The name of this course is an allusion to a poem by the American poet, Wallace Stevens. What is the empire of ice cream? The course proposes that we approach the work of poets writing in English as so many different flavors of the English language. The goal is to awaken students to the aesthetic qualities of the English language, to help them begin to appreciate the language as a means to delight one’s senses. We will begin the class with a study of different uses of language. The greater part of the class will then be devoted to reading mostly 20th century poetry written in English. At the end of the class students will have a chance to try to write themselves.

PART ONE--Tasting English

PART TWO--Tasting Poetry

PART THREE—A Taste of Poetry

Bibliography
Poems by the following poets: W.H. Auden Elizabeth Bishop Emily Dickinson T.S. Eliot Seamus Heaney Philip Larkin Robert Lowell William Shakespeare Wallace Stevens Dylan Thomas Derek Walcott Walt Whitman William Carlo Williams W.B. Yeats The King James Bible Brodsky, Of Grief and Reason Heaney, Finders Keepers Each student will prepare a brief exposé and will have brief writing exercises.

Dernière mise à jour : mercredi 28 mars 2012