Introduction to Literary Forms: Forms of the Lyric

This course will offer a comparative introduction to lyric poetry across different linguistic traditions (including poems originally composed in Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese and Spanish). While we may consider different definitions and origin stories of the lyric genre–as muted song, verbal picture, overheard speech, or emotive expression–our main focus will be on learning how to read and write about poetry in its shorter forms. You will be encouraged to read in the original when possible, but all readings will be provided in English.

Poetry by Sappho, Ovid, Petrarch, Shakespeare, Bashō, Shiki, Keats, Baudelaire, Dickinson, Rilke, Lorca, Bishop, and Niedecker, among others.