Why is mystical poetry so often lacking in mysticism? Why is literature of the sacred so often tepid, or even a drag? In this course, suitable for anyone, we will look at and plunder poetic passages from works by the Rolling Stones, Little Richard, the Doors, Blondie, the Clash, Simone Weil, the Go-Go’s, Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson, Dante, Sappho, Ann Carson, Robert Pinsky, Francois Villon, and Lou Reed. Others will elbow their way in, too, including but not limited to such beautiful artists as the Who, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and the B-52’s.

It is long past time that rock and rollers from the 20th century, take their place alongside the English Elizabethan poets, the 5th century BC Athenians and the French Impressionist painters as artists of the highest order, whose creative work gains in transformative power, rather than waning, as time goes by. 

Borrowing freely from Lou Reed for the course’s title, we will, following Reed’s example, also entertain and imitate the Velvet Underground’s and Laurie Anderson’s radical freedoms from conservative constructs of society and gender, following poetic forms and departures to dance on fire, as Jim Morrison might (and did) put it.

Please note: This class is an online class. To participate, students must have a stable internet connection with a computer or device with a webcam and microphone.