3 Poems for your Autumn Reading Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2026-09-23 | 3 Poems for your Autumn Reading
Ralph Waldo Emersons Prose | A Close Reading of Nature Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-09-30 | Join the Book Club here: patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryBook Club Notice 0:00-6:15Emerson Analysis 6:15-15:20See the syllabus here: docs.google.com/document/d/1Un_Jp_S97IUZd0uK5qrR1CODRUJaff_xIubW8_2tM9o/edit
Philip Freneau and Phillis Wheatley | Lect. 3 | Early American Poetry Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-09-04 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIn the work of Philip Freneau and Phillis Wheatley, we find the emergence of two distinct voices rooted in the concept of a distinctly American identity. And as America in the eighteenth century began to change from a place of religious refuge to a hub of commerce and political experimentation, so, too, did poetry change. Philip Freneau (1752–1832) is often considered the poet of the American Revolution. Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784) is the first Black poet in America to publish a book of poems. Her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773) contains poem that observe established forms and styles, particularly those perfected by Pope.
American Puritan Poets | Bradstreet, Wigglesworth, Taylor | Lect. 2 | Early American Poetry Course Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-09-02 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIn this lecture, we’ll cover some essentials regarding three major Puritan poets, Anne Bradstreet, Michael Wigglesworth, and Edward Taylor.What did poetry mean the New England puritans? And how did it serve as a method of education, communication, devotion, and a source of beauty?
The 44 Best Poets | The Foundations Canon Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-08-16 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThe Foundations Canon of 44 poets and poems represents some of the most important and anthologized poets in the traditions of English-language poets since the medieval period. The list includes poets who have appeared more than 7 times (and any Modernist poet listed more than 6 times) in the 16 volumes mention in my previous video "How I compiled the Canons." If you are a self-learner and reader studying classic poetry without access to college classes, this canon is an excellent guide to designing your own curriculum. They represent a core selection of poets who have traditionally been read, appraised, and taught in classrooms across the world. I teach evening poetry classes on Patreon. If you are interested in studying many of these poets with me and others, you can join my online classes and friendly discussions at Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryFind the document here: adamgagewalker.com/guide-to-the-canon
The Ainsworth Psalter & Bay Psalm Book | Lect. 1 | Early American Poetry Course Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-08-06 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryPsalms are the beginning of American poetry and poetics. In this lecture, we consider the two important psalm translations: The Henry Ainsworth Psalter of the Separatist Pilgrims and the Massachusetts Bay Psalm Book of the Puritans. I host this course to my Student-Sponsors on Patreon. Students are here with me live for the presentation and will join me afterwards for small-group activities and discussions around the psalms. We’re going to go into breakout rooms after this to compare psalms. The cost to become a student sponsor is $10 a month. To join, you can sign up here: patreon.com/closereadingpoetry/membershipExplore on your own an online copy of the Ainsworth Psalter here: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A27792.0001.001?view=tocFlip through the Internet Archive scan of The Bay Psalm Book here at this link: archive.org/details/The-Bay-Psalm-Book-wdl-3600/3600/page/n1/mode/2up
I studied 16 poetry books across 4 centuries to make the canons Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-07-29 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryAn introductory video describing how I compiled the three forthcoming canons: the Foundations Canon (44 poets), the Golden Canon (88 poets), and the Silver Canon (144 poets). Study the canons of poetry with me at Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryA literary canon is a standard of judgment, a list of works agreed upon by a general consensus or readers that represents what Matthew Arnold called “the best that has been thought or said.” By reflecting the poets who have been valued by a consensus of readers, critics, scholars, editors, and other poets, these canons provide an authoritative map of discovery for self-learners, public readers, university students, and literature educators. I aimed at discovering a ranking of poets based upon their appearances within the 16 major anthologies. Although such rankings would vary if a different set of anthologies were used, these anthologies reflect the range of literary values that have determined the principles of selection used to compile canons since before the formation of university literature departments in the nineteenth century. To that end I have selected anthologies from across four centuries. The earliest is the list of poets included in Samuel Johnson’s Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1779–81) and the latest is the 2005 Norton Anthology of Poetry.My Goals with these Canons: 0:00-2:17My Method: 2:17-5:15Sneak Peak at the Master List (1,500+ names): 5:15-6:21The Anthologies I used: 6:22-17:40What are the Following Canons? 17:40-1948
The Top 6 Greatest English Poets | The Cornerstone Canon Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-07-15 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIn this video, I list the top greatest English poets who possess the criteria for greatness. Visit many poets, but live among these six. The Canon Series: 0:00-1:06How is greatness determined?: 1:06-4:12poet 1: 4:14-11:40poet 2: 11:40-16:22poet 3: 16:22-22:12poet 4: 22:13-27:52poet 5: 27:52-34:46poet 6: 34:46-43:35Honorable Mention: 43:36-45:00Looking Ahead: 45:04-45:17Take literature courses and study great poets with me here: Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry
How to Build Your Own Canon | Q&A Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-07-08 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIntroduction: 0:00-2:13Reading as Self-Discovery 2:13-5:213 Kinds of Reading Distinguished 5:21-6:59My Personal Canon Formation 6:59-9:594 Rules for Canon Study 9:59-15:28Upcoming Canon Video 15:28-1607Read my personal reflection on Coleridge's symbol see: friendsofcoleridge.com/images/9_-_Adam_Walker_Coleridges_Symbol_and_the_Souls_Vocabulary.pdf
My Thoughts on the Idea of a Canon Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-07-01 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryWhat is the canon of literature, and what is its value? This is a question I've received a few times and have spoken about before. I address it directly in this video. Complex Question 0:00-1:06History of Literary Canon 1:06-5:30The Canon Wars 5:30-7:022 Pros and 2 Cons of the idea of "THE canon" 7:02-11:20How I prefer to think about it 11:20-14:05canons vs. CANON 14:05-16:00
Country Music and the Great American Elegy Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-06-28 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryHow does contemporary country music participate within the tradition of the great American elegy? Returning to my roots in this unorthodox lecture, I pair Walt Whitman with Alan Jackson, John Clare with John Anderson, Trumbull Stickney with Craig Morgan, and Emily Dickinson with George Jones. I look specifically at Alan Jackson's "Little Man," John Anderson's "Seminole Wind," Craig Morgan's "Almost Home," and George Jones's "He Stopped Loving Her Today."Introduction to the Elegy 0:00-4:39National Elegies | Whitman & Alan Jackson 4:39-11:30Ecological Elegies |John Clare & John Anderson 11:30-20:15American Nostalgia | Stickney & Craig Morgan 20:15-30:01Elegiac Constancy | Dickinson & Jones 30:01-39:51
John Keats & the Poetry of fine excess | Midsummer Lecture Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-06-24 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryOn February 27, 1818, John Keats wrote to his friend John Taylor the following passage:"In Poetry I have a few Axioms, and you will see how far I am from their Centre. 1st I think Poetry should surprise by a fine excess and not by Singularity—it should strike the Reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear almost a Remembrance--"But what does Keats mean when he says that “Poetry should surprise by a fine excess”? This lecture answers this question by looking carefully at some instances of fine excess in some of his Odes. The period from 1818 to 1819 was particularly productive for Keats. It was during this time that he composed his famous odes, a series of poems that are now considered some of the finest works in English literature. The odes were written in a burst of creative energy." These poems—"Ode to Psyche," "Ode on Melancholy," "Ode on Indolence," and "Ode on a Grecian Urn"—are characterized by their rich imagery, emotional intensity, and exploration of beauty and transience.Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry
Reading T.S. Eliots Four Quartets | Reading Group July 2024 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-06-22 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryT.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets is one of the most profound and complex poetic works of the twentieth century. This lecture will provide you with an introduction and some advice on how to approach the poem. By the end of this session, you will be well-prepared to delve deeper into "Four Quartets" with our reading group.Join the study group here: Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIntroduction to Eliot and 4Qs: 0:00-3:125 Ways of Close Reading the 4Qs: 3:12-4:44Step 1 Placing in Contexts: 4:45-11:15Step 2 Observing Words: 11:15-16:09Step 3 Experiencing Impression: 16:09-20:26Step 4 Marking Meter: 20:26-22:29Step 5 Surveying Structure: 22:29-30:24Summary: 30:26-31:29
The Poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-06-20 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryHopkins is one of the greatest and most innovative poets of the past two centuries. Christopher Ricks calls him the “most original poet of the Victorian age.” Robert Bernard Martin claims that Hopkins’s poetry was as influential as T.S. Eliot’s initiation of the modernist movement. In terms of devotional poetry, Hopkins is unique in that his poetry works according to an aesthetic, spiritual principle that he himself perceived in nature. This lecture will explore his unique approach to language, rhythm, and form, while considering his religious beliefs.Join the lectures and study groups at Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry
Christina Rossettis Art of the Devotional Sonnet Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-06-16 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThe third lecture in our May mini-course on devotional poets focuses on Christina Rossetti’s “Later Life” Sonnets. Sonnets demand intellectual as well as bodily attention; they require us to think with our minds and our bodies, our eyes and ears. The word “sonnet” comes from the Italian sonnetto, which means “little sound.” As a practicing Anglo-Catholic, Christina Rossetti’s religious life was full of little sounds. Anglo-Catholicism involved a restoration of Roman Catholic liturgical practices in the Protestant Church of England. This was brought about by the Oxford Movement, a group of clergymen who wanted to restore some of the medieval and Roman Catholic traditions as a way to enrich practical piety and to return to a more native, English style of worship, a worship that blends the sensual and sensuous—with bells, candles, tinted glass, a pre-Raphaelite penchant for medieval luxuriousness of symbolism and decoration. So when reading Rossetti today, we must experience her poems the same way we would experience an Anglo-Catholic liturgy. We must think with not only our minds but also our senses. Hers is a poetry that is vividly pictorial and, at the same time, distinctively ascetic; at times, passionate and even erotic and equally chaste in its austerity.
