Syllabus: English 343: Topics in Pre-1800 English Literature
English Poetry: 1500-1800
Instructor: Walter Beale
Office: 3109 MHRA
Text: The Norton Anthology of Poetry, 5th Edition
General Subject: Lyric and occasional poetry in English from the Renaissance through the Early
Romantic periods. (Roughly from the early 16th through the late 18th centuries.)
Special Topics: Relationships between secular and religious viewpoints, sexuality and
spirituality, earthly and divine love in the poetry and thought of these periods.
We’ll also be paying attention to the changing social functions and status of poetry. Who’s
writing it, for whom, and for what purposes? What role is it playing in society?
The SI Component: This course is Speaking Intensive for three good reasons: 1) A great deal of
the poetry written during these periods was meant to be read aloud and enjoyed that way; 2)
one of the best ways to understand and enjoy poetry is to read it aloud in a way that is
enjoyable and makes sense; and 3) poetry, like all of the fine arts, lives and continues to live
through performance and interpretation.
A significant amount of your effort will go into oral readings, interpretations, and presentations.
You’ll receive practice and coaching from me, from the course’s graduate assistant, and from
consultants in the University Speaking Center.
Learning Goals:
a) to know and appreciate the most important and representative poetry
over the 300-year period covered by the course;
b) to have a more sophisticated understanding of poetry in general
d) to develop and improve oral performance and communication.
Your Grade for the Course: 40%
10%
20%
20%
two 1-hour tests
mid-term presentation
final examination
Final oral presentation
Class Participation: +/- one letter grade
Attendance is especially important in a speaking-intensive class. No distinction will be
made between excused and unexcused absences. For any reason, every
absence after 3 will reduce your final grade by ½ letter
Your Responsibilities:
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Be prepared to make presentations as assigned
Be prepared to engage in follow-up discussion as assigned
Read and make use of Wikipedia articles on every author assigned
Read and make use of historical background materials on e-reserves
Read and make use of web materials on the Norton Anthology website
Speaking-Intensive Requirement: meet with instructor or graduate assistant as assigned,
individually and in groups, for practice and feedback on oral presentations (failure to meet
these requirements could reduce your grade in the course by as much as a letter grade)
Class period guidelines: Please…
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Arrive on time
Do not leave early
Do not return if you must leave
Keep laptops closed and turned off
Keep hand-held devices turned off and out of your hands
Bring something to drink if you want to, but do not bring food
For any infraction of the above you will be counted absent.
Sequence of Readings and Calendar: In a speaking-intensive course, it is impossible to set up
a strict calendar of readings. I will assign individual readings on a weekly basis, using the
following sequence:
Medieval backgrounds (approximately 3 class periods)
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Medieval Lyrics pp. 15-18; 68-70; 79-86; 101, 103)
Renaissance (approximately 12 class periods)
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Elizabethan and Jacobean Poems pp. 117-124
Thomas Wyatt, pp. 126-136
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey pp. 137.139
Anne Askew, Queen Elizabeth, Isabella Whitney, Mary Sidney pp. 140-143; 146149; 225-29
Christopher Marlowe pp. 256
Sir Walter Raleigh pp. 151-158
Sir Phillip Sidney pp. 208-220
Robert Southwell pp. 223-24
William Shakespeare pp. 257-277
Seventeenth Century (approximately 15 class periods)
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John Donne pp. 293-322
Ben Jonson pp. 325,326,331-333
Mary Wroth pp. 347-49
Robert Herrick pp. 354-362
George Herbert, 367-85
Thomas Carew, 387-88
Edmund Waller, 393-94
John Milton 394-410; 417-18; 421-450
Richard Crashaw, 468-470
Richard Lovelace 472-474
Andrew Marvell 475-489
Eighteenth Century (approximately 3 class periods)
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Alexander Pope 604-20; 623
Isaac Watts, Charles Wesley 589—93; 652-55
Early Romanticism (approximately 6 class periods)
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Thomas Gray 669
William Blake 733-44
William Wordsworth 765; 781-88; 796