Poetry is a form of
literature that uses
aesthetic and rhythmic
[1][2][3] qualities of
language—such as
phonaesthetics,
sound symbolism, and
metre—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the
prosaic ostensible
meaning.
Poetry has a long
history, dating back to the
Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. Early poems evolved from folk songs such as the Chinese
Shijing, or from a need to retell oral epics, as with the
Sanskrit Vedas,
Zoroastrian Gathas, and the
Homeric epics, the
Iliad and the
Odyssey. Ancient attempts to define poetry, such as
Aristotle's
Poetics, focused on the uses of
speech in
rhetoric,
drama,
song and
comedy. Later attempts concentrated on features such as repetition,
verse form and
rhyme, and emphasized the aesthetics which distinguish poetry from more objectively informative,
prosaic
forms of writing. From the mid-20th century, poetry has sometimes been
more generally regarded as a fundamental creative act employing
language.
Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential
interpretation to words, or to evoke emotive responses. Devices such as
assonance,
alliteration,
onomatopoeia and
rhythm are sometimes used to achieve
musical or
incantatory effects. The use of
ambiguity,
symbolism,
irony and other
stylistic elements of
poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly figures of speech such as
metaphor,
simile and
metonymy[4]
create a resonance between otherwise disparate images—a layering of
meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of
resonance may exist, between individual
verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm.
Some poetry types are specific to particular
cultures and
genres and respond to characteristics of the language in which the poet writes. Readers accustomed to identifying poetry with
Dante,
Goethe,
Mickiewicz and
Rumi may think of it as written in
lines based on
rhyme and regular
meter; there are, however, traditions, such as
Biblical poetry, that use other means to create rhythm and
euphony. Much modern poetry reflects a critique of poetic tradition,
[5]
playing with and testing, among other things, the principle of euphony
itself, sometimes altogether forgoing rhyme or set rhythm.
[6][7] In today's increasingly
globalized world, poets often adapt forms, styles and techniques from diverse cultures and languages.
History
Poetry as an art form may predate
literacy.
[8] Epic poetry, from the
Indian Vedas (1700–1200 BC) and
Zoroaster's
Gathas to the
Odyssey (800–
675 BC), appears to have been composed in poetic form to aid memorization and oral transmission, in prehistoric and ancient societies.
[9] Other forms of poetry developed directly from folk songs. The earliest entries in the ancient compilation
Shijing, were initially lyrics, preceding later entries intended to be read.
[10]
The oldest surviving epic poem is the
Epic of Gilgamesh, from the 3rd millennium BC in
Sumer (in
Mesopotamia, now
Iraq), which was written in
cuneiform script on clay tablets and, later,
papyrus.
[11] Other ancient epic poetry includes the
Greek epics
Iliad and
Odyssey, the
Old Iranian books the
Gathic Avesta and
Yasna, the
Roman national epic,
Virgil's
Aeneid, and the
Indian epics Ramayana and
Mahabharata.
The efforts of ancient thinkers to determine what makes poetry
distinctive as a form, and what distinguishes good poetry from bad,
resulted in "
poetics"—the study of the aesthetics of poetry.
[12] Some ancient poetic traditions; such as, contextually,
Classical Chinese poetry in the case of the
Shijing (
Classic of Poetry), which records the development of poetic canons with ritual and aesthetic importance.
[13]
More recently, thinkers have struggled to find a definition that could
encompass formal differences as great as those between Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales and
Matsuo Bashō's
Oku no Hosomichi, as well as differences in context spanning
Tanakh religious poetry, love poetry, and
rap.
[14]
Western traditions
Classical thinkers employed classification as a way to define and
assess the quality of poetry. Notably, the existing fragments of
Aristotle's
Poetics
describe three genres of poetry—the epic, the comic, and the tragic—and
develop rules to distinguish the highest-quality poetry in each genre,
based on the underlying purposes of the genre.
[15] Later
aestheticians identified three major genres: epic poetry,
lyric poetry, and
dramatic poetry, treating
comedy and
tragedy as
subgenres of dramatic poetry.
[16]
Aristotle's work was influential throughout the Middle East during the
Islamic Golden Age,
[17] as well as in Europe during the
Renaissance.
[18] Later poets and aestheticians often distinguished poetry from, and defined it in opposition to
prose, which was generally understood as writing with a proclivity to logical explication and a linear narrative structure.
[19]
This does not imply that poetry is illogical or lacks narration, but
rather that poetry is an attempt to render the beautiful or sublime
without the burden of engaging the logical or narrative thought process.
English
Romantic poet
John Keats termed this escape from logic "
Negative Capability".
[20]
This "romantic" approach views form as a key element of successful
poetry because form is abstract and distinct from the underlying
notional logic. This approach remained influential into the 20th
century.
[21]
During this period, there was also substantially more interaction
among the various poetic traditions, in part due to the spread of
European
colonialism and the attendant rise in global trade.
[22] In addition to a boom in
translation, during the Romantic period numerous ancient works were rediscovered.
