LI 618 - Form in Poetry

Credits: 4
All poems require choosing and discovering generative and expressive limits in order to secure a viable artistic shape. When the word “formal” is used in this course, students assume the lead provided by the poet Agha Shahid Ali when he observes: “Subject matter is artistically interesting only when through form it has become content. The more rigorous the form, realized formally, openly, or brokenly, the greater the chance for content… Content is the poet’s formal investment in the subject.” Within this frame, students explore how poems are shaped by attention to metrical lineation, rhythm, stanza structure, and verse forms.