Free Online Poetry Courses

1. Understanding Poetry Writing

This course helps you turn your passion for poetry into a published poem or even an anthology. It takes you through simile, metaphor, imagery, rhyming and more so you understand the structure of different poetic forms.

2. Poetry Writing for Beginners

A course that will unleash your inner poet by exploring the effects of cadence, rhythm and grammatical tricks on the meaning and impact of your work.

3. Understanding the Relevance of Poetry 

To be a successful poet, it may help to examine how poetry has acted as a creative expression and see different approaches to composing verse.

1. Poetry in the Victorian Era

Victorian poets (1830s to 1900) reflected the era’s social and technological shifts in their work. This course analyses works by Arnold, Browning, Tennyson and other canonical poets.

2. Poetry in the Romantic Period

Coleridge, Keats and Wordsworth - among others - created poems that are still studied and enjoyed today. Sign up to explore what makes their works so evocative and compelling.

3. Understanding Metaphysical Poetry

17th-century English poets belong to a loose group known as the Metaphysical poets. Enrol in this short course to learn more especially about the classic works of John Donne.

Poetry is all about conjuring up images and emotions through skilfully deploying powerful words. Being a full-time poet is one option, but many skills poets also turn their skills to:

• Teaching poetry or creative writing
• Writing songs
• Teaching literature
• Giving performances
• Editing others’ works to make them more lyrical

Many world-famous and successfully published poets had full-time other jobs: TS Eliot was a banker, Maya Angelou held many jobs from paint stripper in a mechanic’s workshop to journalist, and William Carlos Williams was a doctor. Don’t let anything stop you from writing poetry if that is what you enjoy - even Walt Whitman worked as a nurse and a government clerk!