English 349-B: ST: The Long & Short of It: American Poetry from 1913-Present

Shakespeare writes that "brevity is the soul of wit." Ezra Pound defines the long, epic poem as "the speech of a nation through the mouth of one man." Marianne Moore famously revised her thirty-five line poem, "Poetry," down to a mere three lines. In this course we'll read very short and very long poems in order to understand how a poem's length might complicate conventional definitions of lyric and epic poetry. Meanwhile, we'll consider the relationships between aphorisms, haiku, epigrams, micro poems and tweets. We'll also examine how long poems that claim to represent a universal "we" can function in a society that consists of numerous voices, values, and experiences. In addition to the poems (some single lines, some book length), we’ll read secondary texts on prosody and form. Readings will include poems by T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, H.D., Gwendolyn Brooks, Richard Wright, John Ashbery, James Schuyler, Alice Notley, Idra Novey, Layli Long Soldier, Monica Youn, Sky Hopinka, and others. Distribution area: Humanities.