This course will explore the sonnet in its modern form, in a post-romantic context. Drawing on a selection of poets from the nineteenth century to the present day. The issues to be explored include:
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What is the sonnet and what is its heritage?
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Questions concerning the nature and function of modern poetry: why is a traditional form like the sonnet still important?
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How should we read the modern sonnet?
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How should we think of the `I¿ persona in the sonnet; in what sense is the poem a vehicle for the exploration of the self?
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What relationship does poetry have with political discourses? Can we expect poetry to act as a public discourse, furthering such aims as feminism or national identity?
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Why have desire and death been the abiding themes of the sonnet, and what happens to these tropes in modern poetry?