[23]
20th-century disputes
Some 20th-century
literary theorists,
relying less on the opposition of prose and poetry, focused on the poet
as simply one who creates using language, and poetry as what the poet
creates.
[24] The underlying concept of the poet as creator is not uncommon, and some
modernist poets
essentially do not distinguish between the creation of a poem with
words, and creative acts in other media. Yet other modernists challenge
the very attempt to define poetry as misguided.
[25]
The rejection of traditional forms and structures for poetry that
began in the first half of the 20th century coincided with a questioning
of the purpose and meaning of traditional definitions of poetry and of
distinctions between poetry and prose, particularly given examples of
poetic prose and prosaic poetry. Numerous modernist poets have written
in non-traditional forms or in what traditionally would have been
considered prose, although their writing was generally infused with
poetic diction and often with rhythm and tone established by non-
metrical means. While there was a substantial
formalist
reaction within the modernist schools to the breakdown of structure,
this reaction focused as much on the development of new formal
structures and syntheses as on the revival of older forms and
structures.
[26]
Recently,
postmodernism
has come to convey more completely prose and poetry as distinct
entities, and also among genres of poetry, as having meaning only as
cultural artifacts. Postmodernism goes beyond modernism's emphasis on
the creative role of the poet, to emphasize the role of the reader of a
text (
Hermeneutics), and to highlight the complex cultural web within which a poem is read.
[27]
Today, throughout the world, poetry often incorporates poetic form and
diction from other cultures and from the past, further confounding
attempts at definition and classification that were once sensible within
a tradition such as the
Western canon.
[28]
Elements
Prosody
Main article:
Meter (poetry)
Prosody is the study of the meter,
rhythm, and
intonation of a poem. Rhythm and meter are different, although closely related.
[29] Meter is the definitive pattern established for a verse (such as
iambic pentameter),
while rhythm is the actual sound that results from a line of poetry.
Prosody also may be used more specifically to refer to the
scanning of poetic lines to show meter.
[30]
Rhythm
The methods for creating poetic rhythm vary across languages and
between poetic traditions. Languages are often described as having
timing set primarily by
accents,
syllables, or
moras, depending on how rhythm is established, though a language can be influenced by multiple approaches.
Japanese is a
mora-timed language. Syllable-timed languages include
Latin,
Catalan,
French,
Leonese,
Galician and
Spanish.
English,
Russian and, generally,
German are stress-timed languages.
[31] Varying
intonation also affects how rhythm is perceived. Languages can rely on either pitch, such as in Vedic Sanskrit or Ancient Greek, or tone.
Tonal languages include Chinese, Vietnamese, Lithuanian, and most
Subsaharan languages.
[32]
Metrical rhythm generally involves precise arrangements of stresses or syllables into repeated patterns called
feet
within a line. In Modern English verse the pattern of stresses
primarily differentiate feet, so rhythm based on meter in Modern English
is most often founded on the pattern of stressed and unstressed
syllables (alone or
elided).
[33] In the
classical languages, on the other hand, while the
metrical units are similar,
vowel length rather than stresses define the meter.
[34] Old English poetry used a metrical pattern involving varied numbers of syllables but a fixed number of strong stresses in each line.
[35]
The chief device of ancient
Hebrew Biblical poetry, including many of the
psalms, was
parallelism,
a rhetorical structure in which successive lines reflected each other
in grammatical structure, sound structure, notional content, or all
three. Parallelism lent itself to
antiphonal or
call-and-response performance, which could also be reinforced by
intonation.
Thus, Biblical poetry relies much less on metrical feet to create
rhythm, but instead creates rhythm based on much larger sound units of
lines, phrases and sentences.
[36] Some classical poetry forms, such as
Venpa of the
Tamil language, had rigid grammars (to the point that they could be expressed as a
context-free grammar) which ensured a rhythm.
[37] In
Chinese poetry, tones as well as stresses create rhythm.
Classical Chinese poetics identifies
four tones: the level tone, rising tone, departing tone, and
entering tone.
[38]
The formal patterns of meter used in Modern English verse to create
rhythm no longer dominate contemporary English poetry. In the case of
free verse, rhythm is often organized based on looser units of
cadence rather than a regular meter.
Robinson Jeffers,
Marianne Moore, and
William Carlos Williams are three notable poets who reject the idea that regular accentual meter is critical to English poetry.
[39] Jeffers experimented with
sprung rhythm as an alternative to accentual rhythm.
[40]
Meter
In the Western poetic tradition, meters are customarily grouped according to a characteristic
metrical foot and the number of feet per line.
[41] The number of metrical feet in a line are described using Greek terminology:
tetrameter for four feet and
hexameter for six feet, for example.
