Channel Title: Dr. Adam Walker - Close Reading Poetry Channel Description: Welcome to my channel, where I make the study of poetry available to readers outside the university. I'm Adam Walker (PhD, Harvard University), and I believe that close reading requires careful and reverent attention to the shape of sound and meaning. It helps readers have an imaginative encounter with poetry and cultivates the conditions under which a love of literature may be learned and deepened. Experiencing poetry is so much more than just learning what the poet could have said if he or she had written a paragraph instead of a poem. I started this channel to show how poetry can be enjoyed as a verbal art form. I offer literary lectures without midroll ads. If you want to support my work, visit Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry Thanks for stopping by! Be in touch with questions/comments at adamgagewalker@gmail.com <video> The Art and Beauty of Emily Dickinson's Poetry Description: Emily Dickinson's art is nothing short of genius. It is something miraculous. In this lecture, I consider Dickinson’s life, her innovative poetic style, and her place in the American Renaissance. Learn how to fall in love with Dickinson’s sometimes enigmatic verses and to appreciate her innovative style. Join the Book Club here: https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry . . . . How to read Emily Dickinson Lecture on Emily Dickinson Emily Dickinson's life Emily Dickinson's poetry </video> <video> The Apocrypha and its Influence on Literature | Q&A #1 | 2025 Description: Where has the Apocrypha and apocryphal texts influenced literature? In this video, I list a few examples with Dante, Spenser, Shakespeare, and Jonson. Apocrypha and apocryphal texts: 0:00-6:15 Dante and the Apocalypse of Paul: 6:16-9:50 Spenser and Wisdom: 9:50-15:39 Other connections in Shakespeare and Jonson: 15:39-16:31 Milton: 16:31-17:48 Addendum on Adam Bede: 17:48-21:49 </video> <video> Ralph Waldo Emerson's Prose | A Close Reading of "Nature" Description: Join the Book Club here: https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry Book Club Notice 0:00-6:15 Emerson Analysis 6:15-15:20 See the syllabus here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Un_Jp_S97IUZd0uK5qrR1CODRUJaff_xIubW8_2tM9o/edit </video> <video> The Ainsworth Psalter & Bay Psalm Book | Lect. 1 | Early American Poetry Course Description: Join the poetry community and study literature with me at https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry Psalms are the beginning of American poetry and poetics. In this lecture, we consider the two important psalm translations: The Henry Ainsworth Psalter of the Separatist Pilgrims and the Massachusetts Bay Psalm Book of the Puritans. I host this course to my Student-Sponsors on Patreon. Students are here with me live for the presentation and will join me afterwards for small-group activities and discussions around the psalms. We’re going to go into breakout rooms after this to compare psalms. The cost to become a student sponsor is $10 a month. To join, you can sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/closereadingpoetry/membership Explore on your own an online copy of the Ainsworth Psalter here: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A27792.0001.001?view=toc Flip through the Internet Archive scan of The Bay Psalm Book here at this link: https://archive.org/details/The-Bay-Psalm-Book-wdl-3600/3600/page/n1/mode/2up </video> <video> Philip Freneau and Phillis Wheatley | Lect. 3 | Early American Poetry Description: Join the poetry community and study literature with me at https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry In the work of Philip Freneau and Phillis Wheatley, we find the emergence of two distinct voices rooted in the concept of a distinctly American identity. And as America in the eighteenth century began to change from a place of religious refuge to a hub of commerce and political experimentation, so, too, did poetry change. Philip Freneau (1752–1832) is often considered the poet of the American Revolution. Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784) is the first Black poet in America to publish a book of poems. Her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773) contains poem that observe established forms and styles, particularly those perfected by Pope. </video> <video> The 44 Best Poets | The Foundations Canon Description: Join the poetry community and study literature with me at https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry The Foundations Canon of 44 poets and poems represents some of the most important and anthologized poets in the traditions of English-language poets since the medieval period. The list includes poets who have appeared more than 7 times (and any Modernist poet listed more than 6 times) in the 16 volumes mention in my previous video "How I compiled the Canons." If you are a self-learner and reader studying classic poetry without access to college classes, this canon is an excellent guide to designing your own curriculum. They represent a core selection of poets who have traditionally been read, appraised, and taught in classrooms across the world. I teach evening poetry classes on Patreon. If you are interested in studying many of these poets with me and others, you can join my online classes and friendly discussions at Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry Find the document here: https://www.adamgagewalker.com/guide-to-the-canon/ </video> <video> The Top 6 Greatest English Poets | The Cornerstone Canon Description: Join the poetry community and study literature with me at https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry In this video, I list the top greatest English poets who possess the criteria for greatness. Visit many poets, but live among these six. The Canon Series: 0:00-1:06 How is greatness determined?: 1:06-4:12 poet 1: 4:14-11:40 poet 2: 11:40-16:22 poet 3: 16:22-22:12 poet 4: 22:13-27:52 poet 5: 27:52-34:46 poet 6: 34:46-43:35 Honorable Mention: 43:36-45:00 Looking Ahead: 45:04-45:17 Take literature courses and study great poets with me here: Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry </video> <video> New Course! The Poetics of Enchantment (2025) | The Visionary Tradition Description: Sign up for the group discussions and live course here: patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry See the syllabus here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BAmH9R0h8OdS8mud2vushG-H8w2YPx-6vdP_JqP625Y/edit?usp=sharing Cycle 1 (Spring Semester 2025) Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" St. John’s Gospel Eriugena's De divisione naturae Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Book I William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World Coleridge & Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads Emily Dickinson's Poetry George MacDonald's Phantastes G.M. Hopkins's Poetry J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring Elizabeth Bishop's Poetry </video> <video> I studied 16 poetry books across 4 centuries to make the canons Description: Join the poetry community and study literature with me at https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry An introductory video describing how I compiled the three forthcoming canons: the Foundations Canon (44 poets), the Golden Canon (88 poets), and the Silver Canon (144 poets). Study the canons of poetry with me at Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry A literary canon is a standard of judgment, a list of works agreed upon by a general consensus or readers that represents what Matthew Arnold called “the best that has been thought or said.” By reflecting the poets who have been valued by a consensus of readers, critics, scholars, editors, and other poets, these canons provide an authoritative map of discovery for self-learners, public readers, university students, and literature educators. I aimed at discovering a ranking of poets based upon their appearances within the 16 major anthologies. Although such rankings would vary if a different set of anthologies were used, these anthologies reflect the range of literary values that have determined the principles of selection used to compile canons since before the formation of university literature departments in the nineteenth century. To that end I have selected anthologies from across four centuries. The earliest is the list of poets included in Samuel Johnson’s Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets (1779–81) and the latest is the 2005 Norton Anthology of Poetry. My Goals with these Canons: 0:00-2:17 My Method: 2:17-5:15 Sneak Peak at the Master List (1,500+ names): 5:15-6:21 The Anthologies I used: 6:22-17:40 What are the Following Canons? 