Richard Sacks

University College Enrichment Program

University of Denver, Denver CO

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April Series:

Dickinson, "The first Day's Night had come"

Yeats, "Leda and the Swan"

Shakespeare, Sonnet 98

Millay, "An Ancient Gesture"

May Series:

Yeats, "The Sorrow of Love"

Shakespeare, Sonnet 53

Heaney, "Bedside Reading"

Dickinson, "He fumbles at your Soul" 

Encore Session: July 1, 2020

Wordsworth, "The world is too much with us"

Note:  there was also a pre-series, limited-size, by-invitation-only trial Zoom run on 4/1/20 on Wordsworth's "The world is too much with us"

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Welcome Letter from Prof. Sacks

I want to welcome you to the May series of our free 1-poem-a-week physical-distancing edition of Dusting off the Classics,.

We all understand that being together in one space generally makes for a more profound experience when it comes to collaboratively trying to get our heads around great pieces of art. That, of course, is not an option under present circumstances. At the same time, I find that such communal explorations are especially healing, for my soul at least, when (to quote the opening words of the famous Wordsworth sonnet we examined in the trial run for our April series) "the world is too much with us." So I want to thank you for welcoming me and each other into your homes and joining together in this endeavor.

A brief word on logistics. Each week we'll get together via Zoom and "dust off" – by very closely reading, as well as examining the artistry of – a different short poem which itself in some sense dusts off the classics. I'll be posting links to the texts (as well as other information) at the bottom this page, so that you'll have a chance to read and think about each week's short poem ahead of time. Also, we will be making these Zoom sessions more secure by asking everyone to "register" for each series (Encore Session registration link) which will allow us to take advantage of the Zoom access features in DU's registration system.

Hoping you'll join us. Be well and stay safe.

Richard Sacks

sacks.richard@gmail.