Thomas Traherne | Childhood, Vision, and the Contemplative Act Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-06-10 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryWe now come to Thomas Traherne, whose poetry has been celebrated for its scintillating visions of childhood and its crystalline, spiritual imagery that shocks like cold spring water. Unlike Mary Sidney Herbert, Traherne is not a master lyrical technician. If we appreciate Traherne’s poetry the way we appreciated Mary Herbert’s poetry, we would be disappointed. In him is little subtle wit and hardly the kind of formal intricacies we saw in Mary Herbert’s verse. Yet, different poets call for different kinds of appreciation.The value of Traherne’s poetry is that of its unique spiritual vision coupled with unprecedented representations of devotional experience in verse. His representations and lyrical enactments of wonder and ecstasy I think are unparalleled. No other poet gives us such electric transitions, such diaphanous descriptions of spiritual elation.In this lecture, I closely read his poems through the lens of his own profound spiritual vision. At the end of the video, I’ll provide some recommendations for further reading.
Mary Sidney Herbert | The Mother of English Devotional Poetry Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-06-04 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryMary Sidney Herbert is one of the canon’s best kept-secrets—a lyrical genius to whom so many poets owe a debt of gratitude, not least of all John Donne, George Herbert, Thomas Traherne, and many others. In this lecture, I’d like to discuss two aspects: 1) her lyrical mastery and ingenuity; 2) and her lyrical levity, or (for perhaps a better word) her "playfulness."I’ll conclude by reflecting upon her contribution to English poetry more broadly.
Introduction to Postmodern and Contemporary Poetry (c.1960 - present) Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-05-30 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThis lecture on postmodern and contemporary poetry considers how poetry has taken on a transpersonal and trans-geographical, even redemptive and spiritual valence since the mid-twentieth century up to the recent decade. Last lecture we considered the struggle underlying modernist poetry to hold together the fragments of a fragmented world, to connect other lives with our own, in some respects to critique the modern world, and to sustain the human spirit amid the chaos of modern experience. I focus on connections and how contemporary poetry often involves a connecting hermeneutic that interprets or arranges sound and text into a larger meaning, or, where meaning is impossible, to achieve a toleration of meaninglessness; it attempts to connect voice and form in its expression of life, and it aims at connecting other past traditions that we explored in this series. Introduction: 0:00-4:56Jacques Derrida's Deconstruction 4:56-8:07Caroline Bergvall's Drift: 8:07-21:26Jorie Graham's "The Geese": 21:26-33:07Susan Howe's "Frolic Architecture": 33:07-47:25Caroline Bergvall's performance of Drift: youtube.com/watch?v=PmT7TdMypycSusan Howe's Performance of Frolic Architecture: youtube.com/watch?v=xR6cfDFTL8QThumbnail image from the following citation:Howe, Susan. “Frolic Architecture, by Susan Howe and David Grubbs.” Susan Howe and David Grubbs, Susan Howe and David Grubbs, 9 Feb. 2021, susanhowedavidgrubbs.bandcamp.com/album/frolic-architecture.
