Why Read Old Poems - and How?

In this course we will focus on the question: “Why read old poems and tales—and how?” We will read and discuss selected works in English composed between ~650-1660 C.E, focusing on lyric poetry along with selections from narrative and dramatic works. We will explore how these works are designed to be spoken and heard, and examine questions they invite about gender, exclusion, immigration, plague, and environmental loss. We will also examine how they might point us toward possibility, empathy, and resilience. Readings include selections from works and authors such as Beowulf, The Green Knight, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Herbert, Milton and also works by traditionally marginalized writers such as Marie de France, Margery Kempe, Aemilia Lanyer, Mary Wroth. Pre-1800.