Lyrics of Mystical Love: East and West is a journey through the mystical love poetry of some of the world’s most important mystical poets: Rumi, Ibn ‘Arabi, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Ávila, amongst many others. Like any journey, this journey will require certain preparations and provisions. We will need to prepare ourselves for this adventure by studying the religious, social, and political contexts in which these mystical poets wrote (e.g. Ernst) and also discuss some of the (theoretical) pitfalls that others have identified along the route (e.g., King). Ultimately, however, this journey is a poetic journey. In other words, the class and its projects will primarily revolve around visits to the poetic worlds of different poets. We will examine the work of each poet through a variety of different lens of literary analysis (e.g., Culler) and also read a number of works that exemplify the literary approach to analysis of mystical poetry (e.g., Keshavarz, Sells).
Please contact me if you are interested in reviewing the full syllabus.