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"If in matters of aesthetics explanations fail, comparisons must never do so." In this course we will ask whether the quotation is accurate: is comparison the solution to the problem of describing poetry? Is describing poetry always a problem? Is comparison a distraction from the serious engagement of texts in times and places? Our starting point will be lyric poetry and its criticism. Is the lyric anything without genre? Without context? Are critical modes universal? Does context determine other framing concepts like secularism? We will read theoretical interventions, criticism, and poetry, we will talk about developing our own approaches, and we will experiment with them. Students working on genres other than poetry and areas of the world other than West Asia are encouraged to enroll (as are students working on poetry or Arabic, of course!) All readings will be available in English.