Bible Backgrounds and English Literature (Part 1) | Lecture 1

Join the live lectures, book clubs, and poetry community at 🏫 https://versedcommunity.mn.co/ The journey through the Harvard 1983 list has begun! The first lecture, "Bible and English Literature (Part 1)," weaves together primary readings from the King James Version of the Bible (Genesis, the Psalms, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, The Gospel of Matthew, the Pauline epistles, and the Revelation of St. John) with several secondary sources (Northrop Frye's The Great Code; Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's “On Reading the Bible” from On the Art of Reading; T.R. Henn's The Apple and the Spectroscope; Richard Dawkins's “Why I want all our children to read the King James Bible,” from The Guardian, May 19, 2012; Christopher Hitchens's “When the King Saved God,” from Vanity Fair (April 1, 2011); Christopher Hodgkins's Literary Study of the Bible; and Robert Lowth's Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews) to show how the Bible, as a literary monument, inspired the poetry of the English tradition. I bring together a list of readings from the King James Version (1611) to consider the literary styles and features of the Bible. We survey the major genres of narrative and history, poetry, prophecy, wisdom literature, love poetry, parables, epistolary literature, and apocalyptical writings. #poetry Learn how to close-read poetry through my lecture series “Close Reading Poetry” here:    • How to Read Poetry   Find me teaching at the Antrim Literature Project: https://www.AntrimLiteratureProject.org Introduction 0:00-2:40 Authorities on why the Bible matters 2:40-9:44 Why the King James? 9:45-12:09 Genesis - Creation and Fall 12:09-37:32 Poetry 37:32-48:24 Prophecy 48:24-58:07 Wisdom & Love Poetry 58:07-1:05:07 Parables of Jesus 1:05:07-1:11:55 Epistles 1:11:55-1:16:19 Apocalyptical writings 1:16:19-1:21:05 Poetry Discussed: John Milton's Paradise Lost Gerard Manley Hopkins's "God's Grandeur" Henry Vaughan's "The Retreat" Wordsworth’s “Intimations” Ode Lord Byron's "Manfred" and "She Walks in Beauty" George Herbert's "Love (III)" and "Jordan (I)" Walt Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road” William Blake "A Poison Tree" Allen Ginsberg’s "Howl" Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream"