ABOUTREADCHAT ARTICLES ABOUTREADCHAT ARTICLES Various definition of poetry
Poetry as one of the Genres of Literature does not have a definite /specific definition. Poet sees poem in different way according to various poet.
According to Thomas Hardy, poetry is emotion put into measure.
William Hazlih sees poetry as language of the imagination and the passions.
According to Christopher fry; poetry is the language in which man explores his own amazement.
Poetry according to clive sansom is a rhythmical form of words which express an imaginative-emotional, intellectual experience of the writer’s in such a way that it creates a similar experience in the mind of his reader or listener.
William Wordsworth put it in this way poetry is the spontaneous outflow of powerful feelings ; it takes it’s origins from emotion recollected in tranquillity. Cyrical ( Ballads, 1802)
Salvatore quasimodo puts it that poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal which the reader recognizes as his own.
Poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is – James Branch Cabell.
According to Isaac Newton, poetry is a kind of ingenious nonsense.
Poetry is a literary expression in which words are used in a concentrated blend of sound and imagery to create an emotional response. www.Iclasses.org.
According to Carl Sandburg; poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.
Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted, percy shelley ( A defence of poetry 1821)
Plata ( 427 BC-347BC) Says, poetry comes nearer to vital truth than history. Thomas Gray Sees poetry as thought that breathe, and words that burn. Coleridge considers poetry as the fragrance of all human knowledge and thought.
Yeats defines poetry as truth sees with passion.
Poetry is an act , it is something that is formed from creative rendition expressed in a metaphoric language in all, poetry records the feelings and experiences of a poet.
Genres of literatures iii ( poetry)Characteristics ( features ) of poetry The features of poetry are the elements that defines poetry and makes it’s style of writing different from other forms of writing. The features of poetry are:.
1, Imagery ; This is the mental picture that are created in the readers mind while reading a piece of poem. Imagery makes a poem more detail filled, creative explanatory and easy to comprehensible imagery is used to describe what a poet sees, feels or perceive. .
2, Figures of speech; Is a creative way of describing or explaining things. Examples of figure of speech are metaphor, personification, simile e.t.c. .
3, Sound and tone; This makes poetry more beautiful and interesting examples are alliteration in poem. .
4, Lines and stanzas; This makes poetry different from other form of Genres. Poetry comes in stanzas and lines..
Here are the most common of examples of stanzas. .
a, Two lines are called a couplet. .
b, Three lines are called a tercet c, Four lines are called a quatrain.
d, Five lines are called a cinquain.
e, Six lines are called sestet or a sexain.
f, Seven lines are called a septet.
g, Eight lines are called an octave.
5, Moon; this is the emotion or the state of mind of the poet.
6, Tone ; It is the feeling or attitude of the poet when writing a poem. It is also the voice of the poet, it could either be harsh, happy or humorous.
7, Diction; this is the choice of words or the vocabulary used in literary work especially in poetry.
8, Rhyme scheme; refers to the manner or sequence in which a rhyme occurs at the end of each line of a poem.
9, Rhyme; it refers to the same sounds between words in poetry.
10, Refrain; is a phrase or any expression that is repeated at regular intervals in a poem after a group of lines.
11, Atmosphere; is the psychological background running through the poem, it is what the reader feels as he reads the poem. It could be relaxed tense or sad depending on the poet.
12, Canton; it is the structural division of a poem longer than a stanza. It is usually used in epics and other narrative poems.
13, Enjambment; is also known as “run-on” or “run-on-line”. It refers to the spilling of an ideal from one line of poetry to the next or subsequent lines.
14, Poet; is the person that unites poem.
Genres of literature III (Poetry)
Types of poetry
Poetry are grouped into the following categories based on theme, objective and structure. They are:
1, Narrative Poetry; This is a poem that tells a story. It revolves around a particular character or characters and what they go through, using poetry. If could also revolve around the exploits, bravery or chivalry of a great person. It can be very long and highly emotional.
2, Dramatic poem; This type of poem contains elements of drama. It is dramatic as if one is reading a drama text. It makes use of character, dialogue and action. The action and speech of human being is represented by the poet in the poem. Example of such poem is wole Soyinka’s “ Telephone conversation”.
Pastoral poem; it’s a poem that concerns shepherd. It’s a poem in which an urban poet describes the peaceful, simple weal life of the country side. The poet also describes the life of a shepherd and other rural flock in an idealised natural background. Some of its theme are love, seduction, death and mourning.
Pastoral Elegy is almost like pastoral poem just that here instead of love there is death, pain, loss and sad things happening amongst this rural folk.
