This course will survey the history of English poetry and poetics, focusing on developing the critical idioms and habits associated with close reading. We will pursue our study of a range of poetic genres – lyric, narrative, and epic – with attention both to the mechanics of poetic language and form and to the cultural concerns at stake in our readings, especially concerning gender, sexuality, and power. Our readings will be highly focused, privileging depth over breadth, and assignments will include weekly short exercises culminating in a final paper or project. Texts under consideration will include works by Thomas Wyatt, William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, John Donne, Mary Wroth, George Herbert, Katherine Philips, John Milton, Phyllis Wheatley, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, T. S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, Rita Dove, and Adrienne Rich.