During our first session, we discussed Keat 's view of history as a cyclical series of historic events and addressed the impact of World War I on his poem "Second Coming." We noted the poem's references to "blood -dimmed tide, anarchy, and loss of innocence" as an observation of the post WWI society in England that gave rise to America's "Lost generation" of writers. During the second session, at Nina's request, we studied the very recondite poem by Wallace Stevens "The Emperor of Ice Cream" as well as the equally enigmatic "Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams. As we worked through Steven's poem line by line ,Nina demonstrated strong analytical and imaginary insight in piecing together the poet's message to value reality over illusions . We discussed the ironic tone of the title as suggestive of meaning. We then examined "Red Wheelbarrow" and exchanged ideas and interpretations on the symbolism of the red wheelbarrow that "so much depends upon." Last , In connection with the homework reading on Auden's "Beaux Arts" ,we looked at Brueghel's painting ,"Landscape of the Fall of Icarus" ,and I discussed the myth of Daedalus and Icarus portrayed in the painting.

During our first sessions, we studied how Walt Whitman influenced the style and diction of Emily Dickinson. I further placed Emily Dickinson in the historic context of America's Great Awakening , an evangelical type movement, and we examined the influence of religion on Dickinson's poetry, specifically her amorphous view on immortality and the possibility of an afterlife. Nina did well in identifying the personification of death in "I could not stop for Death" and the point of view of the speaker -who is deceased. Likewise, Nina did well in recognizing Dickinson's suggestion in other poems that death is a mundane event with no theological significance. We next studied Housman's famous poem "To an Athlete Dying Young" and had an engaging discussion on what happens to sports and entertainment celebrities once their lifespan far exceeds the lives of their reputation and they are no longer treated as American royalty. During our next(3rd) session, we studied Yeats and his pessimistic view of history and the import of the famous phrase"slouching toward Bethlehem" from the poem"Second Coming." We noted the irony in the poem's title which anticipates a second coming of Christ ,not world chaos. We then worked on edits and rewriting Nina's essay on "Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

By comparing Victorian era poetry with the American poetry of Walt Whitman we were able to explore both the American and Victorian zeitgeist in similar eras. After I discussed how Victorian society faced a crisis of faith due to advances in science and technology, we found this loss faith evidenced explicitly in Arnold's "Dover Beach" in the metaphor of a receding sea of faith that once enveloped England. We further identified the speaker, the identity of an off stage listener, and the type of poem, lyric. While Browning's "Last Duchess" does not address a loss of faith, it does portray in a dramatic monologue a pretentious noble who objectifies women. We studied how the poet reveals the inner psychology of the speaker ,including the speaker's unregenerate confession that he ordered the death of his first wife who dared exert her own will ,although perhaps flirtatiously . We then shifted to Walt Whitman 's free verse that elevates the common American and his role in a democracy comparing it to an impassioned religious song. We discussed how form - a single sentence poem-mirrors content as each individual laborer "sings" his own song yet produces a harmonious unified "carol" . We discussed this view of American and American democracy as idealized, idyllic and optimistic by contrast to the Victorian poets.

We completed our analysis of Poe's "The Raven" by examining the speaker's change in tone and increasing anxiety level as he confronts the raven who steadfastly remains perched upon the bust of Pallas. Noting the symbolism of both Pallas and the Raven, we explored the speaker's internal conflict between rationality and irrational terror in which ultimately the irrational gloomily prevails. Nina discussed the use of alliteration, internal rhyme ,and assonance and noted how these sound devices enhance meaning and imagery. We next began an analysis of Browning's. "My Last Duchess". I discussed the nostalgia that defined in the Victorian Era, here evidenced by the poem's setting in the 16th Century. We identified the speaker as well as the form of poem, a dramatic poem ,or monologue. Structurally, I noted how the enjambment hides the consistent use of rhyming couplets . We then began parsing the passages that reveal the ostentatious personality of the speaker , a. Duke, who places a high value on his title, prestige , and wealth.

