Nineteenth Century British and American Poetry: Wordsworth to Dickinson

Catalog description

The nineteenth century witnessed an extraordinary expansion of poetry in both Great Britain and the United States. Traditional forms like the ballad, the ode, and the elegy were given fresh life, as poets increasingly turned to the natural world for inspiration. At the same time the inner realms of mind, memory, and imagination were being explored by poets with unprecedented depth and precision. Nineteenth century poets also grappled with major social and political upheavals, from revolution and war to the struggle to abolish slavery throughout the English-speaking world. We will survey this rich and diverse body of work, focusing on prominent figures like Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, the Brownings, Tennyson, Whitman, Poe, and Dickinson, along with lesser-known poets who made significant contributions to its abundance. (ENGL-LOA, ENGL-PST)