Introduction to Modernist Poetry (c.1890 - 1950) Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-05-24 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThe modernist period, spanning from 1890 to 1950, is a period of radical, society change—one might even say a period of cultural trauma. The voices of modernist poems seem to ask: how can poetry keep together the fragments of a fragmented world? How can poetry connect us to other people who live their separate lives in the shared world of war, financial destitution, political turmoil, and human atrocities? In this lecture, I want to give you a survey of some of the major themes and formal characteristics to reading modernist poetry.Introduction: 0:00-3:40W.B. Yeats and Intimations of Modernism 3:40-9:42Wilfred Owen and WWI Poetry 9:42-26:07T.S. Eliot and The Waste Land 26:07-38:35W.H. Auden and The Shield of Achilles 38:35-49:03Join the Patreon community: Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry
Poetry in the Victorian Period (1837-1901) Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-05-17 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThe Victorian Period is the only movement of poetry covered in this series that takes its name from a monarch. Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to her death in 1901. Her reign covered a period of accelerated industrialization, a homogenization of manners and civility, the expansive growth of urban spaces and of the global empire, social reform and education acts, and the rise of the middle class. Viewing the literary topography of the Victorian period from afar, a few major mountain ranges rise in the distance. The peaks of great novelists such as the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Willkie Collins rise to prominence out of the atmospheric haze. We see the outlines of essayists and short story-writers such as Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Carlyle, and Walter Pater. It’s a period known predominantly for its prose. But what about Victorian poetry?Poetry in the Victorian period is prolific and diverse. There are few defining characteristics by which the entire period may be described. So for this lecture, I’m going to introduce you to three major poets (Alfred, Lord Tennyson; Robert Browning; Matthew Arnold) and place a poem of each in conversation with some of the major cultural interests shared by many other poets.Introduction 0:00-4:31Victorian Medievalism & Tennyson 4:31-17:23Dramatic Voice & Browning 17:23-31:53The Ebbing Sea of Faith & Arnold 31:53-44:06Support my work and join the community of poetry-readers here! patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry
Introduction to Romanticism (1780-1830) Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-05-08 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThe poets who have been regarded as the most representative of the Romantic poetry movement are divided into two camps—early and late. The older generation of Romantics begins with William Blake, William Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The younger generation that succeeds them include Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Keats. They are often called “The Big 6,” but there are more Romantic age poets who are worth reading.Intro with Charlotte Smith 0:00-5:40Nature & Shelley's "Mont Blanc" 5:40-16:04Nature, God, & natura naturans 16:04-26:01Byron's Satire & Blake's Prophecy 26:01-40:05The Imagination Coleridge & Keats 40:05-47:41Lesser Known Romantics 47:41-50:12Join the community at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry
Lecture 12 | Leaving Paradise & the Elegiac Movement (Book XII) | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-05-03 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryFollowing the idea of Paradise Lost as an elegy, I want us to think of the elegy as a form that can enact this psychological movement from loss to recompense. The poetry of Book 12 encloses these key moments of (what I call) "elegiac transit" and trace the psychological movement from loss to consolation. In this lecture, I argue that the elegiac movement is not so much an exchange of states in that one thing is traded for another. It rather involves a dilation, in which the former state is not so much lost but transmuted and the scope of recompense enlarges to enclose it.
Poetry of the Augustan Age & the Age of Johnson (1660-1770) | Lecture 9 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-05-02 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIn this lecture, I’ll survey the very wide and prolific poetry of the Restoration, often called England’s Augustan Age of poetry. I’ll focus on John Dryden and Alexander Pope in the first half, and turn attention to the eighteenth-century and the Age of Johnson in the second half. The eighteenth-century is often neglected—both by the academies and public readers. It is a seemingly forbidding domain of poetry, full of satire, erudite and compact verse, and neoclassical art. But in this lecture, I aim at making this period of poetry accessible to you all. If you want to appreciate, or at least to know more about, the eighteenth century, what do you need to know?What happens to Poetry in the Augustan Age?: 0:00-6:25John Dryden and the late 17thc: 6:25-21:26Alexander Pope and the early 18thc: 21:26-29:17The Age of Johnson: 29:17-33:59Pre-Romanticism: 33:59-37:53
Lecture 11 | Losing Paradise (Book XI) | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-04-29 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThe transgression of Book 9 led us to the condemnation of Book 10; Now we come at last to Paradise Lost—Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden. All consolation in earthly things are taken away and the first human beings are made to stand without support. Paradise Lost might be read as one long elegy—a poem of loss and lament that moves at last to a great exchange. Paradise Lost participates in a social and psychological practice of understanding loss—it emerges from a felt experience of loss and works towards the consolation of that loss. In Book 11, the loss reaches an unbearable weight. In Book 12, the consolation is provided in full. In Book 11, we find the psychological exploration of states of grief and mourning.
