This class covers the literature of several periods that span over a thousand years and countless language shifts and changes. Starting with Beowulf and other Anglo Saxon writers, we will continue through Chaucer and the Pearl-poet’s era, into Shakespeare and Milton’s works, and end with writers of the Enlightenment, like Swift and Pope. These periods are often grouped together because they express the origins of English language and culture. Though we will read most things in translation, there will be time spent on the changing language and styles in order to enrich our understanding of these treasures of literature.