Technical Seminar in Poetry: The Shape of Thought

Ezra Pound once famously asserted that “poetry to be good poetry should be at least as well written as good prose.” In this course we will focus on the most basic unit of prose composition, the sentence, in order to enhance the art of our lines. We will study how sentences are deployed across a diverse range of texts, in both poetry and prose, considering variations in complexity, address, mood, and mode, and will try our hands at both minimalist and maximalist methods. We will diagram sentences, contemplate grammars of feeling, and examine how the shape of thought itself is constructed by sentences unfolding in tension with poetic lines. From Walt Whitman to Lyn Heijian, from Henry James to Lydia Davis, we will draw on a wide array of 20th and 21st century writers, with the aim of expanding and refining our literary technique. 

Day/Time: Friday, 1:30-4:20