Early Seventeenth-Century Poetry (1600-1660): Metaphysical, Cavalier, & Puritan | Lecture 8 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-04-24 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIn this lecture we consider the three major styles of the early seventeenth-century poetry: the metaphysical, cavalier, and puritan styles. In our last lecture, we considered Renaissance poetry of the late sixteenth century, a poetry that is characterized by classical decoration, neat organization, musical turns, praise and passion for idealized lovers cast in elegant Elizabethan delicacy. Early seventeenth century poetic styles depart from this tradition in complex ways. Introduction: 0:00-4:25Metaphysical Style: 4:25-19:05English Civil Wars - Historical Context: 19:05-22:22Cavalier Style: 22:22-29:29Puritan Style: 29:29-42:22Support my work and join the poetry community on Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry
Book 10 | The Turn of Hope (Book X) | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-04-18 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryFrom Book 10 onward, the tension shifts from an anticipation of ruin to the anticipation of hope. This lecture considers the Son’s judgment of the serpent, Eve, and Adam and how Book 10 with Books 11 and 12 are essentially a conversion story. We’ve come now to the tenth lecture of the course “Paradise Lost in Slow Motion” hosted by the Antrim Literature Project, a public humanities platform which makes the study of literature accessible to readers beyond the paywalls of the university. Over the past two weeks as we have covered Books 8 and 9, we heard from two guest lecturers hosted by the Antrim Literature Project. You can find those lectures included in this playlist and also on the Antrim Literature Project’s YouTube Page here @AntrimLiteratureProject
Reading English Renaissance Poetry (1509-1603) | Lecture 7 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-04-10 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThe English Renaissance was the time of new learning; the invention of the printing press and moveable type; a revival of the arts; of war and reformation; devotion and persecution; soul-burdening theological controversies and dilemmas of conscience that affected every wrung upon the social ladder.But how did this affect the development of English poetry? That’s what we’ll consider in this lecture. Out of this time came one of the most productive periods of English poetry. Renaissance poetry is a cornucopia of new inventions—a relish for the refinement of classical art; a new courtly and anti-courtly attitude; melodious love lyrics; an exuberant excess of love sonnets; and psalms translated into English so touching in their emotional power and so sobering in their plain, unaffected beauty.Introduction: 0:00-6:44Renaissance, the term 6:44-8:25Humanism and Sidney's Defense of Poetry 8:25-16:37Reformation and Psalm Translations 16:37-22:20Poetry & the Printing Press: George Herbert, Edmund Spenser 22:20-31:56The Elizabethan Sonnet Craze 31:56-39:26
4 Devotional Poets You Need to Read | May Mini-Course Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-04-05 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryUpcoming Mini-Course & Lecture-Series on English Devotional PoetryJoin the live course and discussion in May on Patreon: patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThe Value of Devotional Poetry: 0:00-1:52The Mother of English Devotional Poetry: 1:52-3:45The Poet of Childhood: 3:45-5:27The Poet of Later Life: 5:27-8:33The Poet of Ecstasy: 8:33-12:09
What do I think of Harold Bloom? | Q&A Eps.1 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-04-03 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryAnswering your questions regarding my thoughts on Harold Bloom.
Reading Middle English Poetry (1066-1470) | Lecture 6 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-03-29 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIn this lecture, we consider what to look for when reading Middle English; how to read it aloud; historical and religious context; and how to appreciate its verse. Apologies for the poor video quality this time!Harvard Resources & How to pronounce Middle English: https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/great-vowel-shift
Study the English Canon of Poetry | Crash Course Syllabus for Spring 2024 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-03-28 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryHere is a brief update on the course that is currently running on Patreon. To all who have been watching online, thanks for following along! If you'd like to join the live classroom, check out the link: www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThis survey course offers a foundational exploration of English poetry, tracing major developments from its Anglo-Saxon roots to contemporary verse. Through a broad yet engaging exploration, you'll gain insights into the literary contexts that shaped these poems, delve into major forms and genres, and sharpen your skills in analyzing poetic techniques. While the course focuses primarily upon English poetry, we will occasionally consider relevant poetry from Welsh, Scottish, Irish, and American traditions. Meetings will occur on the Zoom link provided on Patreon.My goal is to help readers to:(1) gain a foundational understanding of the historical development of English poetry, from its Anglo-Saxon roots to contemporary verse;(2) identify and analyze major poetic forms and genres across different periods; (3) explore the literary contexts that influenced the creation and meaning of poems;(4) develop critical reading skills to enjoy and interpret poetic techniques (e.g., imagery, metaphor, symbolism, sound devices);(5) recognize the influence of neighboring poetic traditions like Welsh, Scottish, Irish, and American poetry on English verse.Meetings consist of a live lecture (30-50 minutes) followed by Q&A and discussion. Prior knowledge is helpful but not required. There are no assigned readings before each lecture.
