Course Title: ENGE2390 (formerly ENGE3330 Reading Poetry)

Description:
This course provides an introduction to the art of reading poetry. We will read and analyze a
range of poems of diverse styles and forms from the Renaissance to the present day so as to
stimulate students’ creative and critical responses to poetry. We will also read and analyze
contemporary poetry written in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. While this is not a course
on creative writing, it nonetheless explores, among other topics, the role of the imagination, the
act of writing, the purposes of poetry, the notions of tradition and of the individual talent, for
these are issues with which poets engage, whether directly or indirectly, in their poems.

Learning outcomes:
1. To enjoy reading poetry and to understand the act of reading as a critical exercise.
2. To understand poetry as a form of creative violence inflicted on language.
3. To explore the social, historical and political background of the formation of themes and
motifs in poetry.
4. To critically evaluate the ideas, values and effects embedded in poetry.

Task nature Description Weight

Class Participation Discussion in tutorials. 10%

Class Presentation Oral presentation followed by facilitating of

class discussions. (pls. incl. 2-4 page handout) 10%

Term Paper Font size 12, double-spaced essay.

(6-8 pages) 30%

Final Centralized Exam This is a 2-hr written examination. You must

(Open Book/Note) answer each question with reference to at least 50%
2 poems on the course. Choose 2 questions
out of 4.

Required Texts and Order of Topics:

Note: The lectures will make no attempt at discussing all the poems. I am more interested in the
depth and quality of our engagement with poems rather than how much we can “cover”.

There is no single anthology that contains all the poems we will be discussing. Thus, please refer to
the specified links for the poems. The links indicate URL addresses of reliable sites where the
poems are available. Please read the poems ahead of the lectures.

On Image, the Figurative and the Literal

William Blake: “The Sick Rose”, “Ah, Sunflower”

[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1934/1934-h/1934-h.htm]

Robert Frost: “The Road Not Taken” [http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html ]

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening]

Allen Ginsberg: “Supermarket in California”, “Sunflower Sutra”

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[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47660/a-supermarket-in-california]
[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49304/sunflower-sutra]

Shakespeare: Sonnet 18: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”

[http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/]

Form, Rhetoric, Purpose

Shakespeare’s sonnets:
Sonnet 19: “Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws …”
Sonnet 29: “When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes …”
Sonnet 116: “Let me not to the marriage of true minds …”
Sonnet 130: “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun …”
Sonnet 138: “When my love swears that she is made of truth …“
[http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/]

Memory, Imagination, Society

S. T. Coleridge:
“Frost at Midnight” (p. 240), “Kubla Khan” (p. 295)
[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29090/29090-h/29090-h.htm]

Wordsworth:
“Tintern Abbey” [http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/518/]
“She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” [http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/530/]
“Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower” [http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/537/]
“To Toussaint L’ouverture” [http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/541/]
“Written in London, September 1802” [http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/548/]
“London, 1802” [http://www.online-literature.com/wordsworth/519/]

Tradition and the Individual Talent

T. S. Eliot:
“Preludes” [http://www.bartleby.com/198/3.html]
“Rhapsody on a Windy Night” [http://www.bartleby.com/198/4.html]

Wallace Stevens:
“Anecdote of the Jar” [http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=3778]

W. B. Yeats: “Sailing to Byzantium” [https://poets.org/poem/sailing-byzantium]

Seamus Heaney: “Digging” [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47555/digging]

Gary Snyder: “Axe Handles” [http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Gary-Snyder/7860]

Sylvia Plath: [http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/sylviaplath/]

“The Applicant”, “The Arrival of the Bee Box”, “The Bee Meeting”, “Daddy”, “Lady Lazarus”

Representing Women

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John Donne:
“The Apparition” [http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/apparition.htm]
“The Flea” [https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46467/the-flea]
“To His Mistress Going to Bed” [http://www.online-literature.com/donne/440/]

Aphra Behn: “Love Armed” [http://www.poetry-archive.com/b/love_armed.html]

Anne Sexton: “Her Kind” [https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/her-kind]

Narrating Asia

Li-Young Lee: “Dreaming of Hair”, “For a New Citizen of these United States”
[http://www.poemhunter.com/li-young-lee/poems/]
“The Cleaving” [https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/cleaving]

Poetry of Malaysia

Shirley Lim: “Lament”, “Learning English”, “Bukit China”, “Song of an Old Malayan”
[handout of poems will be provided]

Wong Phui Nam: “When I am dead”, “I feel out of the verges of the swamps”, “There is no rumour
as you would hear”, “For a Birthday” [handout of poems will be provided]

Poetry of Singapore

Edwin Thumboo: “Ulysses by the Merlion” [https://www.lyrikline.org/en/poems/ulysses-merlion-

12161]

Alfian Sa’at:
“The Merlion”, “Void Deck”, “Job Week 1992” [handout of poems will be provided]

Poetry of Hong Kong

Madeleine Marie Slavick: “city automatic”, “subway searching”, “city cloud”, “The Star Ferry”
[handout of poems will be provided]

Jennifer Wong: “To the little girl in a village home I never met”, “The Colour of Race”, “From
Beckenham to Tsim Sha Tsui”

[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/154931/to-the-little-girl-in-a-village-home-i-never-met]
[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/154933/the-colour-of-race]
[https://www.haranapoetry.com/iv20-from-beckenham-to-tsim-sha-tsu]

References:

Ee, Tiang Hong. Responsibility and Commitment: The Poetry of Edwin Thumboo.

