Syllabus

Title: Mystical Themes in English Romantic Poetry: “To see a world in a grain of sand”

Instructor: Maggi Kramm
Schedule: Tuesdays, December 1, 8, 2009; 7:00-9:00 p.m.; Thursdays, December 3, 10, 2009; 7:00-9:00 p.m.; Redmond, Trilogy at Redmond Ridge
Class Website: http://mysticalromantics.blogspot.com/

Course Description:
Some of the most expansive and well-loved poetry in English derives from the Romantic period of the early nineteenth century. The Romantics often emphasized intuition over reason and imagination over the literal, and many of their poems explored states of experience that have been termed mystical, visionary, ecstatic, or sublime. As William Blake writes of this state in “Auguries of Innocence,” one might “see a world in a grain of sand/And a heaven in a wild flower.”

In this course we will study Romantic poems with mystical or sublime themes, including Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale,” Wordsworth’s “Ode: Intimations of Immortality,” Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind,” and several of Blake’s poems, as well as brief prose works, such as Keats’ letters. Special emphasis will be placed on reciting the works aloud. Selected poems will be provided to course participants. A class website will enable course participants to share comments and read online source materials outside of class.

Session One: Nature (December 1)
Session Two: Love, Beauty, and States of Despair (December 3)
Session Three: Religion, Politics, and Spirituality (December 8)
Session Four: Art and Death (December 10)

Instructor:
Maggi Kramm received her doctorate in English at the University of Minnesota after completing a dissertation on Shakespeare. She taught for many years at the University of St. Thomas and at the University of Minnesota, focusing in particular on British literature. For the Osher Institute she has taught a course on Jane Austen. She currently develops Web-based courses for graduate online programs.