Lecture 7 | Miltons Grand Syntax (Book VII) | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-03-28 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThis lecture on Book VII focuses on Raphael's account of creation. It gives special attention to the music of Milton's syntax, the arrangement of words and phrases in a sentence. References:Donald Davie, Articulate Energy (1955)Susanne Langer Philosophy in a New Key (1942)Lee M. Johnson, “Milton’s Mathematical Symbol of Theodicy,” Comp. & Maths. with Appls. Vol. 12B, Nos. 3/4, pp. 617-627, 1986. (Link is too long. Google the title of the article and it should appear.)Creaser, John. “Variously Drawn Out.” Milton and the Resources of the Line, Oxford University Press, 2022.
Lecture 6 | Hearing the War in Heaven: Sound and Sense (Book 6) | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-03-21 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThis lecture continues last week’s consideration of sound and sense in poetry. There are certain moments in this epic when the lines take on a lyrical quality. In Book VI, Raphael continues his narration of the War in Heaven. The faithful Abdiel returns from the troops of rebels, suffering scorn and derision and is met at the Mount of God with praise. The Father then sends out his angels for battle. While closely listening to the sounds of the descriptions of battle, the goal is "to heighten your awareness and to increase your sensitivity to the bodily experience of poetry. You cannot read a poem like Emerson’s eyeball, an intellectual all in all. You must bring your ears and mouth."
Shakespeare Sonnet 69 | Close Reading, Summary & Analysis Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-03-16 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryA close reading of Shakespeare's Sonnet 69, requested for Robin's birthday.
Lecture 5 | Reading Rhythm in Dreams, Hymns, & Dances | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-03-15 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryConsidering Milton's use of poetic meter, this lecture covers Eve's Nightmare, Adam's Morning Hymn, and the origins of Satan's Rebellion.This video is part I of two parts on Milton's blending of sound and sense. In Book 6, we will continue to look at Milton's use of lyrical sound when we come to the battle in heaven. See the link below for a handout on meter: docs.google.com/document/d/17TIF19xn-CexAt18Ov7Vj3dxTFeVVoMloT3_MI8xaVc/edit?usp=sharing
How to Read Old English Poetry (c.450-1066) | Lecture 5 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-03-12 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThis lecture includes readings of Old English (Anglo-Saxon) and close readings of Beowulf in Old English and in translation. I also explain Old English poetics and meter as we read from lyric poems such as "The Seafarer," "The Dream of the Rood," and "The Wife's Lament".As we’re beginning our survey course on English poetry, this first lesson will be an introduction to Old English poetry, what is often called Anglo-Saxon poetry. This lecture will equip you to explore Old English poetry in translation on your own. In the description below, I’ve also added some useful resources. But check out Johanna Alden's lecture on Old English Riddles: youtube.com/watch?v=qoM_D_HlcGE Join the live lectures: patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryResources:Old and Middle English c. 890-c.1450: An Anthology, ed. Elaine Treharne.The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature, ed. Malcolm Godden & Michael Lapidge.General Essential Articles for the Study of Old English Poetry, ed. J.B. Bessinger and S.J. Kahrl. A History of the English Language, 3rd ed. by A.C. Baugh. The Beowulf-poem unveiled: 0:00-6:00Grendel arrives (in Old English): 4:35-7:40Join live discussions: 8:18-9:00How Old English poetry works: 9:00-16:19Old English or Anglo-Saxon?: 16:43-17:55 The spiritual character of OE Poetry: 17:55-21:13Discussing The Dream of the Rood: 21:13-25:57Discussing The Seafarer: 25:57-32:25Discussing The Wife's Lament: 32:25-35:07The Role of the Anglo-Saxon Poet: 35:07-37:14Kennings: 37:14-39:25Legacies: Tolkien, Auden, Hopkins: 39:27-45:03
