Poetry Courses and Certifications

Modern & Contemporary American Poetry (“ModPo”)

191 reviews

During the 10 weeks of the course, you will be guided through poems, video discussions of each poem, and community discussions of each poem. And (unique among open online courses) we offer weekly, interactive live webcasts.

• Coursera
• 10 weeks long
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course (Audit)

• Best of All Time

Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop

19 reviews

Why just write poems when you can write better ones? This course is built on the notion that the most exciting writing begins after the first draft.

• Coursera
• 6 weeks long
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Poetry in America: The Civil War and Its Aftermath

1 review

Explore the poetry of the Civil War and its aftermath.

• edX
• 3-5 hours a week, 4 weeks long
• Self paced
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Poetry in America: Modernism

1 review

Reading works by Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, Langston Hughes, Marianne Moore, William Carlos Williams, and Wallace Stevens, among others, learn how American Modernist poetry departed from past traditions and past forms.

• edX
• 3-5 hours a week, 8 weeks long
• Self paced
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Poetry in America: Whitman

This module, the third installment of the multi-part _Poetry in America _series, focuses on the poetry of Walt Whitman, a quintessentially American writer whose work continues to bear heavily upon the American poetic tradition.

• edX
• 3-5 hours a week, 4 weeks long
• Self paced
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Lancaster University

William Wordsworth: Poetry, People and Place

6 reviews

Explore the influence of the Lake District on Wordsworth with this free online course, filmed at his home, Dove Cottage, Grasmere.

• FutureLearn
• 3 hours a week, 4 weeks long
• Self paced
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Robert Burns: Poems, Songs and Legacy

5 reviews

Dig deeper into the life and works of Robert Burns, with this free University of Glasgow course.

• FutureLearn
• 4 hours a week, 3 weeks long
• Self paced
• Free Online Course (Audit)

Modern American Poetry

1 review

Twelve experienced faculty members from across the United States present their analyses of ground-breaking modern American poets in richly illustrated video lectures. The course highlights both major poets—from Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson through T…

• Coursera
• 4 weeks long
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course (Audit)

What is poetry?

1 review

Have you always wanted to try to write poetry but never quite managed to start? This free course, What is poetry?, is designed to illustrate the techniques behind both the traditional forms of ...

• OpenLearn
• 12 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Certificate

Georgetown University

The Divine Comedy: Dante's Journey to Freedom

5 reviews

Jorge Luis Borges, the great Argentine writer, said that no one should deny themselves the pleasure of reading Dante's Divine Comedy. In this course, you will discover precisely what Borges meant.

• edX
• 9-10 hours a week, 8 weeks long
• Self paced
• Free Online Course (Audit)

The Great Poem Series: Unbinding Prometheus

19 reviews

Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote “Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains.” Poet Percy Shelley believed words could be stronger than shackles, and wrote poems intended to free mankind from their chains. Some have argued that poetry can do nothing--…

• OpenLearning
• 8 weeks long
• On-Demand
• Free Online Course

Approaching poetry

Do you want to get more out of your reading of poetry? This free course, Approaching poetry, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You ...

• OpenLearn
• 20 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Certificate

The poetry of Sorley MacLean

Sorley MacLean (1911-1996) is regarded as one of the greatest Scottish poets of the twentieth century. This free course, The poetry of Sorley MacLean, will introduce you to his poetry and give you ...

• OpenLearn
• 10 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Certificate

Schubert's Lieder: Settings of Goethe's poems

This free course, Schubert's Lieder: Settings of Goethe's poems, looks at the short poems in German that were set to music by Franz Schubert (17971828) for a single voice with piano, a genre known ...

• OpenLearn
• 16 hours worth of material
• On-Demand
• Free Certificate

John Milton: Paradise Lost

1 review

Read John Milton’s Paradise Lost through a modern lens and contribute to the still-expanding scholarship of Milton’s enduring masterpiece.

• edX
• 2-8 hours a week, 4 weeks long
• Self paced
• Free Online Course (Audit)