Initiation to Poetry

1. Introduction

Poetry is one of the oldest genres in literary history. Its earliest examples go back to ancient Greek literature. In spite of this long tradition, it is harder to define than any other genre. Poetry is closely related to the term “lyric,” which derives etymologically from the Greek musical instrument “lyra” (“lyre” or “harp”) and points to an origin in the sphere of music in classical antiquity as well as in the Middle Ages, minstrels recited poetry, accompanied by the lyre or other musical instruments.

2.      Poets on Poetry

Ø  Poetry is...the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquillity. (WilliamWordsworth)

Ø  ...if it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that it is poetry, if I feel physically, as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that it is poetry. (Emily Dickinson)

Ø  Poetry is....the distilled, imaginative expression of feeling. (T. S. Eliot)

Ø  Poetry is a poet’s intuition of truth.  It combines richness of meaning with the sound of language arranged in its most beautiful form.  Poetry is filled with carefully selected words that are arranged to call attention to experiences we have not known or fully recognized.  Poetry can make us chuckle...it can startle us with insight or surprise us with clarity.  It can also bring a peacefulness and sense of repose.  Some poems express feeling that we did not even know we had until we read them; then we say, “Yes, that’s just as it is.” Poetry deals with truth—the essence of life and experience.  (Bernice Cullinan)

From the above definitions of what poetry is, it is clear that there cannot be a single definition that will be comprehensive enough to accommodate the various shades of opinions and schools of thought regarding the exact nature of this genre. Poetry is often perceived as something that is cryptic and beyond understanding since it is usually associated not only with specialised language but with a very dense use of such specialised language. Poems usually try to express their meaning in much less space than, say, a novel or even a short story. As a result of its relative brevity, poetry tends to make more concentrated use of formal elements; it displays a tendency for structural, phonological, morphological and syntactic over structuring, (which means that poetry uses elements such as sound patterns, rhetorical devices or imagery more frequently than other types of text). Henceforth, it is difficult to answer the question ‘What is Poetry?’ conclusively, though most people are more or less able to recognise poetry when they see it.

However, Poetic texts have a tendency to

Ø  relative brevity (with some notable exceptions)

Ø  dense expression

Ø  express subjectivity more than other texts

Ø  display a musical or songlike quality

Ø  be structurally and phonologically overstructured

Ø  be syntactically and morphologically overstructured

Ø  deviate from everyday language

3.      Form of the poem and types of Stanza

A poem’s form is its appearance, poems are divided into lines. Many poems especially longer ones may be also divided into groups of lines called stanzas. Stanzas function like paragraphs in a story, each one contains a single idea or takes the idea one step further. When you see a space between lines in a poem, that means a new stanza is beginning.

Types of Stanza

There are several stanza forms accessible to poets composing English poetry. The most used ones are provided below:

Number of lines	Type of stanza
Two lines	Couplet
Three lines	Tercet
Four lines	Quatrain
Five lines	Cinquin
Six lines	Sestet
Seven lines	Septet
Eight lines	Octet (octave)

Table One: Stanza Forms of English Poetry

 

4.             Types of poetry

There are many different types of poems; the difference between each is based overall on the format and subject matter 

        4.1  Lyric poem: a short poem that reveals the speaker’s personal feeling, a state of mind or an emotional state. Lyric poetry retains some of the elements of song which is said to be its origin: For Greek writers the lyric was a song accompanied by the lyre.( This type of poetry is very personal, there is no story to tell,  the speaker always uses first person such as I, my love....etc )

Subcategories of the lyric are,

-        Elegy: this lyric poem expresses lament and mourning of the dead, feeling of grief and melancholy (for example Tennyson’s In Memoriam A.H.H.)

-        Ode:  a formal, often ceremonious lyric poem that addresses and often celebrates a person, place, thing or idea written in an elevated style Famous examples are Wordsworth’s Hymn to Duty or Keats’ Ode to a Grecian Urn

-        Sonnet:  was originally a love poem which dealt with the lover’s sufferings and hopes. It originated in Italy and became popular in England. It is written in 14 lines  and there are two main types of the sonnet; these are the Petrarchan or Italian ( it is arranged with 1^st part 08 lines (octave) and  the 2nd and concluding part of 6lines (the sestet)  and the Shakespearean or Elizabethan ( it is arranged in 03 coordinate quatrains and a concluding couplet)

4.2 Narrative Poetry: It gives a verbal representation, in verse, of a sequence of connected events; it has a plot, characters, a setting and a theme and  is always told by a narrator. Sub-categories of narrative poetry include Epic and Ballad

-        Epic: is a longer narrative poem that usually unfolds a history or mythology of a nation or race.  The epic details the adventure and deeds of a hero and in doing so, tells the story of a nation.

-        Ballad is a poem that tells a story, usually about ordinary people who have had unusual adventures or have performed daring deeds. Ballads differ from other narrative poems in that they are often written to be sung, most ballads have four-line stanzas.

1.3              Dramatic Poetry refers to any play or scene in which the characters use poetry. It may also suggest a story, but there is more emphasis on character rather than on the narrative.