ENAM 0375 Poetry Workshop
Middlebury College * Fall 2009
Tues & Thurs 3:00 – 4:15 LIB 230
David Barber * Axinn 302 * dbarber@middlebury.edu
Poetry is the peerless proficiency of the imagination.
– Marianne Moore
The spider's touch, how exquisitely fine:
Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.
– Alexander Pope
Course Overview
Our main undertaking in this workshop will be to examine and appraise the poems
you'll be presenting in class, exchanging thoughts about how they can best
realize their ambitions. On occasion, we will also be discussing the craft of
poetry in general terms. By craft I do not simply mean technical concerns such
as linebreaks or diction but all the various expressive resources that can give
a poem its aesthetic authority as memorable speech. This is not to say that we
will exclude consideration of other factors that may bear on the work at hand,
only that such matters will be secondary to sounding out the inner workings of
any given poem we happen to have before us. Whatever your particular affinities
or ideas regarding poetry at this stage in your writing lives, all that you
will need to bring to the course from the outset is a genuine interest in
trying your hand at composing in verse lines to the best of your abilities, and
a ready willingness to learn more about the tools of the trade. Suffice to say,
there are practically as many different incentives and motivations for writing
poems as there are fishes in the sea, so beyond that you will be given every
latitude to explore the art of poetry in the spirit you see fit.
There is of course no surefire formula for writing accomplished poems: it takes
passion and discipline, faith and tenacity, judgment, intuition, and nerve. To
a large degree, then, the ultimate objective of the workshop is for each of you
to gain some greater measure of confidence and conviction as serious poets, to
cultivate the habits and instincts that will help sustain you in the essential
solitude of your writing. By reading one another's work sensitively,
intelligently, and rigorously, it's my hope that you will all come away from
our term together with a heightened sense of artistic purpose, a sharper
critical perspective on how good poems achieve their singularity, and a surer
feel for “living along the line.”
Texts and Readings
There are three required texts for the course: a poetry anthology, The Rattle
Bag, edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes, and two handbooks on prosody and
poetics, The Sounds of Poetry: A Brief Guide, by Robert Pinsky, and An
Introduction to English Poetry, by James Fenton. From time to time I will also
distribute supplemental readings – short essays, sets of poems, optional
exercises, handouts on prosodic technique and terminology – to help provide a
shared frame of reference as we explore various aspects of poetics that may
surface in your own work. In addition, you are expected to make a vigorous
effort to read a number of poetry collections on your own, and will be asked to
compile a short annotated bibliography at the end of the term.
Course Requirements
1) A portfolio of 10-12 completed poems, neatly typed and assembled, to be
turned in at the end of the last week of classes. These must be poems that you
have written and/or revised during the semester, and should represent what you
consider to be your most promising work. Three of them at a minimum should be
pieces generated by specific workshop assignments. The portfolio should have at
least ten single-spaced pages of poetry and not exceed fifteen pages, so as you
work on your poems throughout the term, think quality rather than quantity.
Your selection should show clear evidence of sustained concentration and
dedication, which is not to be confused with brute productivity.
2) A presentation of one poem in class by a poet of stature that you find
particularly arresting or powerful. You'll recite the poem for us from memory,
and say a few words about the aesthetic qualities that you feel make it an
exemplary piece of writing. Why does the poem still speak to us? What can we
learn from it? How does it achieve its immediacy and authority? You shouldn't
feel pressured to explicate the poem at length (it’s perfectly acceptable, for
example, to bring in a poem that gets under your skin for reasons you don't
fully grasp), but you should be prepared to offer some considered impressions
based on a close reading and the visceral experience of committing its lines to
memory.
Course Requirements (cont’)
3) An annotated bibliography of your outside reading during the term, to be
turned in at the final class meeting. The objective of this assignment is to
give you the chance to steep yourself in the work of a few poets you find
particularly engaging or simply would like to know better. You’re also
encouraged to include other kinds of texts (reference works, scholarly studies,
even books in other fields such as art history, folklore, or science) that were
useful to you in working on some of your poems or perhaps opened up productive
new avenues of insight. At the end of the course, I'll pool your selections
into a class bibliography.
Detailed guidelines for these projects will be handed out well in advance of
the due dates.
Logistics & Policies
Generally speaking, we’ll make every effort to look closely at six to eight
poems each week. Depending on our final class size, that means you should be
prepared to hand in a poem every other week. It’s entirely possible we won’t be
able to discuss all poems at length every time, however, so you’ll likely have
some leeway if you hit a dry spell. As the term progresses, you may also submit
revisions or exercises when your turn comes up. To make sure these logistics
run as smoothly as possible, I’m asking that everyone e-mail their poems by the
end of the day on Friday at the latest to give us all time to look over the
poems before we meet for class. Please bring several paper copies to class
with you as well.
I’d also like you to return at least three poems by each of your classmates
with brief written comments over the span of the semester. You’re welcome to
comment on as many poems as you wish, but I’ll leave that up to you. I will be
meeting with all students for scheduled individual conferences during the term.
You may also schedule a conference by appointment during my regular office
hours (TBA).
This course will adhere to the Middlebury’s policies for attendance and
academic integrity. Final grades will be based on effort, improvement, class
participation, and the quality of your finished writing.
Resources
The Academy of American Poets website (www.poets.org): Something for everyone –
poems and profiles, forums and event calendars, and links to a host of literary
journals and organizations.
Bartleby.com: A database of literature and poetry in the public domain. The
site includes the work of a number of major English and American poets as well
as an array of older Oxford poetry anthologies such as Palgrave’s Golden
Treasury (1875), The Oxford Book of Ballads (1910), and Metaphysical Lyrics and
Poets (1921). It also provides links to notable reference works like The Oxford
Shakespeare, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, Gray’s Anatomy, and Strunk’s
Elements of Style.
Favorite Poem Project website (www.favoritepoem.org): An eclectic archive of
video clips featuring “Americans saying poems they love,” the brainchild of
former US poet laureate Robert Pinsky.
The Voice of the Poet audiobook series, J. D. McClatchy, general editor (Random
House). Archival recordings on CD and accompanying text volumes. Poets include
W. H. Auden, Elizabeth Bishop, Louise Bogan, Langston Hughes, James Merrill,
and Wallace Stevens.