[42] Thus, "
iambic pentameter" is a meter comprising five feet per line, in which the predominant kind of foot is the "
iamb". This metric system originated in ancient
Greek poetry, and was used by poets such as
Pindar and
Sappho, and by the great
tragedians of
Athens. Similarly, "
dactylic hexameter", comprises six feet per line, of which the dominant kind of foot is the "
dactyl". Dactylic hexameter was the traditional meter of Greek
epic poetry, the earliest extant examples of which are the works of
Homer and
Hesiod.
[43] Iambic pentameter and dactylic hexameter were later used by a number of poets, including
William Shakespeare and
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, respectively.
[44] The most common metrical feet in English are:
[45]
- iamb – one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (e.g. describe, Include, retract)
- trochee – one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (e.g. picture, flower)
- dactyl – one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (e.g.annotate an-no-tate)
- anapest – two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable (e.g. comprehend com-pre-hend)
- spondee – two stressed syllables together (e.g. e-nough)
- pyrrhic – two unstressed syllables together (rare, usually used to end dactylic hexameter)
There are a wide range of names for other types of feet, right up to a
choriamb,
a four syllable metric foot with a stressed syllable followed by two
unstressed syllables and closing with a stressed syllable. The choriamb
is derived from some ancient
Greek and
Latin poetry.
[43] Languages which utilize
vowel length or
intonation rather than or in addition to syllabic accents in determining meter, such as
Ottoman Turkish or
Vedic, often have concepts similar to the iamb and dactyl to describe common combinations of long and short sounds.
[46]
Each of these types of feet has a certain "feel," whether alone or in
combination with other feet. The iamb, for example, is the most natural
form of rhythm in the English language, and generally produces a subtle
but stable verse.
[47] Scanning meter can often show the basic or fundamental pattern underlying a verse, but does not show the varying degrees of
stress, as well as the differing pitches and
lengths of syllables.
[48]
There is debate over how useful a multiplicity of different "feet" is in describing meter. For example,
Robert Pinsky
has argued that while dactyls are important in classical verse, English
dactylic verse uses dactyls very irregularly and can be better
described based on patterns of iambs and anapests, feet which he
considers natural to the language.
[49]
Actual rhythm is significantly more complex than the basic scanned
meter described above, and many scholars have sought to develop systems
that would scan such complexity.
Vladimir Nabokov
noted that overlaid on top of the regular pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables in a line of verse was a separate pattern of
accents resulting from the natural pitch of the spoken words, and
suggested that the term "scud" be used to distinguish an unaccented
stress from an accented stress.
[50]
Metrical patterns
Main article:
Meter (poetry)
Different traditions and genres of poetry tend to use different meters, ranging from the Shakespearean
iambic pentameter and the Homeric
dactylic hexameter to the
anapestic tetrameter
used in many nursery rhymes. However, a number of variations to the
established meter are common, both to provide emphasis or attention to a
given foot or line and to avoid boring repetition. For example, the
stress in a foot may be inverted, a
caesura (or pause) may be added (sometimes in place of a foot or stress), or the final foot in a line may be given a
feminine ending to soften it or be replaced by a
spondee
to emphasize it and create a hard stop. Some patterns (such as iambic
pentameter) tend to be fairly regular, while other patterns, such as
dactylic hexameter, tend to be highly irregular.
[51]
Regularity can vary between language. In addition, different patterns
often develop distinctively in different languages, so that, for
example,
iambic tetrameter
in Russian will generally reflect a regularity in the use of accents to
reinforce the meter, which does not occur, or occurs to a much lesser
extent, in English.
[52]
Some common metrical patterns, with notable examples of poets and poems who use them, include:
Rhyme, alliteration, assonance
Rhyme, alliteration, assonance and
consonance
are ways of creating repetitive patterns of sound. They may be used as
an independent structural element in a poem, to reinforce rhythmic
patterns, or as an ornamental element.
[58] They can also carry a meaning separate from the repetitive sound patterns created. For example,
Chaucer used heavy alliteration to mock Old English verse and to paint a character as archaic.
[59]
Rhyme consists of identical ("hard-rhyme") or similar ("soft-rhyme")
sounds placed at the ends of lines or at predictable locations within
lines ("
internal rhyme").
Languages vary in the richness of their rhyming structures; Italian,
for example, has a rich rhyming structure permitting maintenance of a
limited set of rhymes throughout a lengthy poem. The richness results
from word endings that follow regular forms. English, with its irregular
word endings adopted from other languages, is less rich in rhyme.
[60]
The degree of richness of a language's rhyming structures plays a
substantial role in determining what poetic forms are commonly used in
that language.
[61]
Alliteration is the repetition of letters or letter-sounds at the
beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at
short intervals; or the recurrence of the same letter in accented parts
of words. Alliteration and assonance played a key role in structuring
early Germanic, Norse and Old English forms of poetry. The alliterative
patterns of early Germanic poetry interweave meter and alliteration as a
key part of their structure, so that the metrical pattern determines
when the listener expects instances of alliteration to occur. This can
be compared to an ornamental use of alliteration in most Modern European
poetry, where alliterative patterns are not formal or carried through
full stanzas. Alliteration is particularly useful in languages with less
rich rhyming structures. Assonance, where the use of similar vowel
sounds within a word rather than similar sounds at the beginning or end
of a word, was widely used in
skaldic poetry, but goes back to the Homeric epic.
