Dr. Parker 3 credits

          Samuel Taylor Coleridge is surely right to argue that a poem proposes for “its immediate object pleasure, not truth.” That pleasure, however, is a complex one, and it can take many forms. It might be sensuous, in the beauty of a poem’s language; meditative, the product of thought, memory, and slow recognition; or imaginative, delivering its inspirations in flashes. This course explores the range and scope of poetic experience. We might, the pleasures of the text once felt and registered, even catch a glimpse of truth. Students will be required to memorize poems, and there will be recitation as well.

Back to Courses

JMU Web Privacy Statement