Yeats and Visions of the Apocalypse (LIT4167.01)

Anna Maria Hong

This course takes William Butler Yeats’s poem “The Second Coming” as its starting point, launching from this often invoked poem to other poems and writings by Yeats that concern his unusual concepts of time, aging, and apocalypse including his prose work A Vision. We will examine Yeats’s prosodic choices regarding meter, rhyme, and form and how these musical decisions enhance his political messages. We may also read and hear works by other writers and artists that embrace “The Second Coming’s” prophetic warnings such as Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Joan Didion’s Slouching Toward Bethlehem, and musical incarnations of the poem’s themes and lines. Corequisites: All students are required to attend readings and events on literature night, typically held every other Wednesday at 7pm.

Prerequisites: Interested students should submit a writing sample to annamariahong@bennington.edu by Monday, November 19. Class lists will be posted outside the Literature office on Monday, November 26.
Credits: 4
F 10:00am - 11:50am; F 2:10pm - 4:00pm
Maximum Enrollment: 15
Course Frequency:
This course is categorized as 4000, All courses, Anna Maria Hong, Areas of Study, Four Credit, Literature, Tuesday and/or Friday Mornings.