[62]
Because verbs carry much of the pitch in the English language,
assonance can loosely evoke the tonal elements of Chinese poetry and so
is useful in translating Chinese poetry.
[63]
Consonance occurs where a consonant sound is repeated throughout a
sentence without putting the sound only at the front of a word.
Consonance provokes a more subtle effect than alliteration and so is
less useful as a structural element.
[61]
Rhyming schemes
Main article:
Rhyme scheme
In many languages, including modern European languages and Arabic,
poets use rhyme in set patterns as a structural element for specific
poetic forms, such as
ballads,
sonnets and
rhyming couplets.
However, the use of structural rhyme is not universal even within the
European tradition. Much modern poetry avoids traditional
rhyme schemes. Classical Greek and Latin poetry did not use rhyme.
[64] Rhyme entered European poetry in the
High Middle Ages, in part under the influence of the
Arabic language in
Al Andalus (modern Spain).
[65] Arabic language poets used rhyme extensively from the first development of literary Arabic in the
sixth century, as in their long, rhyming
qasidas.
[66]
Some rhyming schemes have become associated with a specific language,
culture or period, while other rhyming schemes have achieved use across
languages, cultures or time periods. Some forms of poetry carry a
consistent and well-defined rhyming scheme, such as the
chant royal or the
rubaiyat, while other poetic forms have variable rhyme schemes.
[67]
Most rhyme schemes are described using letters that correspond to
sets of rhymes, so if the first, second and fourth lines of a quatrain
rhyme with each other and the third line does not rhyme, the quatrain is
said to have an "a-a-b-a" rhyme scheme. This rhyme scheme is the one
used, for example, in the rubaiyat form.
[68] Similarly, an "a-b-b-a" quatrain (what is known as "
enclosed rhyme") is used in such forms as the
Petrarchan sonnet.
[69]
Some types of more complicated rhyming schemes have developed names of
their own, separate from the "a-b-c" convention, such as the
ottava rima and
terza rima.
[70] The types and use of differing rhyming schemes is discussed further in the
main article.
Form
Poetic form is more flexible in modernist and post-modernist poetry,
and continues to be less structured than in previous literary eras. Many
modern poets eschew recognisable structures or forms, and write in
free verse.
But poetry remains distinguished from prose by its form; some regard
for basic formal structures of poetry will be found in even the best
free verse, however much such structures may appear to have been
ignored.
[71] Similarly, in the best poetry written in classic styles there will be departures from strict form for emphasis or effect.
[72]
Among major structural elements used in poetry are the line, the
stanza or
verse paragraph, and larger combinations of stanzas or lines such as
cantos. Also sometimes used are broader visual presentations of words and
calligraphy. These basic units of poetic form are often combined into larger structures, called
poetic forms or poetic modes (see following section), as in the
sonnet or
haiku.
Lines and stanzas
Poetry is often separated into lines on a page. These lines may be
based on the number of metrical feet, or may emphasize a rhyming pattern
at the ends of lines. Lines may serve other functions, particularly
where the poem is not written in a formal metrical pattern. Lines can
separate, compare or contrast thoughts expressed in different units, or
can highlight a change in tone.
[73] See the article on
line breaks for information about the division between lines.
Lines of poems are often organized into
stanzas, which are denominated by the number of lines included. Thus a collection of two lines is a
couplet (or
distich), three lines a
triplet (or
tercet), four lines a
quatrain,
and so on. These lines may or may not relate to each other by rhyme or
rhythm. For example, a couplet may be two lines with identical meters
which rhyme or two lines held together by a common meter alone.
[74]
Alexander Blok's poem, "
Noch, ulitsa, fonar, apteka" ("Night, street, lamp, drugstore"), on a wall in
Leiden
Other poems may be organized into
verse paragraphs,
in which regular rhymes with established rhythms are not used, but the
poetic tone is instead established by a collection of rhythms,
alliterations, and rhymes established in paragraph form.
[75] Many medieval poems were written in verse paragraphs, even where regular rhymes and rhythms were used.
[76]
In many forms of poetry, stanzas are interlocking, so that the
rhyming scheme or other structural elements of one stanza determine
those of succeeding stanzas. Examples of such interlocking stanzas
include, for example, the
ghazal and the
villanelle,
where a refrain (or, in the case of the villanelle, refrains) is
established in the first stanza which then repeats in subsequent
stanzas. Related to the use of interlocking stanzas is their use to
separate thematic parts of a poem. For example, the
strophe,
antistrophe and
epode of the ode form are often separated into one or more stanzas.
