POET 45 W — Poetry Workshop: The Rhythm Has Meaning
Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Jalen Eutsey
Date(s): Jan 22—Feb 26
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Class Meeting Time: 6:00—7:00 pm (PT)
Tuition: $655
Refund Deadline: Jan 24
Unit(s): 1
Enrollment Limit: 18
Status: Open
Quarter: Winter
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 6 weeks
Time: 6:00—7:00 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jan 22—Feb 26
Unit(s): 1
Tuition: $655
Refund Deadline: Jan 24
Instructor(s): Jalen Eutsey
Grade Restriction: No letter grade
Enrollment Limit: 18
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Open
Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. —T.S. Eliot
In this course, we will strive to write poetry of the sort that Eliot describes—poems that speak to us on a deeper level before we fully grasp their meaning, revealing new layers with each reading. What is the rhythm of rage? What are the sonic qualities of desire? We’ll start with a focus on rhythm—both formal and free verse—and the sonic qualities of language, including rhyme, assonance, alliteration, and consonance. We’ll examine how fundamental elements of poetry, like imagery, diction, lineation, and sound, establish the tone and voice of a poem. We’ll seek to write poems that reward multiple rereadings by being attuned to the connotative possibilities of the aural elements of language. Our studies will include works by acclaimed poets such as Philip Larkin, John Ashbery, Li-Young Lee, Elizabeth Bishop, Terrance Hayes, Ross Gay, Dean Young, and Mary Ruefle. Each week, we’ll discuss what we’ve read, undertake prompt-based writing exercises, and submit poems for written feedback from both the instructor and your peers. You’ll leave this workshop with a portfolio of new work and a deeper understanding of poetic craft.
In this course, we will strive to write poetry of the sort that Eliot describes—poems that speak to us on a deeper level before we fully grasp their meaning, revealing new layers with each reading. What is the rhythm of rage? What are the sonic qualities of desire? We’ll start with a focus on rhythm—both formal and free verse—and the sonic qualities of language, including rhyme, assonance, alliteration, and consonance. We’ll examine how fundamental elements of poetry, like imagery, diction, lineation, and sound, establish the tone and voice of a poem. We’ll seek to write poems that reward multiple rereadings by being attuned to the connotative possibilities of the aural elements of language. Our studies will include works by acclaimed poets such as Philip Larkin, John Ashbery, Li-Young Lee, Elizabeth Bishop, Terrance Hayes, Ross Gay, Dean Young, and Mary Ruefle. Each week, we’ll discuss what we’ve read, undertake prompt-based writing exercises, and submit poems for written feedback from both the instructor and your peers. You’ll leave this workshop with a portfolio of new work and a deeper understanding of poetic craft.
JALEN EUTSEY
Poet
Jalen Eutsey’s poems have appeared in Best New Poets 2022, The Yale Review, Poetry Northwest, Nashville Review, and elsewhere. He has taught creative writing at Johns Hopkins and Stanford, and to young adults through the Writers in Baltimore Schools and Baltimore Youth Film Arts programs. He received an MFA in poetry from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins and now serves as a contributing editor for The Hopkins Review. He was a 2022–24 Stegner Fellow at Stanford.Textbooks for this course:
(Recommended) Alfred Corn, The Poem's Heartbeat: A Manual of Prosody (ISBN 978-1556592812)
(Recommended) James Longenbach, The Art of the Poetic Line (ISBN 978-1555974886)
(Recommended) James Longenbach, The Art of the Poetic Line (ISBN 978-1555974886)