Exploring Poetry - The Definition and Genres

 Chapter 1:

The Definition and Genres  

1.1.       Introduction

Literature is defined as:

‘Written works, e.g. fiction, poetry, drama, and criticism that are recognized as having important or permanent artistic value are referred to as literature.’ 

Or

‘The body of written works of a culture, language, people, or period of time is called literature.’

Literature perhaps started with man discovering his ability to create. When this happened, he realized that he could not only express his emotions in writing but in the process convey messages of importance to society carefully hidden in beautiful words. It includes both written and spoken material. On a broader level, ‘Literature’ includes anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but most commonly the term refers to works of the creative imagination, i.e. poetry, drama, prose and novel.

Literature has two major aspects, one is of simple enjoyment and aesthetic appeal to the senses, and other is of analysis and exact description of the prevailing condition of society in general and man in particular. So, studying literature with these two aspects provides us an opportunity to experience entirely new worlds. Like when a song appeals to the ear or a noble book to the heart, we discover a new world for the moment, at least, a completely new world which is very different from our own world and it seems that we are in a place of dreams and magic.

No one will question the statement that poetry is one of the fine arts. This places it in the category with painting, sculpture, and music. Now all the fine arts have for their distinctive object to express the beautiful. They are differentiated from one another by the means employed to reach this end. Thus, music expresses the beautiful by means of pure sound (melody and harmony); painting, by means of color and surface form; sculpture, by means of plastic form; poetry, by means of language. We may define poetry to be the art of giving expression to the beautiful through the medium of language

The only statement about poetry that we can make with absolute certainty is that good poetry uses what is known as “compressed language.” That means that it says a lot but uses few words to do so. Every word is very valuable; the poets make their choices only after much deliberation, and we must understand each word to grasp the meanings of the poems.

Poetry is not prose. You are aware that all writings can be broadly classified under these two categories –prose and poetry. The essential difference between the two is that prose is the vehicle of reason while poetry is the vehicle of emotion. This in no way suggests that prose excludes emotion and poetry excludes reason.

1.2.       Difference between prose and Poetry

Nearly all writing shares the goal of communicating a message to an audience, but how that message is communicated can differ greatly. Many people are intimidated by the mention of the word “poetry.” It is often perceived as something that is cryptic and beyond understanding.

We all recognise the difference between the way we speak and the way poetry is written or read. Where does this difference lie? It is more in the organisation of words than in the language that is used, that we discern the difference. The organisation of words in poetry does not always correspond to that in the spoken language or to that in the language of the regular reading matter with which we are familiar.

A French poet and critic, Paul Valery, compared prose to walking and poetry to dancing. We walk in order to go from one place to another. We do it for a particular purpose. When we walk for exercise, we do it for the improvement of our health. In other words, walking is utilitarian, that is, it is something that we do with a purpose in view. We are talking about ordinary prose and not literary prose. Ordinary prose is like walking. We use words to give information, to get something done, to make someone do what we want him/her to do, and so on. In ordinary prose, what is important is the message. But this is not the primary consideration in literary prose. What is important also is how language is used, how ideas and emotions are communicated and how the style suits the content.

When you go to see a dance, you are not interested in seeking information. When you see a good dance, you enjoy it. In other words, the objective is enjoyment and not mere information or instruction. When you like a particular dance, you go and see that dance over and over again because every time you see it, you get a new aesthetic experience. In the case of poetry and literary prose, you have what you call your favourite poem or passage. You read it several times and are not tired of it. If it is an ordinary prose passage, the moment you understand the meaning, you don't want to read it again.

In literary prose as well as in poetry, it is not just the meaning that is important, but also the medium. It is often difficult to say what is more important, the form or the content. There is, however, inseparability between the two, togetherness. It is the togetherness of the sound and the sense; it is the togetherness of form and content. This is what is unique to great literature.

In dancing, every gesture is important for the position that it occupies in that particular dance. No one posture is more important or less important than another. Each gesture contributes to the total effect of the dance. In the same way, in a good poem or a piece of literary prose, every word is important for the position it occupies in it, and contributes to its total effect. Again, in a good dance, when the dance is on, you cannot distinguish the dancer from the dance. In any great poem or passage of literary prose, it will be difficult to separate the effect of the medium from the effect of the message.

The 'literariness' of a particular poem or prose piece lies partly in this quality. A literary piece usually has layers of meaning, for the writer works through suggestion, allusion, imagery and other such devices. The use of literary devices alone does not make a piece "literary". What is important is the way in which they contribute to the unity and thereby the final effect of the piece. Every time you go to it, you get a new meaning, a new aesthetic delight. This is mainly because of the connotation of the words in poetry.