After placing some context on the poetry reading due Monday(mostly Victorian ),Nina took an essay test on Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

Before studying the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe ,I provided some biographical information about Poe's marriage to his 13 year old cousin who died of TB since this event was the source of the poem,"Annabel Lee." As Poe was 27 years her senior ,as always, this fact prompts a lot of questions , discussion, and some disgust especially the poem's line "I was a child and she was a child" since clearly Poe was hardly a child! We then focused on the well known iconic poem"The Raven." As Nina indicated she encountered some comprehension difficulty , I provided an analytical framework. First, I explained the biblical and mythological allusions . Further, I elaborated on the elements of much of Poe's writing, specifically the duality of the human psyche i.e. the rational and irrational often depicted as as type of horror or darkness. We then discussed the raven as a symbol of death ,evil ,or darkness and aligned that symbol with at the irrational aspect of Man's psyche. By contrast, the bust of Pallas or Athena,the goddess of wisdom , upon which the raven alights represents the rational side of the psyche. With this framework ,we will ,next session, be able to explore the duality of the psyche in the context of the raven and the bust of Pallas and appreciate the meaning of the poem as well as the rhythmic and mellifluous diction.

We concluded our in depth analysis of Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by discussing that despite the Christian symbols in the poem , expiation ,even if sincere, does not assure Grace or even respite from guilt. In this way, the poem deviates from traditional Christian theological thought notwithstanding the poem's references to Christ, a cross, blood and resurrection. We explored how the mariner's sin against Nature appears of such magnitude that the poet suggests that a life long sentence of preaching his tale of guilt and remorse is the Mariner's just punishment. Nina continued to address and identify symbols , such as the albatross, and the use of figurative language and offered ideas of how the poem's use of "sound" devices enhances the text. Compared to the peaceful calm poetry of Wordsworth previously studied, we noted how this poem's aura of the horror of the fantastic creates a totally different mood and tone even though both Wordsworth and Coleridge are considered Romantic poets. After reviewing Nina's homework answers on the poem, we then studied a love sonnet by Elizabeth Browning . As a product of the Victorian era, I explained how the erosion of faith caused by scientific and technological advances informs the poet's transfer from her passion for her faith to a passion for her beloved such that her love even transcends her death.

After we examined Gustave Dore's engravings illustrating a publication of the"Rime of the Ancient Mariner",Nina studied the text and identified which specific lines of poetry were the subject of the engravings. I then reviewed the poem's use of literary devices, internal rhyme, alliteration, assonance and repetition. We studied numerous lines where the poet' s use of repeated words creates mood ,mirrors what is described , or simply provides emphasis. Noting how the poem is a classic example of the Romantic genre, we reviewed how the Romantic poets infuse Nature with deistic qualities including the power to heal. From there we explored how this poem combines Christian symbols and motifs such as blood, the cross, and resurrection , with the reverence of Nature . In that regard ,we discussed the central question of the poem,"Why does the mariner kill the albatross and what does the albatross symbolize?" We noted how the albatross is killed with a "crossbow" , is hung around the mariner's neck, and only falls off after the mariner begins his process of atonement which continues throughout the poem. Similarly, we explored the resurrection motif in the mariner's crew experiencing "Life in Death" and ultimately rising from their death-like state to steer the ship to its port of origin. During class discussion,Nina further identified the poetic devices of repetition , assonance, and alliteration.

Today we began our study of a long narrative poem from the Romantic era, Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner." To appreciate the influence of Christian theology ,we first read biographical material about the poet ,noting Coleridge's original intention to enter the Church. We further noted his close association with the poet,Wordsworth ,in a published collaboration that included this poem .More critically, we read material on Coleridge's theory of poetry that relies on the imagination and fantasy rather than logic to create a dimension of truth and beauty. We further studied literary terms applicable to the poem: alliteration, assonance , near rhyme, and internal rhyme. Using our analytical rubric, we studied the first stanzas and explored not only the use of these poetic devices, but further the use of a framework narrative. We discussed the function of a framework narrative in literature and poetry as uniting the reader and the framework narrator who recites a tale that is told by another character .

During our first session, we completed an analysis of Keat's "Ode to a Grecian Urn". We examined the use of imagery in each stanza and identified the poet's awe and deep emotional response to the art on the urn . We then discussed and interpreted the famous last lines, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty-that is all you know on earth," by exploring what Keats means by " truth" in this poem. During our second session, we worked on essay writing by reviewing and discussing Nina's essay comparing three poems' perspective on mortality. I provided instruction on how to eliminate superfluous words and weak intransitive verbs. We further studied how better to explain and incorporate textual support so that the essay's argument remains cohesive and flows.