Experience poetry like never before with three-time U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. In this two-session class, Pinsky invites you to explore the deep connection between poetry and music—a boundary that was blurred in the ancient world and remains fluid today. As you travel from the sixteenth century to the present, you’ll hear poetry aloud as it was meant to be experienced, discovering its beauty and power in its musicality. With live Q&A, engaging discussions, and access to class recordings to revisit anytime, this is a unique opportunity to learn directly from a master of verse and deepen your appreciation for the art of spoken word.
Tue, 12/3-12/10
6:00 - 7:00 PM ET
2 Sessions for $88
Course overview
We call Shakespeare “The Bard.” The Odyssey begins: “Sing in me, Muse…” Yet too often poetry is treated like a body to be placed on the dissection table rather than a song to be brought to life — experienced, and only then digested and understood.
Throughout his career, poet Robert Pinsky has made this connection between poetry and song explicit, working with jazz and folk musicians, and founding the Favorite Poem Project — short videos of hundreds of Americans aged 5 to 97, from many states, occupations, and backgrounds, reading their favorite poems aloud.
For Pinsky, a connection with poetry, like any human connection, begins with love. Love hits us viscerally — it’s not possible to disentangle thought from feeling. That’s where we need to start, he says, and the best way to do that is to hear and experience the deep connection between words and music.
In this two session class you’ll join Robert Pinsky in hearing, experiencing, and understanding poetry from the sixteenth century to the present day that exemplifies this connection. Works by Ben Jonson, Robert Frost, and Pinsky himself will be among the signposts of this journey to a deeper understanding of the true nature of this ancient, ever-changing art form.
Note: Robert's wonderful, musical new book of poems, "Proverbs of Limbo" is available here.
Syllabus
Session 1: Music in the Language of Great Poets Past
Explore the rhythmic structures and melodies of poems by Ben Jonson, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, and many more.
Session 2: My Own Explorations of the Music-Language Connection
Explore the musical dimensions of Robert Pinsky’s own poetry, and his many projects combining poetry with live music.
Robert Pinsky is a poet, essayist, translator, teacher, and speaker. His first two terms as United States Poet Laureate were marked by such visible dynamism—and such national enthusiasm in response—that the Library of Congress appointed him to an unprecedented third term. Throughout his career, Pinsky has been dedicated to identifying and invigorating poetry’s place in the world.
“No other living American poet—no other living American, probably—has done so much to put poetry before the public eye.”
—New York Times Sunday Book Review
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