PROSE	POETRY
·      Most everyday writing is in prose form.	·     Poetry is typically reserved for expressing something special in an artistic way.
·      The language of prose is typically straightforward without much decoration.	·      The language of poetry tends to be more expressive or decorated, with comparisons, rhyme, and rhythm contributing to a different sound and feel.
·      Ideas are contained in sentences that are arranged into paragraphs.	·      Ideas are contained in lines that may or may not be sentences. Lines are arranged in stanzas.
·      There are no line breaks. Sentences run to the right margin.	·      Poetry uses line breaks for various reasons—to follow a formatted rhythm or to emphasize an idea. Lines can run extremely long or be as short as one word or letter.
·      The first word of each sentence is capitalized.	·      Traditionally, the first letter of every line is capitalized, but many modern poets choose not to follow this rule strictly.
·      Prose looks like large blocks of words.	·      The shape of poetry can vary depending on line length and the intent of the poet.

We all know that scientific discoveries, philosophical discourses, legal exposition and literary theories employ the medium of prose and not of poetry. It is so because all such writings demand reasoned argument and unambiguity in expression, which can be best achieved only in prose.

1.3.       Definition of Poetry

Poetry is one of the oldest genres in literary history. Its earliest examples go back to ancient Greek literature.

Poetry (the term derives from a variant of the Greek term, poiesis, "making") is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language –such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre –to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning. It usually tries to express the meaning in much less space than, say, a novel or even a short story.

Most traditional attempts to define poetry juxtapose poetry with prose. The majority of these definitions are limited to characteristics such as verse, rhyme, and meter, which are traditionally regarded as the classical elements that distinguish poetry from prose.

Here are some definitions of poetry of some dictionaries, i.e.:

·    The Webster’s dictionary: metrical writing // writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experiences in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound and rhythm.

·    Oxford dictionary: Literary work in which special intensity is given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm.

·    MacMillan dictionary: A piece of writing using beautiful or unusual language arranged in fixed lines that have a particular beat and often rhyme.

·    Cambridge dictionary: A piece of writing in which the words are carefully chosen for the images and ideass they suggest, and in which the sounds of the words when read aloud pften follow a particular rhythmic pattern.

·    Collins dictionary: An arrangement of wordss written or spoken; traditionally a rhythmical composition, sometimes rhymed, expressing experiences, ideass, or emotions in a style more concentrated, imaginative, and powerful than ordinary speech or prose; some are in meter, some are free verse.

A poet is a person of strong feelings and keenly developed sensibility. He is imaginative and has an intuitive response to all that he sees and hears. He sees objects not merely as sense impressions (as the eye perceives them) but with the power of his imagination, he looks beyond the perceived object to discern its existence in a world beyond the reach of his senses.

For example, a rose is a rose to all of us, but to the poet contemplating it, it becomes something more than a rose. Like anyone of us, he also sees the rose with his eyes, smells its fragrance, discerns its colour and shape and gets pleasurable excitement. But the appeal of the rose does not stop here. It goes beyond his sense and intellect to evoke in him an emotional response to its beauty.

1.4.       Fixed or free form

Fixed form is a poem that may be categorized by the pattern of its lines, meter, rhythm, or stanzas; a style of poetry that has set rules. Ex: sonnet, villanelle, limerick. While, Free Form is a poem that has neither regular rhyme nor regular meter. Free verse often uses cadences rather than uniform metrical feet.

Free verse is just what it says it is - poetry that is written without proper rules about form, rhyme, rhythm, and meter.  In free verse the writer makes his/her own rules. The writer decides how the poem should look, feel, and sound.

1.5.       Genres of Poetry

A genre is a tradition or classification of poetry which is based on the subject matter, style, or other broader literary characteristics of poetry.

1.5.1. Narrative poetry

Most of us are so used to reading stories—whether factual in history books or fictional in novels—that we normally associate storytelling with prose, not with poetry. But in fact some of the world’s great stories have been told in poetry.

Narrative poetry tells a story. The term "narrative poetry" is often used for smaller works, generally with more appeal to human interest. Narrative Poetry is one of the oldest forms of poetry. Many scholars are of the view that Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ are composed by the combination of many shorter narrative Poems.

Ovid, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, Robert Burns, Edgar Allan and Alfred Tennyson are notable narrative poets. Non-Western (i.e., non-European) cultures, too, have their great narrative poems, notably the Sanskrit epic The Mahabharata (about a war in ancient India) and African and Native-American tales of the creation of the world and of the sublime deeds of heroes. And, to descend to the ridiculous, countless narratives are still being told in the form of the limerick.

Narrative poetry gives a verbal representation, in verse, of a sequence of connected events, it propels characters through a plot. It is always told by a narrator. Narrative poems might tell of a love story (like Tennyson's Maud), the story of a father and son (like Wordsworth's Michael) or the deeds of a hero or heroine (like Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel).

1.5.2. Epic Poetry

This genre of poetry is a major form of narrative literature. In a continuous manner, it recounts life and works of a heroic or mythological person or group of persons.

