#  English 52. Poets: Poetry and Everything 

 



 Instructor: [Chris Spaide](/people/chris-spaide)  
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 12:00-1:00 pm | Location: Barker 114  
[Website](https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/63603)

 *Enrollment: Limited to 27 students.*

 An introduction to the major categories of lyric poetry—from Chaucer’s time to ours, from this zip code and wherever else English has traveled—through poetry’s ties to just about everything. How does life give rise to different kinds of poems, and how do those poems shape, memorialize, and alter life? What can poetry steal from neighboring discourses and media—song, prayer, visual art, news, drama, narrative, argument—and what does poetry stake out as its own? How much can history—the history of culture and politics, of technology and language—teach us about how poets revolutionize past forms and devise new forms? Readings include the greatest hits of English-language poetry, a stellar collection from 2019 (Jericho Brown’s *The Tradition*), and selections from recent books and literary magazines. Assignments include critical essays and shorter creative exercises—parodies, translations, imitations.

 *Note:*  *Be sure to attend first class meeting to be considered for admittance.*



 



 

 See also:- [ Poetry ](/course-topic/poetry)