POETRY 2

Poetry Two by Two

Comparisons of two poems can often be a means of reaching a deeper appreciation of what makes an individual poem work as poetry. This may be a matter of comparing two poems on the same subject, or with the same theme; it might have the same form, but with totally different purposes and effect. It could be that the two poems result from the partnership of the two poets such as Dorothy and William Wordsworth, or Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes; or that the poetic devices used in different centuries reveal attitudes about what poetry was meant to be at that time. What, for instance happens to a private confessional love poem when it becomes public and why is it made public? What are the conventions of the time which restrict or carry the interpretation of the meaning? Why is it that in each period of our history consistent themes have been expressed in verse? Indeed, why do we write poetry at all? And what is it?

The first session will be an introduction to the whole course and will use small extracts from different poems to illustrate the techniques of poetry that together