Free Poetry Courses
Free poetry courses can be taken online with a laptop or home computer and an Internet connection. Among other things, students can study poets like Sorley MacLean and W. B. Yeats.
Yale University
Yale University offers courses on modern poetry and John Milton. Interested individuals can access these audio and video lectures from Yale's Open Courses platform. These courses are also available on YouTube and iTunes.
Open University
Open University gives students the opportunity to learn about poetry online for free. Read through lessons on form or discussions on what poetry is from the OU website, or download an entire lesson as an eBook.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT's OpenCourseWare offers a variety of online poetry courses for free. Choose from literary interpretation courses or specific areas of study - like gender and lyric - or learn about major poets and their influences on the literary world.
- Writing and Reading Poems
- Digital Poetry
- Literary Interpretation: Beyond the Limits of the Lyric
- Literary Interpretation: Interpreting Poetry
- Studies in Poetry: 'Does Poetry Matter'
- Studies in Poetry: Gender and Lyric -- Renaissance Men and Women Writing about Love
- Major Poets
- Studies in Poetry: From the Sonneteers to the Metaphysicals
- Poetry in Translation
- Modern Poetry
- Studies in Poetry - British Poetry and the Sciences of the Mind
- Studies in Poetry: 'What's the Use of Beauty?'
- Studies in Poetry: 20th Century Irish Poetry: The Shadow of W. B. Yeats
Free Online Poetry Courses At a Glance
| Course & School | Program Level | Format | Assignments | Quizzes & Exams | Downloadable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modern Poetry course from Yale University | Undergraduate | Audio/video lectures | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Milton course from Yale University | Undergraduate | Audio/video lectures | No | Yes | Yes |
| Approaching Poetry course from Open University | Intermediate | Text | Yes | No | Yes |
| What is Poetry? course from Open University | Beginner | Text, audio files | Yes | No | Yes |
| The Poetry of Sorley MacLean course from Open University | Advanced | Text, audio files | Yes | No | Yes |
| Form and Uses of Language course from Open University | Beginner | Text, audio file | Yes | No | Yes |
| Writing and Reading Poems course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources | Yes | No | Yes |
| Digital Poetry course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources | Yes | No | Yes |
| Literary Interpretation: Beyond the Limits of the Lyric course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources, text | Yes | No | Yes |
| Literary Interpretation: Interpreting Poetry course from MIT | Undergraduate | Texts | Yes | No | Yes |
| Studies in Poetry: 'Does Poetry Matter' course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources, texts | Yes | No | Yes |
| Studies in Poetry: Gender and Lyric -- Renaissance Men and Women Writing about Love course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources, texts | Yes | No | Yes |
| Major Poets course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources | Yes | No | Yes |
| Studies in Poetry: From the Sonneteers to the Metaphysicals course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources | Yes | No | Yes |
| Poetry in Translation course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources, texts | Yes | No | Yes |
| Modern Poetry course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources, texts | Yes | No | Yes |
| Studies in Poetry - British Poetry and the Sciences of the Mind course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources | Yes | No | Yes |
| Studies in Poetry: 'What's the Use of Beauty?' course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources | Yes | No | Yes |
| Studies in Poetry: 20th Century Irish Poetry: The Shadow of W. B. Yeats course from MIT | Undergraduate | External reading resources | Yes | No | Yes |