17:40-1948 </video> <video> My Thoughts on the Idea of a Canon Description: Join the poetry community and study literature with me at https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry What is the canon of literature, and what is its value? This is a question I've received a few times and have spoken about before. I address it directly in this video. Complex Question 0:00-1:06 History of Literary Canon 1:06-5:30 The Canon Wars 5:30-7:02 2 Pros and 2 Cons of the idea of "THE canon" 7:02-11:20 How I prefer to think about it 11:20-14:05 canons vs. CANON 14:05-16:00 </video> <video> George MacDonald and the 'Otherworld' | The Poetics of Enchantment 2025 Description: George MacDonald's Phantastes considered in light of the Otherworld Traditions. Join the live course "The Poetics of Enchantment" at: https://patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry See the syllabus for "The Poetics of Enchantment" here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BAmH9R0h8OdS8mud2vushG-H8w2YPx-6vdP_JqP625Y/edit?tab=t.0 YouTube Documentary by @gmdinformation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUze5yeivyk Works mentioned and consulted: Howard Patch, The Other World, According to Descriptions in Medieval Literature, (Harvard University Press, 1950). John Carey, “Time, Space and the Otherworld,” Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium, 7, 1987, pp. 1-27. Alfred K. Siewers, “Orthodoxy and Ecopoetics: The Green World in the Desert Sea,” Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration: Orthodox Christian Perspectives on Environment, Nature, and Creation. Ed. John Chryssavgis, Bruce V. Foltz. (New York: Fordham University Press, 2013), pp. 243-262. Alfred K. Siewers, “Orthodoxy and Ecopoetics: The Green World in the Desert Sea.” Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration. p. 243-262. (New York: Fordham UP, 2013), 243-262. Aisling Byrne, Otherworlds: Fantasy and History in Medieval Literature, (Oxford: 2016). George MacDonald, George MacDonald's Phantastes, George MacDonald george macdonald bicentenary, Otherworld, Medieval theology, medieval philosophy. </video> <video> American Puritan Poets | Bradstreet, Wigglesworth, Taylor | Lect. 2 | Early American Poetry Course Description: Join the poetry community and study literature with me at https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry In this lecture, we’ll cover some essentials regarding three major Puritan poets, Anne Bradstreet, Michael Wigglesworth, and Edward Taylor. What did poetry mean the New England puritans? And how did it serve as a method of education, communication, devotion, and a source of beauty? </video> <video> How to Build Your Own Canon | Q&A Description: Join the poetry community and study literature with me at https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry Introduction: 0:00-2:13 Reading as Self-Discovery 2:13-5:21 3 Kinds of Reading Distinguished 5:21-6:59 My Personal Canon Formation 6:59-9:59 4 Rules for Canon Study 9:59-15:28 Upcoming Canon Video 15:28-1607 Read my personal reflection on Coleridge's symbol see: https://www.friendsofcoleridge.com/images/9_-_Adam_Walker_Coleridges_Symbol_and_the_Souls_Vocabulary.pdf </video> <video> Country Music and the Great American Elegy Description: Join the poetry community and study literature with me at https://www.patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry How does contemporary country music participate within the tradition of the great American elegy? Returning to my roots in this unorthodox lecture, I pair Walt Whitman with Alan Jackson, John Clare with John Anderson, Trumbull Stickney with Craig Morgan, and Emily Dickinson with George Jones. I look specifically at Alan Jackson's "Little Man," John Anderson's "Seminole Wind," Craig Morgan's "Almost Home," and George Jones's "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Introduction to the Elegy 0:00-4:39 National Elegies | Whitman & Alan Jackson 4:39-11:30 Ecological Elegies |John Clare & John Anderson 11:30-20:15 American Nostalgia | Stickney & Craig Morgan 20:15-30:01 Elegiac Constancy | Dickinson & Jones 30:01-39:51 </video> <video> The Bible and English Poetry 2025 Description: Join the course at patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry See The Bible and English Poetry syllabus here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RCrzz0iHwmKxndrg_6gSOqDvAGo-5duCLIJXNa_M6T8/edit?usp=sharing </video>

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Description

Welcome to my channel, where I make the study of poetry available to readers outside the university.

I'm Adam Walker (PhD, Harvard University), and I believe that close reading requires careful and reverent attention to the shape of sound and meaning. It helps readers have an imaginative encounter with poetry and cultivates the conditions under which a love of literature may be learned and deepened. Experiencing poetry is so much more than just learning what the poet could have said if he or she had written a paragraph instead of a poem. I started this channel to show how poetry can be enjoyed as a verbal art form.

I offer literary lectures without midroll ads. If you want to support my work, visit Patreon.com/CloseReadingPoetry

Thanks for stopping by!

Be in touch with questions/comments at adamgagewalker@gmail.com

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