Why Poetry?

At some point in my teaching career - I’m not sure when it happened: maybe while sharing “The First Snowfall” (Lowell) or “The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls” (Longfellow) with juniors in American Lit - I decided that poetry was going to be my thing.

I love poetry - the rhythmic collection of sounds, the distilled punch of a concentrated collection of a handful of words. I suppose my goal here is twofold: to share my passion for poetry (not prawns - that’s a Madame Bovary joke) and to curate my own collection of poetry analysis.

I invite you to dive into these words, these worlds, with me. Maybe I’ll convince you that 17th century poetry is something you enjoy!

My plan is to follow the mostly chronological order of my old AP Lit course. With that in mind, we’ll be starting with two well-known classics: “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe (1599) and “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” by Sir Walter Raleigh (~1600). Check back soon for Lesson #1.