An Individual History: Poems

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. 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. 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. 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.

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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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 BCE, are perhaps the richest single source of allegorical poetry through the ages. 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.

Another 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. 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.

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. Additional forms of poetry may be found in the discussions of poetry of particular cultures or periods and in the glossary. Among the most common forms of poetry, popular from the Late Middle Ages on, is the sonnet, which by the 13th century had become standardized as fourteen lines following a set rhyme scheme and logical structure.

By the 14th century and the Italian Renaissance , the form had further crystallized under the pen of Petrarch , whose sonnets were translated in the 16th century by Sir Thomas Wyatt , who is credited with introducing the sonnet form into English literature. By convention, sonnets in English typically use iambic pentameter , while in the Romance languages , the hendecasyllable and Alexandrine are the most widely used meters. Sonnets of all types often make use of a volta , or "turn," a point in the poem at which an idea is turned on its head, a question is answered or introduced , or the subject matter is further complicated.

This volta can often take the form of a "but" statement contradicting or complicating the content of the earlier lines. In the Petrarchan sonnet, the turn tends to fall around the division between the first two quatrains and the sestet, while English sonnets usually place it at or near the beginning of the closing couplet. Sonnets are particularly associated with high poetic diction, vivid imagery, and romantic love, largely due to the influence of Petrarch as well as of early English practitioners such as Edmund Spenser who gave his name to the Spenserian sonnet , Michael Drayton , and Shakespeare, whose sonnets are among the most famous in English poetry, with twenty being included in the Oxford Book of English Verse.

Further, postmodern authors such as Ted Berrigan and John Berryman have challenged the traditional definitions of the sonnet form, rendering entire sequences of "sonnets" that often lack rhyme, a clear logical progression, or even a consistent count of fourteen lines. 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. 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. 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. Auden , [] and Elizabeth Bishop. A limerick is a poem that consists of five lines and is often humorous. Rhythm is very important in limericks for the first, second and fifth lines must have seven to ten syllables. However, the third and fourth lines only need five to seven. All of the lines must rhyme and have the same rhythm. Tanka is a form of unrhymed Japanese poetry , with five sections totalling 31 onji phonological units identical to morae , structured in a pattern.

Tanka were written as early as the Asuka period by such poets as Kakinomoto no Hitomaro fl. 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. Haiku is a popular form of unrhymed Japanese poetry, which evolved in the 17th century from the hokku , or opening verse of a renku. 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.

An example of his writing: This was likely derived from when the Thai language had three tones as opposed to today's five, a split which occurred during the Ayutthaya Kingdom period , two of which corresponded directly to the aforementioned marks. It is usually regarded as an advanced and sophisticated poetic form. The type of khlong is named by the number of bat in a stanza; it may also be divided into two main types: The two differ in the number of syllables in the second wak of the final bat and inter-stanza rhyming rules. It has four bat per stanza si translates as four. The first wak of each bat has five syllables.

The second wak has two or four syllables in the first and third bat , two syllables in the second, and four syllables in the fourth. Mai ek is required for seven syllables and Mai tho is required for four, as shown below. 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.

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.

One non-Western form which resembles the ode is the qasida in Persian poetry. The ghazal also ghazel, gazel, gazal, or gozol is a form of poetry common in Arabic , Persian , 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. 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. The relatively steady meter and the use of the refrain produce an incantatory effect, which complements Sufi mystical themes well. 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.

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. Others view the study of genres as the study of how different works relate and refer to other works. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. The same is true of the English satirical tradition.

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.

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. 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. Speculative poetry, also known as fantastic poetry of which weird or macabre poetry is a major sub-classification , 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". Prose poetry is a hybrid genre that shows attributes of both prose and poetry. It may be indistinguishable from the micro-story a.

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Latin American poets of the 20th century who wrote prose poems include Octavio Paz and Giannina Braschi [] []. 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 usually obeys at least some formal conventions. 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. Kennedy , Willard R. Espy , and Wendy Cope. Slam poetry is a genre, developed since about , in which performers comment emotively, aloud before an audience, on personal, social, or other matters. It focuses on the aesthetics of word play, intonation, and voice inflection.

Slam poetry is often competitive, at dedicated " poetry slam " contests. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This is the latest accepted revision , reviewed on 11 December This article is about the art form. For other uses, see Poetry disambiguation. For other uses, see Poem disambiguation , Poems disambiguation , and Poetic disambiguation. History of poetry and Literary theory. The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.