[77]
In some cases, particularly lengthier formal poetry such as some
forms of epic poetry, stanzas themselves are constructed according to
strict rules and then combined. In
skaldic poetry, the
dróttkvætt
stanza had eight lines, each having three "lifts" produced with
alliteration or assonance. In addition to two or three alliterations,
the odd numbered lines had partial rhyme of consonants with dissimilar
vowels, not necessarily at the beginning of the word; the even lines
contained internal rhyme in set syllables (not necessarily at the end of
the word). Each half-line had exactly six syllables, and each line
ended in a trochee. The arrangement of dróttkvætts followed far less
rigid rules than the construction of the individual dróttkvætts.
[78]
Visual presentation
Visual poetry
Main article:
Visual poetry
Even before the advent of printing, the visual appearance of poetry often added meaning or depth.
Acrostic poems conveyed meanings in the initial letters of lines or in letters at other specific places in a poem.
[79] In
Arabic,
Hebrew and
Chinese poetry, the visual presentation of finely
calligraphed poems has played an important part in the overall effect of many poems.
[80]
With the advent of
printing,
poets gained greater control over the mass-produced visual
presentations of their work. Visual elements have become an important
part of the poet's toolbox, and many poets have sought to use visual
presentation for a wide range of purposes. Some
Modernist
poets have made the placement of individual lines or groups of lines on
the page an integral part of the poem's composition. At times, this
complements the poem's
rhythm through visual
caesuras of various lengths, or creates
juxtapositions so as to accentuate meaning,
ambiguity or
irony, or simply to create an aesthetically pleasing form. In its most extreme form, this can lead to
concrete poetry or
asemic writing.
[81][82]
Diction
Main article:
Poetic diction
Poetic diction treats the manner in which language is used, and
refers not only to the sound but also to the underlying meaning and its
interaction with sound and form.
[83] Many languages and poetic forms have very specific poetic dictions, to the point where distinct
grammars and
dialects are used specifically for poetry.
[84][85] Registers in poetry can range from strict employment of ordinary speech patterns, as favoured in much late-20th-century
prosody,
[86] through to highly ornate uses of language, as in medieval and Renaissance poetry.
[87]
Poetic diction can include
rhetorical devices such as
simile and
metaphor, as well as tones of voice, such as
irony.
Aristotle wrote in the
Poetics that "the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor."
[88] Since the rise of
Modernism,
some poets have opted for a poetic diction that de-emphasizes
rhetorical devices, attempting instead the direct presentation of things
and experiences and the exploration of
tone.
[89] On the other hand,
Surrealists have pushed rhetorical devices to their limits, making frequent use of
catachresis.
[90]
Allegorical stories are central to the poetic diction of many cultures, and were prominent in the West during classical times, the
late Middle Ages and the
Renaissance.
Aesop's Fables,
repeatedly rendered in both verse and prose since first being recorded
about 500 B.C., are perhaps the richest single source of allegorical
poetry through the ages.
[91] Other notables examples include the
Roman de la Rose, a 13th-century French poem,
William Langland's
Piers Ploughman in the 14th century, and
Jean de la Fontaine's
Fables (influenced by Aesop's) in the 17th century. Rather than being fully allegorical, however, a poem may contain
symbols or
allusions that deepen the meaning or effect of its words without constructing a full allegory.
[92]
Another strong element of poetic diction can be the use of vivid
imagery
for effect. The juxtaposition of unexpected or impossible images is,
for example, a particularly strong element in surrealist poetry and
haiku.
[93]
Vivid images are often endowed with symbolism or metaphor. Many poetic
dictions use repetitive phrases for effect, either a short phrase (such
as Homer's "rosy-fingered dawn" or "the wine-dark sea") or a longer
refrain. Such repetition can add a sombre tone to a poem, or can be laced with irony as the context of the words changes.
[94]
Forms
Specific poetic forms have been developed by many cultures. In more
developed, closed or "received" poetic forms, the rhyming scheme, meter
and other elements of a poem are based on sets of rules, ranging from
the relatively loose rules that govern the construction of an
elegy to the highly formalized structure of the
ghazal or
villanelle.
[95]
Described below are some common forms of poetry widely used across a
number of languages. Additional forms of poetry may be found in the
discussions of poetry of particular cultures or periods and in the
glossary.
Sonnet
Among the most common forms of poetry through the ages is the sonnet,
which by the 13th century was a poem of fourteen lines following a set
rhyme scheme and logical structure. By the 14th century, the form
further crystallized under the pen of
Petrarch, whose sonnets were later translated in the 16th century by
Sir Thomas Wyatt, who is credited with introducing the sonnet form into English literature.
[96]
A sonnet's first four lines typically introduce the topic, the second
elaborates and the third posits a problem - the couplet usually, but not
always, includes a twist, or an afterthought. A sonnet usually follows
an a-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-e-f-e-f-gg rhyme pattern. The sonnet's conventions
have changed over its history, and so there are several different sonnet
forms. Traditionally, in sonnets English poets use
iambic pentameter, the
Spenserian and
Shakespearean sonnets being especially notable.
[97] In the
Romance languages, the
hendecasyllable and
Alexandrine are the most widely used meters, though the
Petrarchan sonnet has been used in Italy since the 14th century.
[98]
Sonnets are particularly associated with love poetry, and often use a
poetic diction heavily based on vivid imagery, but the twists and turns
associated with the move from octave to sestet and to final couplet
make them a useful and dynamic form for many subjects.
[99] Shakespeare's sonnets are among the most famous in English poetry, with 20 being included in the
Oxford Book of English Verse.
[100]
Shi
Main article:
Shi (poetry)
Shi (
simplified Chinese:
诗;
traditional Chinese:
詩;
pinyin:
shī;
Wade–Giles:
shih) Is the main type of
Classical Chinese poetry.
[101] Within this form of poetry the most important variations are "folk song" styled verse (
yuefu), "old style" verse (
gushi), "modern style" verse (
jintishi).
In all cases, rhyming is obligatory. The Yuefu is a folk ballad or a
poem written in the folk ballad style, and the number of lines and the
length of the lines could be irregular. For the other variations of
shi poetry, generally either a four line (quatrain, or
jueju)
or else an eight line poem is normal; either way with the even numbered
lines rhyming. The line length is scanned by according number of
characters (according to the convention that one character equals one
syllable), and are predominantly either five or seven characters long,
with a caesura before the final three syllables. The lines are generally
end-stopped, considered as a series of couplets, and exhibit verbal
parallelism as a key poetic device.
[102] The "old style" verse (
gushi) is less formally strict than the
jintishi, or regulated verse, which, despite the name "new style" verse actually had its theoretical basis laid as far back to
Shen Yue, in the 5th or 6th century, although not considered to have reached its full development until the time of
Chen Zi'ang (661-702)
[103] A good example of a poet known for his
gushi poems is
Li Bai.
Among its other rules, the jintishi rules regulate the tonal variations
within a poem, including the use of set patterns of the
four tones of
Middle Chinese
The basic form of jintishi (lushi) has eight lines in four couplets,
with parallelism between the lines in the second and third couplets. The
couplets with parallel lines contain contrasting content but an
identical grammatical relationship between words. Jintishi often have a
rich poetic diction, full of
allusion, and can have a wide range of subject, including history and politics.
[104][105] One of the masters of the form was
Du Fu, who wrote during the Tang Dynasty (8th century).
[106]
Villanelle
The villanelle is a nineteen-line poem made up of five triplets with a
closing quatrain; the poem is characterized by having two refrains,
initially used in the first and third lines of the first stanza, and
then alternately used at the close of each subsequent stanza until the
final quatrain, which is concluded by the two refrains. The remaining
lines of the poem have an a-b alternating rhyme.
[107] The villanelle has been used regularly in the English language since the late 19th century by such poets as
Dylan Thomas,
[108] W. H. Auden,
[109] and
Elizabeth Bishop.
[110]
Tanka
Tanka is a form of unrhymed
Japanese poetry, with five sections totalling 31
onji (phonological units identical to
morae), structured in a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern.
[111]
There is generally a shift in tone and subject matter between the upper
5-7-5 phrase and the lower 7-7 phrase. Tanka were written as early as
the
Asuka period by such poets as
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, at a time when Japan was emerging from a period where much of its poetry followed Chinese form.
[112] Tanka was originally the shorter form of Japanese formal poetry (which was generally referred to as "
waka"),
and was used more heavily to explore personal rather than public
themes. By the tenth century, tanka had become the dominant form of
Japanese poetry, to the point where the originally general term
waka ("Japanese poetry") came to be used exclusively for tanka. Tanka are still widely written today.
[113]
Haiku
Haiku is a popular form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, which evolved in the 17th century from the
hokku, or opening verse of a
renku.
[114] Generally written in a single vertical line, the haiku contains three sections totalling 17
onji, structured in a 5-7-5 pattern. Traditionally, haiku contain a
kireji, or cutting word, usually placed at the end of one of the poem's three sections, and a
kigo, or season-word.
[115] The most famous exponent of the haiku was
Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694). An example of his writing:
[116]
- 富士の風や扇にのせて江戸土産
- fuji no kaze ya oogi ni nosete Edo miyage
- the wind of Mt. Fuji
- I've brought on my fan!
- a gift from Edo
Ode
Odes were first developed by poets writing in ancient Greek, such as
Pindar, and Latin, such as
Horace. Forms of odes appear in many of the cultures that were influenced by the Greeks and Latins.
[117] The ode generally has three parts: a
strophe, an
antistrophe, and an
epode.
The antistrophes of the ode possess similar metrical structures and,
depending on the tradition, similar rhyme structures. In contrast, the
epode is written with a different scheme and structure. Odes have a
formal poetic diction, and generally deal with a serious subject. The
strophe and antistrophe look at the subject from different, often
conflicting, perspectives, with the epode moving to a higher level to
either view or resolve the underlying issues. Odes are often intended to
be recited or sung by two choruses (or individuals), with the first
reciting the strophe, the second the antistrophe, and both together the
epode.
