Intro to English I: The Natural World in Early English Literary History

The first poem written down in English, composed in the 7th century, is about the creation of Earth; this course surveys British literature from then until the 17th century to explore the wisdom, beauty, mystery, and terror in medieval and early modern representations of nature. While following this tradition of writing about the natural world, we will study its connection to the evolution of English literary forms and the interplay between text and culture in this period. Old English riddles that enigmatize earth and sky; beast fables drawing human morality from animal behavior; the varieties of play between love and nature in sonnets; Elizabethan drama's power to conjure wildernesses onstage.