Love, Nature and the Ode

WRITING X 432.21E

Learn the history, craft, and moods of writing odes as you explore how to praise the natural world in your own poems.

What you can learn.

Use John Keats's various odes as jumping off points to examine the poet's relationship to nature and the world around them
Read contemporary poetry collections to explore current relationships between nature and poets
Draft up to 5 new poems using craft techniques and inspiration gleaned from class
Consider a variety of contemporary approaches to poetry, including odes, aubades, nocturnes, eclogues, ballads, urban pastoral and eco-poetic

About this course:

The Ode as a poetic form originates in the pastoral tradition of writing about nature to both document and praise the natural world while investigating our human relationship to it. In this creative writing poetry course, we will study each of five “Odes” by John Keats as a catalyst for considering a variety of contemporary approaches to the tradition: pastoral/bucolic; eclogue; aubade and nocturne; ballad; as well as the more current practice of the urban pastoral and the eco-poetic. We will read several contemporary collections of poems considering the relationship between nature and poet, considering how a writer in the 21st century can engage this deep tradition. Students will complete assigned readings, take part in online discussions, and participate in workshop to develop, write, and revise 5 new poems by the end of quarter. You should the leave the class with a strong understanding of the ode as a form in which poets address nature, love, and the self, as well as an understanding of its literary history in relation to your own original work.