Epic; This is also known as heroic poem, it tells story of a hero whose renowned achievements have national significance.
Lyrics; This is a short musical poem which originated from ancient Greece. It is a personal and intense poem expressing deep feelings from the poet. It is meant to be sung. It is strongly marked by melody, emotion and imagination.
Song or song-lyrics; These are poems which have been set to music . Lyrics and song-lyrics are sometimes used interchangeably, but a lyric only becomes a song-lyric when it has been set to music.
Ode; An ode is a long meditative poem addressed to some person, object or an abstract noun with personified quality Ode is a greek word “aeiden” which means to “chant” or to “sing” Eg. Ode to a Nightingale.
Ballads; A ballad is a narrative poem. That is , a poem that tells story. This poem was passed down from generation to generation by words of mouth and it is meant to be sung and danced before a crowd. This type is now termed folk or traditional ballad. This poem focus on death, betrayal, war, love and accidents. Examples of ballads are:
i, Folk ballad; They are composed by ordinary people and are meant to be sung and danced during traditional ceremonies.
ii, The literary ballad; this is written by skilled writers or poet examples is John veat’s “la Belle Dame”.Sonnet; This is a lyrical poem of fourteen lines. There are two types of sonnet. They are Italian and shakes peareau sonnet.
a, Shakes peareau sonnets is named after William shakespear . A quatrain has four lines and couplet ( a two live poem) its rhyme scheme is ab; ab;cd;cd;ef;ef;gs;
Octave has Eight lines
Limerick has five lines
Sestet has six lines
Outrain has four lines
Couplet has two lines
b, Petrarchan sonnet-octave has first eight lines of sonnet and its rhyme scheme is abba, abba while the sestet is the last six line and its rhyme scheme is cdccde.
Dirge; This is a poem that is inspired by the poets grief sound or lamentation at the death of a loved one. Dirge can be sung.
Epitaph; These are poems which are used to commiserate a dead person. These poems are inscribed on the person’s tomb or grave site. Epitaph is the same as Elegy.
Hagiology; This is a poem written to describe the life of a saint.
Haiku; This is a short form of Japanese poetry, it consist of three lines. This poem is used to create a profound impression of the world existence and nature in the mind of the reader.
Lullaby; This is a poem sung to children with a view to lulling them to sleep or into a more relaxed mood. Eg. Twinkle-twinkle little star.
Panegyric; is a poem meant to eulogise the heroic deeds or attributes of an individual or a group.
Blank verse / free verse; refers to a poem whose line do not rhyme. Most African writer / poet use this form because it gives them freedom.
Traditional poem; is any poem that is original to the African oral tradition it is indigenous to the African society.
Limerick is a poem of fine lines it is also called nonsene verse because it lack ground style and length, its language could be vulgar.
Villanelle; is a poem similar to imerick . it is a poem of nineteen lines it has refrains and also contains rhyming sounds in the first and third lines it ends with a couplet ( two rhyming lines ).
Origin of oral poetry; African poetry started with folktales, songs and dance, which were preserved by griots that is people who tell tales, speak proverbs and even sing songs to pass down the traditions of their culture to the next general orally. Poetry is important to the black because it tells the history of slavery, segregation, oppression and exploitation. The black race passed through from the hands of the colonial masters. African poetry is characterized with concrete images derived from fauna (Animal life) and flora (plants). Proverbs, indigenous rhythm, verbal tropes and concepts of space and time to establish a poetic form.
Features of oral poetry
The features of oral poetry are:
1. It is composed and delivered by the words of mouth.
2. The linguistic aspects such as tone and pitch are crucial in oral poetry in varying the meaning and the mood.
3. There is solo and chorus pattern especially in sung poetry.
4. Accompanied with movement and dance.
5. The performer dresses in costumes in some sung poetry.
6. Musical instruments such as drums, horns can accompany the performance.7. It has rhythm or beat. It is regular repeated pattern of sound; it can be slow, fast, moderate, monotonous or disjointed.
8. Volume; This refers to whether the song should be loud or soft. A Lullaby should be sung softly while war songs are loud.
Examples of oral poetry are:
a, Religion; which is songs, chants
b, Work; songs
c, Praise ; songs
d, Satirical; songs
e, Historical; legendary, myth, recitation.
F, Medicinal ; chant
g, Folk; drama, folktales
Classification of oral poetry
Oral poetry are classified based on the following criteria:
1, The performer of the poetry; For examples children’s songs e.g lullabies and children play songs.
2, The theme; example love poetry
3, context of performance, example pirges
4, Functions; examples praise, Teasing songs
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