Poetry for Enrichment
Or Poetry for People Who Think They Dislike Poetry
OSHER 924-001
Dates: Tuesdays, 9/20/2016 - 11/1/2016, no class 10/18/16
Times: 5:15 PM - 6:45 PM
Location: Commander’s House, Fort Douglas
Instructor: Roy Ellefsen, Ph.D
COURSE OBJECTIVE: that every student leave with at least a few poems (many, I
hope) that he/she loves.
First Session
Welcome
HDT (Handout): About me
Two poems for discussion.
Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
Reading and discussion
HDT: Poetry Discussion Sheet (PDS): Essential questions to ask
about a poem. We will do a PDS for all the poems on this
syllabus.
HDT: Techniques of Compression (for reference as needed)
Arthur Guiterman, General Pershing at the Front
Reading and discussion (?)
PDS
HDT Ellefsen’s Rules for Enjoying Poetry
Subsequent Sessions**:
Below is a list of poems that we will read, discuss, and enjoy, I chose the first
seven poems to illustrate six ways in which a poem can be enjoyed-They are
1. Sound: Edgar Allen Poe, Annabel Lee
2. Imagery: Stephen Crane, The Wayfarer, The Heart
3. Theme: A. E. Housman, Is My Team Plowing?
4. Magnified Vision: Emily Dickinson, Narrow Fellow in the
Grass
5. Form and design: William Shakespeare, Sonnet from Romeo
and Juliet
6. Cleverness, wit, and skill: William Shakespeare, Sonnet 138
(When My Love Swears. . .)
We will then read the following poems***
Wilfred Owen, Dulce et decorum est
Robert Hayden, Those Winter Sundays
A. E. Housman, Terrence, This is Stupid Stuff!
Theodore Roethke, My Papa’s Waltz
J. F. Nims, Love Poem
Walt Whitman, A Noiseless Patient Spider
E. E. Cummings, In just--
*We do no homework. All poems will be done together in class. We use no text. I will provide
copies of all poems.
**Every session will begin with reviewing poems that we have previously studied.
***One way we will learn to enjoy poetry is to escape from the tyranny of the syllabus. We will
start the next poem when we are finished with the last one. We’ll do as many of the above
poems as we have time to cover. If we need more, I can easily add to the list. If, along the way,
I feel inspired to add a poem or two to illustrates some point or just because it seems like the
right moment, I may do that too. We have no quota.