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A Module in The Poetic Corpus of J.R.R. Tolkien: Tolkien's Collected Poems
(The Years 1910-1967 in Three Volumes)
• Non-Sequential Series
Mixed Lecture/Discussion
•
Medium intensity
Module Description from Dr. Sara Brown (Lecturing Preceptor):
JRR Tolkien is one of those rare authors whose poetry is as accomplished as his prose writing. Up to this point, though, those who wished to focus primarily on Tolkien’s poetry had to access a significant number of books and online resources to do so, as they were scattered far and wide. Now, a Most Delightful Event has occurred – for the first time, a collected volume of Tolkien’s poetry is available, and it is a Tome of Significant Size!
In this hybrid course, we will read and discuss a selection of these poems, enjoying them for their aesthetic appeal as well as analysing them for Tolkien’s style, use of language, and the poetic forms he employed. This is a hybrid course, in which one class per week will be a lecture and the second class will be group discussion.
There are so many poems in these volumes that the intention is to spread the course over several months. If you can’t make one or more of the months, feel free to dip in and out as suits you!
I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.
Bonus Lecture from Dr. Olsen each month! We are delighted to announce that each month Dr. Corey Olsen will offer a bonus lecture on Tolkien's poetry. Each month the SPACE team will share Dr. Olsen's bonus lecture with all enrolled students that month in The Poetic Corpus of J. R. R. Tolkien series.
The module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:
JRR Tolkien is one of those rare authors whose poetry is as accomplished as his prose writing. Up to this point, though, those who wished to focus primarily on Tolkien’s poetry had to access a significant number of books and online resources to do so, as they were scattered far and wide. Now, a Most Delightful Event has occurred – for the first time, a collected volume of Tolkien’s poetry is available, and it is a Tome of Significant Size!
In this hybrid course, we will read and discuss a selection of these poems, enjoying them for their aesthetic appeal as well as analysing them for Tolkien’s style, use of language, and the poetic forms he employed. This is a hybrid course, in which one class per week will be a lecture and the second class will be group discussion.
There are so many poems in these volumes that the intention is to spread the course over several months. If you can’t make one or more of the months, feel free to dip in and out as suits you!
I am also delighted to announce that one lecture session per month will be led by the one and only James Tauber, who will focus on language and the formal elements of the poetry.
Bonus Lecture from Dr. Olsen each month! We are delighted to announce that each month Dr. Corey Olsen will offer a bonus lecture on Tolkien's poetry. Each month the SPACE team will share Dr. Olsen's bonus lecture with all enrolled students that month in The Poetic Corpus of J. R. R. Tolkien series.
The module will follow an 8-session structure as shown below:
| Outline | 8-Session Structure |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | Lecture 1: Tol Eressea · For England: The Lonely Isle · The Lonely Isle |
| Discussion 1: Two-Lieut/ A Dream of Coming Home · A Memory of July in England · July · Two Eves in Tavrobel · An Evening in Tavrobel · Once upon a Time/ The Thatch of Poppies/ The Forest Walker | |
| Week 2 | Lecture 2: James Tauber Lecture - Habbanan beneath the Stars · Eruman beneath the Stars and O Lady Mother Throned amid the Stars · Consolatrix Afflictorum · Stella Vespertina · Mother! O Lady Throned beyond the Stars |
| Discussion 2: To Early Morning Tea · An Ode Inspired by Intimations of the Approach of Early Morning Tea/ Ye Laggard Woodlands | |
| Week 3 | Lecture 3: GBS |
| Discussion 3: Companions of the Rose/ The Grey Bridge of Tavrobel/ Build Me a Grave beside the Sea · The Brothers-in-Arms/ I Stood upon an Empty Shore/ A Rime for My Boy | |
| Week 4 | Lecture 4: Overview of the Early Poems |
| Discussion 4: Nursery Rhymes Undone, or Their Scandalous Secret Unlocked · The Cat and the Fiddle · They Say There’s a Little Crooked Inn · There Is an Inn, a Merry Old Inn · The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late/ A Rhyme Royal upon Easter Morning/ The Ruined Enchanter/ The Motor-cyclists |
Required Texts
A copy of The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien: Three-Volume Box Set, edited by Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond will be required either as hard copy or as e-book.
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