This course is an introduction to poetry that is focused on two core elements of poetry: rhythm and myth. We will consider how rhythm is an experience of time that the patterned language of poetry produces. And myth here refers to the persistent present of the poem, which wishes to be the event that it describes, rather than just a representation of it. With these elements in tension, a poem is a complex temporal system, simultaneously pulsing with the changing rhythms of everyday life and timeless—dynamic and resonant across histories, languages, and cultures. In this class we will read poetry from a variety of genres as well as cultures and languages (ancient and modern, western and non-western, oral and written) to better understand this lasting poetic tension. Along the way, we will take into account key theorists on poetic form and the function and meaning of myth. (Genre Fundamentals [formerly Gateway], Poetry)