Taylor Swift and the Lyric Tradition Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-03-08 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryTaylor Swift's songs have sparked some literary interest lately, and rightly so. In this video, I want to (1) see how some of her lyrics respond to the kind of close reading I practice on this channel and (2) consider how some of the major themes of her poems are located within larger traditions of lyric poetry. Join the Patreon community where you can attend live lectures and discussion, talk with me during office hours, participate in the Discord conversation, and meet several times each month to celebrate poets' birthdays through communal poetry readings and discussions! patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIntroduction: 0:00-1:36Lyric Poetry: 1:36-5:15Swift's Lyre - "Teardrops on my Guitar": 5:16-13:38Are English profs full of crap? 13:38-17:00Lyric's Preservative Power: 17:00-21:30Redemptive Memory in "Mine": 21:30-25:39Elegiac Memory in "Tim McGraw": 25:39-27:09Commemoration in "Widest Dreams": 27:09-34:28Swift & Romanticism "The Lakes": 34:28-42:30Thumbnail from "Anti-Hero (Official Video)" uploaded by Taylor Swift, 21 October 2022, youtube.com/watch?v=b1kbLwvqugk
Lecture 4 | Satans Remorse and Eves Poetry (Book 4) | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-03-07 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThis lecture on Book 4 of Milton's Paradise Lost explores the following key passages: Beginning lines: 0:55-5:00Satan’s Great Soliloquy on Mount Niphates: 5:00-12:57Descriptions of Paradise: 12:58-30:22Close Reading Eve’s Love-Song: 30:23-38:39Conclusion 38:39-39:53
Lecture 3 | Poeticizing Heaven (Book III) | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-02-29 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThis lecture considers the dramatic representation of the Council of God in light of Milton's artistic objectives in writing Paradise Lost: to justify (or explain) the ways of God to men and to contribute something new to literature.
Lecture 2 | Reading the Voices of Hell: Book 2 | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-02-23 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThis lecture considers how the act of reading Paradise Lost is a process of untangling evil from good, Hell from Earth.Two things begin to happen within the poetry of Book II. The first is that the voices of Hell begin to sound more sinister than they did in Book I. And the second is that the speaker of the poem, whom I call the Miltonic Bard, begins to emerge from the poem’s vocal architecture. In Book I, he was withdrawn, letting Satan work his powerful rhetoric. But in Book II, the Miltonic Bard begins to speak.
Classical Backgrounds of English Poetry: The Latins | Lecture 4 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-02-22 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIn this lecture I discuss three major Augustan poets -- Ovid, Virgil, and Horace -- who were especially formative for developments in English poetry.
Why is Miltons Satan So Seductive? Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-02-20 | Excerpt from Lecture on Paradise Lost Book I, from the course "Paradise Lost in Slow Motion."
Paradise Lost Book I, 242-255. Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-02-20 | For a full analysis, check out the lecture on my channel!
Lecture 1 | Satanic Schemes in Slow Motion (Book 1) | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-02-15 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThis lecture considers the attractiveness of Satan’s character through his language—namely his rhetoric. Rhetoric is a particular kind of public discourse. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “rhetoric” as: "1.a.The art of using language effectively so as to persuade or influence others, esp. the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques to this end; the study of principles and rules to be followed by a speaker or writer striving for eloquence, esp. as formulated by ancient Greek and Roman writers."I want to suggest in this lecture that part of what makes Satan so alluring and so persuasive is his use of rhetorical scheme. In classical rhetoric, figures of speech are divided into two kinds: tropes and schemes. A trope plays with meaning. A pun, which involves is a double meaning, is a trope. Metaphor, similes, allegories are all tropes. They involve a change in signification. Schemes play with the order and arrangement of words. We'll explore how Satan's rhetorical balancing act of language, the same act that gives his rhetoric the semblance of perfection and argumentative weight. We'll highlight some of Satan's antithetical imagery and antithesis, epanadiplosis, chiasmus, and antimetabole to find out how he uses his rhetoric to seduce.
