W.
[William] S. [Stanley] Merwin, The Vixen/ La renarde,
Fanlac éditions, 2004
Nothing
more ordinary than poetry that describes landscapes, animals in the
countryside, traditional ways of rural life, the juxtaposition of
centuries old lifestyles with rapidly changing modern “life.” W.
S. Merwin's The Vixen
consists of 64 poems, using very ordinary oral patterns, and a
dazzling array of poetic techniques from ancient, Old English,
medieval, and early modern poetry, to merge lyric and narrative
modes. This is poetry that profoundly bears witness to things as
ordinary as remembering, experiencing uniqueness, but also things
repeated every day. This is poetry that must be read
out-loud, repeatedly and performatively.
This course will also be an introduction to ecological awareness, via
this writer close to nineteenth century Henry David Thoreau and to
contemporary eco-poetry. NOTE: Students must have the primary
text, La renarde/ The Vixen.