[118]
Over time, differing forms for odes have developed with considerable
variations in form and structure, but generally showing the original
influence of the Pindaric or Horatian ode. One non-Western form which
resembles the ode is the
qasida in
Persian poetry.
[119]
Ghazal
The ghazal (also ghazel, gazel, gazal, or gozol) is a form of poetry common in
Arabic,
Persian,
Turkish,
Azerbaijani,
Urdu and
Bengali poetry. In classic form, the ghazal has from five to fifteen rhyming couplets that share a
refrain
at the end of the second line. This refrain may be of one or several
syllables, and is preceded by a rhyme. Each line has an identical meter.
The ghazal often reflects on a theme of unattainable love or divinity.
[120]
As with other forms with a long history in many languages, many
variations have been developed, including forms with a quasi-musical
poetic diction in
Urdu.
[121] Ghazals have a classical affinity with
Sufism,
and a number of major Sufi religious works are written in ghazal form.
The relatively steady meter and the use of the refrain produce an
incantatory effect, which complements Sufi mystical themes well.
[122] Among the masters of the form is
Rumi, a 13th-century
Persian poet.
[123] One of the most famous poet in this type of poetry is
Hafez.
Themes of his Ghazal is exposing hypocrisy. His life and poems have
been the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation,
influencing post-fourteenth century Persian writing more than any other
author.
[124][125] West-östlicher Diwan of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that is a collection of lyrical poems, has been inspired by the Persian poet Hafez.
[126][127][128]
Genres
In addition to specific forms of poems, poetry is often thought of in terms of different
genres
and subgenres. A poetic genre is generally a tradition or
classification of poetry based on the subject matter, style, or other
broader literary characteristics.
[129]
Some commentators view genres as natural forms of literature. Others
view the study of genres as the study of how different works relate and
refer to other works.
[130]
Narrative poetry
Narrative poetry is a genre of poetry that tells a
story. Broadly it subsumes
epic poetry, but the term "narrative poetry" is often reserved for smaller works, generally with more appeal to
human interest. Narrative poetry may be the oldest type of poetry. Many scholars of
Homer have concluded that his
Iliad and
Odyssey
were composed from compilations of shorter narrative poems that related
individual episodes. Much narrative poetry—such as Scottish and English
ballads, and
Baltic and
Slavic heroic poems—is
performance poetry with roots in a preliterate
oral tradition. It has been speculated that some features that distinguish poetry from prose, such as meter,
alliteration and
kennings, once served as
memory aids for
bards who recited traditional tales.
[131]
Notable narrative poets have included
Ovid,
Dante,
Juan Ruiz,
Chaucer,
William Langland,
Luís de Camões,
Shakespeare,
Alexander Pope,
Robert Burns,
Fernando de Rojas,
Adam Mickiewicz,
Alexander Pushkin,
Edgar Allan Poe and
Alfred Tennyson.
Epic poetry
Main article:
Epic poetry
Epic poetry is a genre of poetry, and a major form of
narrative
literature. This genre is often defined as lengthy poems concerning
events of a heroic or important nature to the culture of the time. It
recounts, in a continuous narrative, the life and works of a
heroic or
mythological person or group of persons.
[132] Examples of epic poems are
Homer's
Iliad and
Odyssey,
Virgil's
Aeneid, the
Nibelungenlied,
Luís de Camões'
Os Lusíadas, the
Cantar de Mio Cid, the
Epic of Gilgamesh, the
Mahabharata,
Valmiki's
Ramayana,
Ferdowsi's
Shahnama,
Nizami (or Nezami)'s
Khamse (Five Books), and the
Epic of King Gesar. While the composition of epic poetry, and of
long poems generally, became less common in the west after the early 20th century, some notable epics have continued to be written.
Derek Walcott won a
Nobel prize to a great extent on the basis of his epic,
Omeros.
[133]
Dramatic poetry
Dramatic poetry is
drama written in
verse to be spoken or sung, and appears in varying, sometimes related forms in many cultures.
Greek tragedy in verse dates to the 6th century B.C., and may have been an influence on the development of Sanskrit drama,
[134] just as Indian drama in turn appears to have influenced the development of the
bianwen verse dramas in China, forerunners of
Chinese Opera.
[135] East Asian verse dramas also include Japanese
Noh. Examples of dramatic poetry in
Persian literature include
Nizami's two famous dramatic works,
Layla and Majnun and
Khosrow and Shirin,
Ferdowsi's tragedies such as
Rostam and Sohrab,
Rumi's
Masnavi,
Gorgani's tragedy of
Vis and Ramin, and
Vahshi's tragedy of
Farhad.
Satirical poetry
Poetry can be a powerful vehicle for
satire. The
Romans had a strong tradition of satirical poetry, often written for
political purposes. A notable example is the Roman poet
Juvenal's
satires.
[136]
The same is true of the English satirical tradition.
