Sir Philip Sidney, Astrophil and Stella.  Over the course of the sixteenth century English poets experimented with the sonnet form invented by their Italian neighbours, and the Petrarchan conventions that came with it.  The goal was a long sequence of many short poems which chronicle the emotional chaos springing from unrequited love.  Sir Philip Sidney’s sequence Astrophil and Stella is one of the great examples of the form in English.  The male speaker is enthralled by a...

EP21 - Twin Compasses | Donne, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning

Why do great novels, poems and plays move us and excite us? How can they change the way we look at ourselves and the world? What do these authors have to teach us? Why do they matter? There are no better answers to these questions than those provided by the authors themselves. We want to let them speak. Professing Literature is not a broad summary of major works. Instead, it will zero in on one or two key passages, looking at them closely in order to figure out what is at stake. The goal will be to appreciate an author’s brilliance by seeing him or her in action. We will unpack key phrases, images and metaphors and we will consider the techniques the writer uses to make ideas come alive.