Eliot, T. S. “Tradition and the Individual Talent”. The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and
Criticism.

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Goh, Robbie B. H. “Imagining the Nation: The Role of Singapore Poetry in English in ‘Emergent
Nationalism’”. Journal of Commonwealth Literature. 41.2 (2006): 21-41.

Hirsch, Edward. How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry.

Lim, Shirley Geok-lin. “Afterword - Tongue and Root: Language in Exile”. Monsoon History.

Patke, Rajeev. “Nationalism, Diaspora, Exile: Poetry in English from Malaysia”. Journal of
Commonwealth Literature. 38.3 (2003): 71-85.

Plato. The Republic (Book 10).

Poon, Angelia. “Performing National Service in Singapore: (Re)imagining Nation in the Poetry and
Short Stories of Alfian Sa’at”. Journal of Commonwealth Literature. 40.3 (2005): 118-138.

Sidney, Philip. An Apology for Poetry / The Defence of Poesy.

Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own.

Note: This reference list is by no means exhaustive. Students are encouraged to read up on the
following types of books available in the library: (1) general introductions to poetry, (2) books and
essays by individual poets, and (3) books and essays on the individual poets.

Unless there are matters to be addressed directly to the course instructor, your tutor should be your
first port of call. If you have questions or if you wish to set up individual/group consultations, we
prefer to be first contacted by e-mail.

Professor/Lecturer/Instructor:
Name: Eddie Tay
Office Location: Rm 323, Fung King Hey
Email: eddietay@cuhk.edu.hk

Teaching Assistant/Tutor:

Please read carefully the information regarding academic honesty on the following website:
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/

Fill in the declaration form and attach it to your paper.

--- End ---

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GRADE DESCRIPTORS

Grade A / Excellent : Outstanding performance on ALL learning outcomes.

Demonstrates the ability to synthesize and apply the principles or skills learned in the course in a
manner that would surpass the normal expectations at this level and typical of standards that may be
common at higher levels of study. The ‘A’ grade should be reserved for truly excellent work that
exceeds the level expected for the majority of students and are expected to be achieved only by a
small minority

Grade A- / Very Good : Generally outstanding performance on ALMOST ALL learning

outcomes.

Demonstrates the ability to synthesize and apply the principles or skills learned in the course in a
manner that would fully fulfill the normal expectations at this level and occasionally reaches
standards that may be common at higher levels of study.

Grade B+ / Good (Plus): HIGH performance on all learning outcomes, OR HIGH

performance on some learning outcomes which compensates WELL for slightly less
satisfactory performance on others, resulting in overall substantial performance.

Demonstrates the ability to apply WELL the principles or skills learned in the course in a
comprehensive manner that would sufficiently fulfill the normal expectations at this level WELL.

Grade B / Good: SUBSTANTIAL performance on all learning outcomes, OR SUBSTANTIAL

performance on some learning outcomes which compensates for slightly less satisfactory
performance on others, resulting in overall substantial performance.

Demonstrates the ability to apply the principles or skills learned in the course in a MORE
COMPREHENSIVE manner that would sufficiently fulfill the normal expectations at this level.

Grade B- / Good (Minus): GOOD performance on all learning outcomes, OR GOOD

performance on some learning outcomes which compensates for slightly less satisfactory
performance on others, resulting in overall substantial performance.

Demonstrates the ability to apply the principles or skills learned in the course in a
COMPREHENSIVE manner that would sufficiently fulfill the normal expectations at this level.

Grade C+ / Adequate (Plus): VERY ADEQUATE performance on the majority of learning

outcomes.

Demonstrates the ability to apply the principles or skills learned in the course in a SOMEWHAT
SUSTAINED manner that would meet the basic requirement at this level.

Grade C / Adequate: ADEQUATE performance on the majority of learning outcomes.

Demonstrates the ability to partially apply the principles or skills learned in the course in a manner
that would meet the basic requirement at this level.

Grade C- / Adequate (Minus): SOMEWHAT ADEQUATE performance on A NUMBER OF

learning outcomes.

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Demonstrates the ability to SOMEWHAT apply the principles or skills learned in the course in a
manner that would meet the BARE basic requirement at this level.

Grade D / Pass : BARELY SATISFACTORY performance on a A FEW learning outcomes.

Addresses the task inadequately by meeting the basic requirement at this level only in some areas
while responding minimally with possibly tangential content in others.

Grade D- / Pass (Minus): ALMOST BARELY SATISFACTORY performance on VERY

FEW learning outcomes.

Addresses the task inadequately by meeting the basic requirement at this level only in very few
areas while responding very minimally with possibly tangential content in others.

Grade F / Failure : Unsatisfactory performance on a number of learning outcomes, OR

failure to meet specified assessment requirements.

Fails to address the task and likely does not understand what the task requires. In other words, the
work completely misses the point.