Poetry is a type of literature based on the interplay of words and rhythm. It often employs rhyme and meter a set of rules governing the number and arrangement of syllables in each line.
In poetry, words are strung together to form sounds, images, and ideas that might be too complex or abstract to describe directly. Poetry was once written according to fairly strict rules of meter and rhyme, and each culture had its own rules. For example, Anglo-Saxon poets had their own rhyme schemes and meters, while Greek poets and Arabic poets had others.
Although these classical forms are still widely used today, modern poets frequently do away with rules altogether — their poems generally do not rhyme, and do not fit any particular meter. These poems, however, still have a rhythmic quality and seek to create beauty through their words. This article, for example, is written in prose.
Poetry gives powerful insight into the cultures that create it. Because of this, fantasy and science fiction authors often create poetry for their invented cultures. Tolkien famously wrote different kinds of poetry for elves, dwarves, hobbits, and humans, and the rhythms and subject matter of their poetry was supposed to show how these races differed from one another.
In a more humorous vein, many Star Trek fans have taken to writing love poetry in the invented Klingon language. Poetry is probably the oldest form of literature, and probably predates the origin of writing itself. The oldest written manuscripts we have are poems, mostly epic poems telling the stories of ancient mythology.
Examples include the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Vedas sacred texts of Hinduism. This style of writing may have developed to help people memorize long chains of information in the days before writing.
Rhythm and rhyme can make the text more memorable, and thus easier to preserve for cultures that do not have a written language. Poetry can be written with all the same purposes as any other kind of literature — beauty, humor, storytelling, political messages, etc.
In the same sense, because poetry is a language which uses words, the words may often have several different layers of meaning below the surface. Poets are wordsmiths, they always try to pack in as much meaning as possible with every word they use in a poem. Sounds of vowels and consonants within each word and how they play off of each other are also important as well. The poet attempts to accomplish through the words of verse what the painter intends with color in a work of art.
In using the poetic language, poets usually attempt to use words which sound smooth and sweet and flow together in a comfortable way when they are combined into verse. When the words sound in harmony this creates a para-musical and acoustic effect which is pleasing to the inner ear of the reader, and is called euphony.
Always try to pay attention to the poet's possible use of any similes, metaphors, symbols, images, or unusual turns of speech in the words used.
Finding the deeper levels of meaning in the poetic language used in any poem is never a precise science. It is always a very speculative art at best, and one in which you never know for certain that your interpretation is exactly right on. So, spend some time learning all the literary techniques that could be used by any poet, but in the end, trust your intuition and go with it. Realism rejects the emotional emphasis of the Romantics, instead seeking to portray life as it really is. Realism remains a dominant focus through the 20th century, but as poets react to two world wars and great societal changes, language fragments and the imagery aligns with the times.
When Jack Kerouac names the Beat Generation in , he finds himself at the helm of a new literary movement that rejects American materialism and champions the quest for new experiences — whether induced by adventure, spiritualism, or chemistry. Blank Verse vs Free Verse. Sonnets — Petrarchan and Shakespearean — have been around for more than years, and poets have stuck with one of these two revered forms ever since. Epics and Narratives both tell long stories.
Lyrics and Ballads also tell stories, but their forms have a musical quality to them thanks to a strict rhythm and rhyme scheme. Limericks and Haikus are short and to the point. Limericks contain five lines of poetry and are often comedic. A haiku has three lines of poetry and exactly 17 syllables. Pastorals, Elegies, Villanelles, and Odes are all tributes to the natural milestones of life. Experimental poetry puts the visual experience of poetry front and center. One popular type is Blackout Poetry also called Erasure Poetry , where a person uses a marker to cover words or phrases on a page of text, leaving only the words that reveal their poem.
The Poetry Foundation publishes Poetry magazine , and hosts Poetry Out Loud , a national recitation competition for students. Head to Button Poetry to watch videos of published poets read from their latest works. Subscribe to get articles about writing, adding to your TBR pile, and simply content we feel is worth sharing. And yes, also sign up to be the first to hear about giveaways, our acquisitions, and exclusives! What Is Poetry?
As ethereal as poetry can be, there are elements that make a piece of writing a poem. By Jessica Dukes.
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