Old Forms, New Tricks: Modern Takes on Formal Poetry

Old-school poetic forms can make for wonderful modern poems. Formalism and modernism aren’t at odds; some of the most exciting poems being written today borrow from old forms while sounding unmistakably alive in the present. In this course, we’ll put a new spin on traditional structures, exploring how contemporary poets fuse traditional techniques with present-day settings, colloquialisms, and concerns to create powerful, accessible art. 

Together, we’ll explore the foundational elements of meter and rhyme, demystifying how accentual-syllabic meter works and how rhyme can become a source of surprise, strategy, and play. From there, we’ll experiment with forms such as blank verse, rhyming couplets, villanelles, pantoums, ghazals, mirror poems, and sestinas, transforming our own experiences and feelings into deft, inventive poems. We’ll consider how repetition can build emotional intensity, how rhyme can pair abstraction with concrete modern imagery, and how rigid patterns can push a poem into unexpected territory.

Drawing inspiration from formalist poets throughout history, we’ll read classic poets like Shakespeare alongside work by Randall Mann, Marilyn Hacker, Matthew Buckley Smith, Chad Abushanab, and others. Along the way, we’ll notice similarities and differences between poems written last year and poems written centuries ago. 

The course is generative and includes exciting writing prompts, close reading and analysis, group discussion, and weekly workshop. When workshopping poems as a class, we’ll approach each other’s work with descriptive criticism, meaning our discussions will center around observations and interpretations. This environment elicits extremely helpful feedback from peers, and grants you more confidence to take risks, explore new poetic styles, and refine your distinctive voices.

By the end of the course, you’ll have drafted poems in several formal modes and completed a polished portfolio of revised work. You’ll also leave with a stronger ear for meter, a more strategic relationship to rhyme, and a deeper sense of how old forms can help you write poems that feel clever, surprising, and unmistakably your own. In Old Forms, New Tricks, you might just discover your favorite poet. In fact, maybe that poet will be you.

Who This Course is For

This course is best suited for intermediate writers and above who want to experiment with formal poetry in a lively, contemporary way. Free verse writers and formalist poets are equally welcome, though you should be ready to try new forms such as the villanelle, pantoum, ghazal, mirror poem, and sestina..

Learning and Writing Goals

Learning Goals

In this course, you will learn to: 

• Consider the relationship between form and content (why, for example, a poem about an obsession would have a refrain).
• Deeply analyze, observe, and experience poetry you read and write.
• Identify types of meter, rhyme, and literary devices.
• Notice similarities and differences between poems written last year and 100 years ago.
• Become confident in your tastes, artistic instincts, and aesthetic preferences.

Writing Goals

In this course, you will: 

• Comfortably write formal poems you’re proud of.
• Recognize and write in meter.
• Refine your voice, diction, and writing style.
• Take risks regarding content and language.
• Be clever, strategic, and surprising, especially when rhyming.

Zoom schedule

We will meet on Zoom each week on Wednesdays at 8:00PM Eastern time. 

Weekly Syllabus

Note: In addition to the weekly assignments listed below, you’ll participate in a generative writing workshop every week, approaching peer work through the lens of descriptive criticism.

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$645.00 Original price was: $645.00.$550.00Current price is: $550.00.Enroll Now