Topics in Poetry: Early Modern Verse by Women and Men

In received tradition there are no women authors writing in English before the very late 17th century, with a very few notable exceptions in the middle ages. This course charts the recovery and revaluation of early modern poetry by women, and contrasts it with verse by men, some of it well known. We'll learn how distinctively good it is, how unusually enjoyable and enlightening, as we encounter poems that range from recording the harrowing loss of grown-up daughters to smallpox to bold, insightful political verse. We'll follow the detective work that uncovered this lost poetry, and how the internet has been used to make it known.