings will include works by Donne, Marvell, Milton, Dryden, Swift, Finch, Pope, Barbauld, Blake, Shelley, Keats, Tennyson, Browning, and Eliot, among others. Emphasis will be on close textual reading and on developing valuable critical thinking, speaking, and writing skills.  Requirements include thoughtful and engaged class participation, midterm and final exams, a shorter paper (which may be revised), and a longer paper.