Old and New(er) Poetry, Rhymes and Free Verse

Above is a beautiful picture of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas' boathouse.  Below is the painting that may have inspired Browning to write "My Last Duchess."

We spent most of today going over "My Last Duchess," listening to James Mason's reading of this poem and another reading by an unknown man--and, of course, discussing the poem.  We also listened to Sir Anthony Hopkins' reading of "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night," a villanelle. 

Here are links to these poems and readings.   I'll start with Robert Browning's "My Last Duchess": https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43768/my-last-duchess  It may help to listen to actor James Mason read this poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZbNrNE9q8g&t=2s
I am also adding a villanelle for us, Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night."  https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night  Sir Anthony Hopkins reads the poem here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Se1QpY5CM

Wednesday we will continue discussing Dylan Thomas' villanelle, move on to Elizabeth Bishop's villanelle "One Art": https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47536/one-art , and conclude with some free verse: Bishop's "Crusoe in   England" https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48287/crusoe-in-england  and Robert Hayden's "Those Winter Sundays": https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46461/those-winter-sundays

Actor Miranda Otto (playing Elizabeth Bishop in a film) reads "One Art" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST2mOE4d7Pg

Robert Hayden himself reads "Those Winter Sundays": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmJYs6PQKVc

I'll finish with Dylan Thomas' reading of "Do Not Go...": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2cgcx-GJTQ&t=1s

Here is a little bit of information about Crusoe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoe

Here are some questions for you:

-- Which do you prefer: free verse or rhyme?  Why?

-- Which do you prefer: poems that follow a specific form or poems that do not?  Why?

-- How did the background information (including portraits) help you understand "My Last Duchess" better?  Why?

-- Is "My Last Duchess" poetry?  Why?

-- Is "Crusoe in England" poetry?  Why?

-- Which emotions do you find in "My Last Duchess"?

-- Which language do you find in "Those Winter Sundays"?  (Note that this poem is about 14 lines long, the length of a sonnet.)

-- Compare older poetry (Petrarch, Shakespeare, Wyatt, translation by Higginson, and Browning) with 20th century poetry (Brooks, Bishop, Hayden, Juster, Thomas).  How are they similar?  How are they different?  How has poetry evolved?

-- Comparing older and newer poetry, what role does form play in each type of poem?  Feel free to compare Shakespeare's sonnets with Juster's translation or with Brooks' original.  Or compare Bishop's dramatic monologue ("Crusoe in England") with Browning's "My Last Duchess."

-- Compare "My Last Duchess" with "The Cask of Amontillado."  Which narrator/speaker is creepier?  Which piece conveys horror more directly?  Which piece do you prefer?  Why?

-- Compare "persona" poems such as "My Last Duchess" and "Crusoe in England" with more personal poems such as "Those Winter Sundays," "One Art," "Whoso List to Hunt," "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," or Petrarch's sonnets.  Where would Shakespeare's sonnets fit into this comparison?  Where would "the rites for Cousin Vit" fit?

-- Is "One Art" really a personal poem?  Consider Elizabeth Bishop's stance towards confessional poetry: https://www.poetryarchive.org/poet/elizabeth-bishop  Elsewhere an author mentions how the poet ruthlessly took out any specific descriptions of her lover in a poem.  (Note that Bishop was a lesbian at a very heteronormative time.)

-- In the past, what role did poetry serve?  What role does it serve today?