“Look Closely at the Letters”: A Six-Part Introduction to Reading James Merrill’s Poetry
This six-Part Introduction online course to Reading James Merrill’s Poetry with former Merrill Fellow, Christopher Spaide, a critic, poet, teacher, and Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows is a fabulous way to dive into the world of Merrill's poetry. This course took place over zoom during the winter/ spring 2023 and we are now offering the recordings to the public.
For the complete set of videos, please visit the Youtube link. For course materials and links to readings and individual classes, please see below. Please consider making a donation to support this work. There is a suggested donation of $25 for this complete course. If you can give more, please do. If you are not in the position to give, please enjoy this class at no charge.
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Questions? Contact us.
Christopher Spaide
Meet your Instructor
Christopher Spaide is a critic, poet, teacher, and Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. His essays, reviews, and poems have appeared in Contemporary Literature, The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Poetry, Slate, The Sewanee Review, and The Yale Review. He has received fellowships and honors from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, the Keasbey Foundation, and the James Merrill House, where he was Writer in Residence in November 2022.
Week 1: Beginnings
POEMS FOR THIS WEEK:
1. The Black Swan
2. Nightgown
3. The Broken Home
4. The School Play
5. b o d y
Week 2: “Chronicles of Love and Loss”: Love and Out-of-Love Poems|
POEMS FOR THIS WEEK:
1. A Renewal
2. The Mad Scene
3. Days of 1964
4. Willowware Cup
5. Pledge
Week 3: "Other Worlds"
POEMS FOR THIS WEEK:
1. Voices from the Other World
2. Days of 1971
3. Yánnina (Divine Comedies
4. Overdue Pilgrimage to Nova Scotia
5. Koi
Week 4: “All Is Translation”: Life to Art and Back
POEMS FOR THIS WEEK:
1. Marsyas
2. For Proust
3. The Victor Dog
4. The Kimono
5. Lost in Translation
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Week 5: Endings
POEMS FOR THIS WEEK:
1.Grass
2. Investiture at Cecconi’s
3. Farewell Performance
4. Self-Portrait in Tyvek
5. Christmas Tree
Week 6
POEMS FOR THIS WEEK:
1. Mirror
2. An Urban Convalescence
3. A Tenancy
4. Charles on Fire
5. The Book of Ephraim: A–C
Donate to support our program work
There is a suggested donation of $25 for this course. Thank you
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