Introduce poems with philosophic elements. Poems by Wallace Stevens, T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, Laura Riding Jackson and Adrien Rich are all ideal. Each of these mostly modernist poets had personal philosophies and a "love of wisdom" and truth in their work. Select poems by each poet and identify ways of looking at the world, using the poem like a microscope to see details.
Assign Wallace Stevens' essays "The Necessary Angel" (1951). Ask students to write a short response to each essay, and one longer reaction paper -- 2 or 3 pages -- to the essay they enjoy most. Because the essays point out in a philosophical way how truth can be found in concepts of imagination, introduce a unit on "imagination as philosophy" or "philosophy in creativity." Pull parts of the essays to share with the class in discussion or small groups.
Translate philosophy into poems. Read transcriptions of Socrates' philosophy via his students such as Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon and Aristophanes. Discuss with students the moral concepts, religion and truth-seeking found in the work. Ask students to point out certain words, phrases and ideas in the writing that ring important or fascinating to the student.
Study well-known philosophical phrases. Look at ways in which the statements Socrates made (though not directly, because his views are transcribed) have striking similarities to statements found in traditional and contemporary poetry. One of Socrates' most famous sayings -- "I only know that I know nothing" -- could be the end of a Theodore Roethke poem or a line in a Wallace Stevens ending (See Stevens' "The Snow Man). Find Descartes' famous revelation "I think therefore I am" reincarnated in modern and earlier poems.
Teach ancient and contemporary philosophers with a special emphasis on language. Note the use of vocabulary throughout philosophical texts. Break students into small groups. Ask them to discuss poetic diction throughout the texts. Ask students to try writing a poem as a reaction to the texts they read.