Poetry has always dealt with big themes. Love, religion, freedom, good and evil, rebellion and conformity, the search for identity, death and mortality--all have been proper subjects for poets across the ages. Another major theme has been nature. Poets have been particularly attuned to seasonal change, to the beauty of nature, and to the way our lives are connected to the natural world. In this course we'll look at poetry from the 14th to the 21st century. Poets studied will include Chaucer, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Keats, Dickinson, Hopkins, Frost, and Mary Oliver. Please note that this is a discussion course, not a course in creative writing. John Noffsinger earned an M.A. and a Ph. D. in English from the University of Virginia. For 38 years he taught English-- both literature and writing--at three independent schools in Virginia: North Cross, Norfolk Academy, and St. Anne's- Belfield. Since 2019 he has also taught several literature courses through LLI.