Classical Backgrounds to English Poetry | Greek Literature | Lecture 3 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-02-14 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryIn this lecture I discuss three major endowments that classical Greek literature gave English poetry. The first is a dramatic and interesting representation of human passion as the impetus to action. The second is a spiritual character. The third is literary criticism, a way to understand and evaluate literary art. The lecture is divided as follows:Introduction 0:00-2:48Homer & Human Passion: 2:49-26:29Plato & Spiritual Character: 26:30-32:28Aristotle & Literary Criticism: 32:29-43:26
Lecture 0 | How To Read Paradise Lost for Beginners | Paradise Lost in Slow Motion Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-02-08 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryThe spring 2024 course "Paradise Lost in Slow Motion" has begun! Hosted by the @AntrimLiteratureProject, this beginner-friendly course encourages slow, careful, deliberate readings of John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Reading one book per week, we’ll complete Milton’s epic in one semester. In this video, I talk about how to read Paradise Lost. What's the best way to experience it as a poem? What should I do about all the allusions and classical references? Is this a work of art that only "experts" can enjoy? These are some of the questions and concerns we address. Then I turn to the epic invocation (Book 1, lines 1-26). Along the way, we’ll learn something of Milton’s life and times and what the poet is trying to accomplish in this poem, and what it offers us. No matter who you are or where you are, this poem has something for you. Works Referenced:Samuel Johnson, Preface to Shakespeare (1765)Charles G. Osgood, Poetry as a Means of Grace (1941)Barbara Lewalski, "The genres of Paradise Lost" in The Cambridge Companion to Milton (8th printing, 2008)
John Donne | Holy Sonnet 14 & Donnes Psychological Intensity | Close Reading & Analysis Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-01-29 | A brief close reading John Donne's Holy Sonnet XIV (Holy Sonnet 14) in which I focus on psychological intensity as a characteristic feature of Donne's verse. ______________Support my channel here and get access to exclusive opportunities to study poetry with me: patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry Learn how to close-read poetry through my lecture series, “Close Reading Poetry” here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW5o46cLClzwpbcp3pmYqNL_TX9qMHMAOFind me teaching at the Antrim Literature Project: https://www.AntrimLiteratureProject.org
Reginald Dwayne Betts | Bible and Literary Backgrounds Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-01-22 | A brief look at two of Reginald Dwayne Betts's poems and their rootedness in Biblical and Literary traditions. Read more about Reginald Dwayne Betts at his website here: dwaynebetts.com
Henry Vaughan | The Retreat | Close Reading Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-01-17 | Join the poetry community and study literature with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetryA close reading of Henry Vaughan's "The Retreat." After making an appearance in my first lecture on Bible Backgrounds and English Poetry, Vaughan's timeless classic gets closer attention in this individual close reading.
How the Poets Read the Bible | The Typological Imagination | Bible Backgrounds Lecture 2 Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-01-12 | Join the poetry community and study this list with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry Part 2 of Bible Backgrounds and English Poetry explores the way poets read the Bible. Focusing on biblical typology, the interpretation that unifies Old and New Testaments, we explore how typological readings of scripture have inspired poetry and reading throughout the centuries.Further Reading and Works Cited:Christopher Hodgkins's Literary Study of the BibleNorthrop Frye's The Great CodeA Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, ed. David Lyle JeffreyBarbara Lewalski's “Seventeenth-Century Symbolism” in Literary Uses of Typology from the Late Middle Ages to the Present, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977.Karl Keller's “Alephs, Zahirs, and the Triumph of Ambiguity: Typology in Nineteenth-Century American Literature” in Literary Uses of Typology from the Late Middle Ages to the Present, ed. Earl Miner, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 1977, pp. 306-7. Barbara Lewalski's Protestant Poetics and the Seventeenth-Century Religious LyricIntroduction to Christian Reading of the Bible as Book: 0:00-5:22An example of a Type: 5:22-8:50Type Defined: 8:50-9:34Type of Adam and Christ: 9:34-15:00Medieval Reading Quadriga: 15:00-16:19Symbol vs Type: 16:19-18:25Understanding the Typological Imagination 18:25-21:17Examples in Poetry - Giles Fletcher: 21:17-23:34George Herbert 23:34-24:05John Donne 24:05-26:10Christina Rossetti 26:10-27:38Emily Dickinson 27:38-32:47Shakespeare's Sonnet 106 32:47-35:30
Anne Bradstreet | Before the Birth of One of Her Children | Close Reading Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry 2024-01-08 | Join the poetry community and study this list with me at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry A close reading and analysis of Anne Bradstreet's "Before the Birth of One of Her Children."