John Dryden (a
Tory), the first
Poet Laureate, produced in 1682
Mac Flecknoe, subtitled "A Satire on the True Blue Protestant Poet, T.S." (a reference to
Thomas Shadwell).
[137] Another master of 17th-century English satirical poetry was
John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester.
[138] Satirical poets outside England include
Poland's
Ignacy Krasicki,
Azerbaijan's
Sabir and
Portugal's
Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage.
Light poetry
Main article:
Light poetry
Light poetry, or light verse, is poetry that attempts to be humorous.
Poems considered "light" are usually brief, and can be on a frivolous
or serious subject, and often feature
word play, including
puns, adventurous rhyme and heavy
alliteration.
Although a few free verse poets have excelled at light verse outside
the formal verse tradition, light verse in English is usually formal.
Common forms include the
limerick, the
clerihew, and the
double dactyl.
While light poetry is sometimes condemned as
doggerel,
or thought of as poetry composed casually, humor often makes a serious
point in a subtle or subversive way. Many of the most renowned "serious"
poets have also excelled at light verse. Notable writers of light
poetry include
Lewis Carroll,
Ogden Nash,
X. J. Kennedy,
Willard R. Espy, and
Wendy Cope.
Lyric poetry
Main article:
Lyric poetry
Lyric poetry is a genre that, unlike
epic and dramatic poetry, does not attempt to tell a story but instead is of a more
personal nature. Poems in this genre tend to be shorter, melodic, and contemplative. Rather than depicting
characters and actions, it portrays the poet's own
feelings,
states of mind, and
perceptions.
[139] Notable poets in this genre include
John Donne,
Gerard Manley Hopkins, and
Antonio Machado.
Elegy
An elegy is a mournful, melancholy or plaintive poem, especially a
lament for the dead or a
funeral song. The term "elegy," which originally denoted a type of poetic meter (
elegiac meter), commonly describes a poem of
mourning.
An elegy may also reflect something that seems to the author to be
strange or mysterious. The elegy, as a reflection on a death, on a
sorrow more generally, or on something mysterious, may be classified as a
form of lyric poetry.
[140][141]
Notable practitioners of elegiac poetry have included
Propertius,
Jorge Manrique,
Jan Kochanowski,
Chidiock Tichborne,
Edmund Spenser,
Ben Jonson,
John Milton,
Thomas Gray,
Charlotte Turner Smith,
William Cullen Bryant,
Percy Bysshe Shelley,
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
Evgeny Baratynsky,
Alfred Tennyson,
Walt Whitman,
Louis Gallet,
Antonio Machado,
Juan Ramón Jiménez,
William Butler Yeats,
Rainer Maria Rilke, and
Virginia Woolf.
Verse fable
The fable is an ancient
literary genre, often (though not invariably) set in
verse. It is a succinct story that features
anthropomorphized animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that illustrate a moral lesson (a "
moral"). Verse fables have used a variety of
meter and
rhyme patterns.
[142]
Notable verse fabulists have included
Aesop,
Vishnu Sarma,
Phaedrus,
Marie de France,
Robert Henryson,
Biernat of Lublin,
Jean de La Fontaine,
Ignacy Krasicki,
Félix María de Samaniego,
Tomás de Iriarte,
Ivan Krylov and
Ambrose Bierce.
Prose poetry
Main article:
Prose poetry
Prose poetry is a hybrid genre that shows attributes of both prose and poetry. It may be indistinguishable from the
micro-story (
a.k.a. the "
short short story", "
flash fiction").
While some examples of earlier prose strike modern readers as poetic,
prose poetry is commonly regarded as having originated in 19th-century
France, where its practitioners included
Aloysius Bertrand,
Charles Baudelaire,
Arthur Rimbaud and
Stéphane Mallarmé.
[143] Since the late 1980s especially, prose poetry has gained increasing popularity, with entire journals, such as
The Prose Poem: An International Journal,
[144] Contemporary Haibun Online[145] devoted to that genre.
Speculative poetry
Speculative poetry,
also known as fantastic poetry, (of which weird or macabre poetry is a
major subclassification), is a poetic genre which deals thematically
with subjects which are 'beyond reality', whether via
extrapolation as in
science fiction or via weird and horrific themes as in
horror fiction. Such poetry appears regularly in modern science fiction and horror fiction magazines.
Edgar Allan Poe is sometimes seen as the "father of speculative poetry".
[146]
See also
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- Bibliography
Further reading
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Poetry" article dated 2005-04-20, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (
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Anthologies
- Ferguson, Margaret; Salter, Mary Jo; Stallworthy, Jon, ed. (1996). The Norton Anthology of Poetry (4th ed.). W. W. Norton & Co. ISBN 0-393-96820-0.
- Gardner, Helen, ed. (1972). New Oxford Book of English Verse 1250–1950. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-812136-9.
- Larkin, Philip, ed. (1973). The Oxford Book of Twentieth Century English Verse. Oxford University Press.
- Yeats, WB, ed. (1936). Oxford Book of Modern Verse 1892–1935. Oxford University Press.