"Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry." - W.B. Yeats

In this seminar led by Prof. George Kalogeris, students undertake close reading of works by major poets including Cavafy, Montale, Milosz, Herbert, Szymborska, Bishop, Walcott, Auden, Yeats, Hill, Celan, Mandelstam, Akhmatova, Rilke, and Machado. Click here to view a list of works that have been discussed in past session. This seminar is designed to help you read poetry with an increased awareness of the way that form underlies meaning, as we trace the sound and image patterns that create what Pound called “the dance of the intellect among the words.”

A particular emphasis is placed upon allusions to, and resistances against, great works of the past that are covered in our Core Curriculum readings. The goal is to help students think lyrically, and with a deepening appreciation for the strata of ancient and modern history that a poem may contain.

Students are not required to review each seminar's selection beforehand; handouts are distributed at each session. As the semester progresses, students will be invited to bring in their own writing to be shared and discussed.

The seminar schedule for the fall semester will be posted in September 2009. Sessions are usually held from 6-8, every third Thursday evening.