You may improve this article , discuss the issue on the talk page , or create a new article , as appropriate. September Learn how and when to remove this template message. Timing linguistics , tone linguistics , and Pitch accent. Rhyme , Alliterative verse , and Assonance. However, in some forms, the unit is more equivalent to wak. To avoid confusion, this article will refer to wak and bat instead of line , which may refer to either. Modern Poetry After Modernism. The Interface Between the Written and the Oral. The Epic of Gilgamesh Revised ed. Retrieved 1 May A Sourcebook 2nd ed. Text and Ritual in Early China.

University of Washington Press. A history of literary criticism. Journal of the American Oriental Society. Poetry and Philosophy in the Middle Ages: A Festschrift for Peter Dronke. The Universities of the Italian Renaissance. Johns Hopkins University Press. Keats and negative capability. Archived from the original PDF on 9 March Greek and Roman influences on western literature Reissued ed.

Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. The Cambridge companion to modernist poetry. Bloom's Modern Critical Views: Bloom's Literary Criticism, Infobase Publishing, p. Cambridge textbooks in linguistics. University of Minnesota Press. Hebrew for biblical interpretation. Society of Biblical Literature. Aristotle's work was influential throughout the Middle East during the Islamic Golden Age , [18] as well as in Europe during the Renaissance.

In addition to a boom in translation, during the Romantic period numerous ancient works were rediscovered. The Classic of Poetry , often known by its original name of the Odes or Poetry is the earliest existing collection of Chinese poems and songs. This poetry collection comprises poems and songs dating from the 10th to the 7th century BC. The stylistic development of Classical Chinese poetry consists of both literary and oral cultural processes, which are conventionally assigned to certain standard periods or eras, corresponding with Chinese Dynastic Eras, the traditional chronological process for Chinese historical events.

The poems preserved in written form constitute the poetic literature. Furthermore, there is or were parallel traditions of oral and traditional poetry also known as popular or folk poems or ballads. Some of these poems seem to have been preserved in written form. Generally, the folk type of poems they are anonymous, and may show signs of having been edited or polished in the process of fixing them in written characters.

Besides the Classic of Poetry , or Shijing , another early text is the Songs of the South or, Chuci , although some individual pieces or fragments survive in other forms, for example embedded in classical histories or other literature. The development of modern poetry is generally seen as having started at the beginning of the 20th century and extends into the 21st century.

The use of verse to transmit cultural information continues today. Many Americans know that "in , Columbus sailed the ocean blue". An alphabet song teaches the names and order of the letters of the alphabet; another jingle states the lengths and names of the months in the Gregorian calendar.

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Some writers believe poetry has its origins in song. Most of the characteristics that distinguish it from other forms of utterance—rhythm, rhyme, compression, intensity of feeling, the use of refrains —appear to have come about from efforts to fit words to musical forms. In the European tradition the earliest surviving poems, the Homeric and Hesiodic epics, identify themselves as poems to be recited or chanted to a musical accompaniment rather than as pure song. Another interpretation is that rhythm, refrains, and kennings are essentially paratactic devices that enable the reciter to reconstruct the poem from memory.

In preliterate societies, these forms of poetry were composed for, and sometimes during, performance. There was a certain degree of fluidity to the exact wording of poems. The introduction of writing fixed the content of a poem to the version that happened to be written down and survive. Written composition meant poets began to compose for an absent reader. The invention of printing accelerated these trends.

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Poets were now writing more for the eye than for the ear. The development of literacy gave rise to more personal, shorter poems intended to be sung. These are called lyrics , which derives from the Greek lura or lyre , the instrument that was used to accompany the performance of Greek lyrics from about the seventh century BC onward. The Greek's practice of singing hymns in large choruses gave rise in the sixth century BC to dramatic verse , and to the practice of writing poetic plays for performance in their theatres.

In more recent times, the introduction of electronic media and the rise of the poetry reading have led to a resurgence of performance poetry in the lyric genre. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

An Individual History: Poems by Michael Collier

For a more in-depth table of the history of poetry, see List of years in poetry. Bilingual and mutlicultural perspectives on poetry, music and narrative: The science of art. Others suggest that poetry did not necessarily predate writing. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: