The Poetry of Politics: Baudelaire, Arnold, Whitman

Explores the special challenge to the traditional form of lyric poetry posed by the post-industrial modern city of the mid-19th century. We will study the poetry and prose of Charles Baudelaire, Matthew Arnold, and Walt Whitman as responses to the urban conditions represented by mid-19th-century Paris, London, and New York. Motifs to be considered include modernity, commodification, and crowds. Priority will be given to junior and senior concentrators in English, Comparative Literature, Modern Culture and Media, and French Studies. First-year students and sophomores may request permission by email to take the course.