60-Day Traditional Meter Challenge

Following a defined meter (for example, blank verse or iambic tetrameter) used to be very common among poets, but is now a less “regular” practice. The debate about whether or not this is a good thing is complicated, but it’s clear that from Chaucer through the end of the 19th century, accentual-syllabic verse was dominant in English-language poetry to the almost complete exclusion of other verse systems or “free verse,” and that prosody for poets today tends to be less culturally proscribed and develops more individually. Despite this change among poets, one can argue that to write poetry in English without an intimate relationship with such an important aspect of the history of that poetry is to miss something important. Though some lament that “free verse” has taken over, in my experience it’s hard to find a serious contemporary non-formalist poet who has not at some point in their development grappled with or formed some relationship to poetic meter, even if it’s as something to rebel against or walk away from.

With the assumption that learning about traditional meter in English can help us become more aware participants in the centuries-old poetic conversation, let’s set aside a little time to dive in. First, we’ll spend 30 days exploring 15 poets (all writing before the 20th century) who have played a major role in the tradition of English meter. Then, over the course of the next 30 days, we’ll aim to write 500 lines of (very imperfect, not necessarily sensible, split into as many or as few “poems” as you wish) regular meter ourselves (this works out to be about 17 lines per day). Rather than write “in the sequence of the metronome” as Ezra Pound would say, participants will be encouraged to attempt to write like the traditionally important poets we’ll study, using substitution and variation to create music that’s more interesting than a simple regular drumbeat. If you are not a poet yourself and the writing portion seems intimidating, don’t let it keep you from taking this course! It’s expected that what we’ll write won’t be worth keeping, no one will be required to share their work, and trying to write in meter will add so much to your appreciation of those who have mastered it.

An important note that all the poets studied will be white Englishmen, due to this course’s focus on the history of English poetry as it has been traditionally conceived. This should not be taken as a message that these poets’ female and non-white contemporaries are not worth reading (quite the contrary), even if they’re outside our scope for the purpose of these 60 days. We’ll be taking some time at the end of the course to step outside that scope and reflect on the extent to which traditional English meter is linked to systems of oppression, so that participants can develop a balanced and informed understanding of the meaning of the English metrical tradition. Please see this site’s Diversity Statement for more context.

Course includes instructor-led online forum discussions of the 15 poets we’re studying (in our private course area, with each lesson’s kickoff post sent to your email), weekly small-group peer-led Zoom calls, writing challenge guidance, and an ongoing class forum where you can interact with other participants and, if you choose, post your writing challenge results (note that this is not a workshop and substantial feedback is not guaranteed).

Think you might be up for it?

Cost: $50

Instructor: Meg Hartmann

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