Radical Poetics in Seventeenth-Century E

This seminar will center on the close reading of some of the most formally complex and intellectually dense lyric poetry written in English - more specifically, the work of the seventeenth-century poets generally deemed exemplary of the English “metaphysical” tradition. We will divide our time more or less equally among three figures: John Donne, the libertine-turned-priest whose poetry spans erotic and devotional extremes; George Herbert, the humble parson whose daring experiments in poetic form can seem uncannily postmodern; and finally Andrew Marvell, whose nickname—“the Chameleon”—gestures both toward the shiftiness of his political affiliations and the radical ambiguity of his poetry. Each week we will undertake the careful analysis of exhilaratingly, exhaustingly difficult poems. Our reading will also include a set of critical or historical supplements, meant to enrich and enliven our understanding of the primary texts under consideration.