The Epic is a poem extended in length, narrating an action of power and interest, centred about a single hero. It is a long narrative poem that usually unfolds a history or mythology of a nation or race. The epic details the adventures and deeds of a hero and, in so doing, tells the story of a nation. Epic poetry is the oldest form of poetry dating back to classics like Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and Beowulf.

The generic motive of the epic is to excite admiration. In this it is differentiated from tragedy, which aims to awaken fear and pity. Its essential note, therefore, is triumph over difficulties, and, other things being equal, the intenser the difficulty, and the more complete the victory, the better is this purpose attained.

Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’, Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’, Gilgamesh’s ‘the Mahabharata’, Valmiki’s ‘Ramayana’, Nizami’s ‘Khamse’ and Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ are the notable examples of epic poetry.

1.5.3. Dramatic poetry

It is drama written in verse to be spoken or sung, and this poetry appears in related forms in many cultures. Verse drama developed out of earlier oral epics such as: the Sanskrit and Greek epics.

Dramatic poetry tells a story using a character’s own thoughts or spoken statements. It utilizes the techniques of drama.

In Persian Literature, the examples of dramatic poetry are: Nezami’s ‘Layla and Majnun’ and Khosrow and Shirin, Ferdowsi’s Rostam and Sohrab, Rumi’Masnavi.Christopher Marlow’s “Doctor Faustus”, Shakespeare’s “Hamlet and King Lear”, Goldsmith’s “She Stoops to Conquer” and Shelley’s “Prometheus Unbound” are a few examples of poetic drama.

1.5.4. Satirical Poetry

Poetry is a powerful vehicle for satire. A satirical poem is one that makes fun of some social vice or foolishness or injustice. Satire uses gentle mockery to make its point. Poetry is a powerful vehicle for satire.

The satire delivered in verse may be many times more powerful and memorable than that of the same satire, spoken or written in prose. The Romans wrote the satirical poetry for the political purposes. The English Writers also wrote satire for the political purposes.

Thomas Shadwell and John Dryden are two notable writers of satire of the 17th Century. John Wilmot, another 17th Century poet, is famous for his work “A Satyr against Mankind.” Alexander Pope is famous for his critical work “Essay Introduction on Criticism.” For satirical poetry there is no prescribed form.

1.5.5. Lyric poetry

Lyric poetry is of personal nature. Instead of depicting characters and actions, it portrays the poet's own feelings, states of mind, and perceptions. Lyric poetry is composed for reading and singing.

A lyric poetry is a comparatively short, non-narrative poem in which a single speaker presents 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. It is written in highly musical language that expresses the thoughts, observations, and feelings of a single speaker.

For the ancient Greeks, a lyric was a song accompanied by a lyre. It was short, and it usually expressed a single emotion, such as joy or sorrow. The word is now used more broadly, referring to a poem that, neither narrative (telling a story) nor strictly dramatic (performed by actors), is an emotional or reflective soliloquy.

Lyrics are sometimes differentiated among themselves. For example, if a lyric is melancholy or mournfully contemplative, especially if it laments a death, it may be called an elegy.  Elegy- A poem of lament, praise and/or consolation, usually formal and about the death of a particular person. Elegies can also mourn the passing of events or passions.

If a lyric is rather long, elaborate, and on a lofty theme such as immortality or a hero’s victory, it may be called an ode or a hymn. Ode- Often written in praise of a person, an object, or an event, odes tend to be longer in form and generally, serious in nature.

1.5.6. Elegy

It is a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a lament for the dead or it is a funeral song. The term “elegy” describes a mourning poem. It may be classified as a form of lyric poetry.

Jorge Manrique (1476),Edmund Spenser (1595), Ben Jonson (1616), John Milton (1637), Thomas Gray (1750), Charlotte Turner Smith (1784),Percy Bysshe Shelley (1821),Alfred Tennyson (1849), Walt Whitman (1865), Antonio Machado (1903), William Butler Yeats (1916),Virginia Woolf (1927), Kamau Brathwaite (born 1930) are the major practitioners of this genre.

1.5.7. Verse Fable

It is a story that features the anthropomorphized animals, plants, inanimate objects and forces of nature that illustrate a moral lesson. A variety of meter and rhyme patterns are used in verse fable. Aesop, Robert Henryson, Jean de La Fontaine, Felix Maria de Samaniego, Ivan Krylov and Anbrose Bierce are the important verse fabulists of the English literature.

1.5.8. Prose poetry

Prose poetry shows attributes of both prose and poetry. It is called poetry because of its conciseness, use of metaphors, and special attention to language.

Prose poetry originated in France in the 19th Century and its practitioners were Aloysius Bertrand, Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Stephane Mallarme. Oscar Wilde, T. S. Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Sherwood Anderson, Allen Ginsberg, Seamus Heaney, Russell Edson and Robert Bly are the English writers of this genre. Prose Poetry has gained much popularity since the late 1980s.