Philologist, Professor, Parent, Friend, Author, Scholar, and Father of Fantasy. Tolkien was all of these things and more, but throughout his whole life (and in all these roles) he was also a poet. Tolkien's poetry often gets short shrift, as it is the first thing skipped by the amateur reader of The Lord of the Rings. Yet poetry was also the vehicle by which Tolkien first expressed his creative impulses, his love for his wife, and even his very first foray into the world of Middle-earth. With the new Collected Poems of Tolkien released in September, join us on our own journey through the poetic works of the man behind the legendarium. From his earliest "Earendel" poem to the structure of Quenya poetry, we will discuss the meaning and the structure behind his poetry in a masterclass that will introduce students to the elements of poetic scansion and apply those principles to the developing skills and interests of the author of the century over a span of more than sixty years.