Poetry

Poetry (from the Greek poiesis, "making, creating"), also known as verse, is a type of literature that employs aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language, such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre, to elicit meanings in addition to, or instead of, a prosaic ostensible meaning. A poem is a literary composition written by a poet that follows this rule.

Poetry has a long and varied history, evolving in different ways around the world. It can be traced back to prehistoric times in Africa with hunting poetry and panegyric and elegiac court poetry of the empires of the Nile, Niger, and Volta River valleys. [4] Some of the earliest written poetry in Africa can be found in the Pyramid Texts, which were written in the 25th century BCE. The first Epic of Gilgamesh, the earliest surviving Western Asian epic poetry, was written in Sumerian.

Early poems in the Eurasian continent evolved from folk songs such as the Chinese Shijing, religious hymns (the Sanskrit Rigveda, Zoroastrian Gathas, Hurrian songs, and Hebrew Psalms), or a need to retell oral epics, such as the Egyptian Story of Sinuhe, Indian epic poetry, and the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Aristotle's Poetics, an ancient Greek attempt to define poetry, focused on the uses of speech in rhetoric, drama, song, and comedy. Later attempts focused on characteristics such as repetition, verse form, and rhyme, emphasizing the aesthetics that distinguish poetry from more objectively informative prosaic writing.

Poetry uses forms and conventions to elicit various emotional reactions or to indicate diverse meanings of words. Incantatory or musical effects can be conveyed through devices including assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhythm. A poem can frequently be interpreted in various ways due to the use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony, and other stylistic components of poetic diction. Similar to this, figures of speech like metaphor, simile, and metonymy[5] create a resonance between seemingly unrelated images—a layering of meanings, generating connections that were not previously noticed. There may be similar rhyme schemes or rhythmic patterns between different verses.

Elements

Prosody

The study of prosody involves analyzing a poem's meter, rhythm, and intonation. Although they are closely related, rhythm and meter are distinct. In contrast to rhythm, which is the actual sound produced by a line of poetry, meter is the definitive pattern set for a poem (such as iambic pentameter). The scanning of poetic lines to reveal meter is another way to refer to prosody.

Rhythm

Different languages and poetic traditions use different techniques to create poetic rhythm. Languages can be influenced by a variety of factors, although the timing is frequently said to be primarily determined by accents, syllables, or moras, depending on how rhythm is produced. A mora-timed language is Japanese. Languages that have syllable timing include Latin, Catalan, French, Leonese, Galician, and Spanish. Languages with stress patterns include English, Russian, and, often, German.  The perception of rhythm is also influenced by changes in intonation. Languages may rely on tone or pitch. Vedic Sanskrit or Classical Greek are two examples of languages with a pitch accent. Chinese, Vietnamese, and the majority of Subsaharan languages are tonal languages.

Metre

Sappho is seen in an attic red-figure kathalos painting from around 470 BCE. 

In the Western poetry tradition, meters are often categorized based on a distinctive metrical foot and the number of feet in each line.

Greek terms are used to describe the number of metric feet in a line; for example, tetrameter is used to describe four feet and hexameter is used to represent six feet. Thus, "iambic pentameter" is a meter with five feet per line, and the "iamb" is the most common type of foot. Ancient Greek poets like Pindar, Sappho, and the great tragedians of Athens all used this metrical system, which had its origins in ancient Greek poetry. Similar to this, the "dactylic hexameter" has six feet per line, with the "dactyl" being the most common type of foot.

• iamb – one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (e.g. des-cribe, in-clude, re-tract)
• trochee—one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (e.g. pic-ture, flow-er)
• dactyl – one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (e.g. an-no-tate, sim-i-lar)
• anapaest—two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable (e.g. com-pre-hend)
• spondee—two stressed syllables together (e.g. heart-beat, four-teen)
• pyrrhic—two unstressed syllables together (rare, usually used to end dactylic hexameter)

Metrical patterns

Shakespeare's iambic pentameter, Homer's dactylic hexameter, and the anapestic tetrameter found in many nursery rhymes are just a few of the traditions and literary genres that use many poetic meters. The established meter, however, is frequently modified in order to prevent monotonous repetition and to emphasize or draw attention to a particular foot or line.

• Pentameter in iambic (John Milton, Paradise Lost; William Shakespeare, Sonnets) 
• Dactylic hexameter (Homer, Iliad; Virgil, Aeneid) 
• Iambic tetrameter (Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"; Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin; Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening)
• The trochaic meter (Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven")
• The national epic of Finland, The Kalevala, is likewise written in trochaic tetrameter, which is the natural rhythm of Finnish and Estonian. Alexandrin (Jean Racine, Phèdre)
• Alexandrin (Phèdre, Jean Racine)

Alliteration, rhyme, and assonance

Alliterative poetry makes up the Beowulf, an Old English epic poem.

There are several techniques to make repetitive sound patterns, including rhyme, alliteration, assonance, and consonance. They can be employed to support rhythmic patterns, serve as an ornamental element, or function as a stand-alone structural element in poetry. [68] Separate from the recurring sound patterns they produce, they can also convey meaning. Chaucer, for instance, mocked Old English verse and painted a character as ancient by using a lot of alliteration. Rhyme is composed of similar or identical sounds that are put at the ends of lines or in the middle of lines ("internal rhyme"). The complexity of rhyming systems varies among languages; Italian, for instance, has a rich rhyming structure that allows for the maintenance of a small number of rhymes th lengthy poetry. Word ends that adhere to regular forms give the language its depth. English has less rhyme than other languages because of its irregular word ends. What poetry forms are most frequently utilized in a language depends significantly on how rich its rhyme system is.

Rhyming scheme

is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other.

In the Divine Comedy, God is a source of light for Dante and Beatrice.

Poets utilize rhyme in predetermined patterns as a structural element for particular literary forms, such ballads, sonnets, and rhyming couplets, in various languages, including modern European languages and Arabic. Even within the European tradition, structural rhyme is not always used. Traditional rhyme schemes are avoided in a lot of contemporary poetry. Rhyme was not used in classical Greek and Latin poetry. In the High Middle Ages, rhyme began to appear in European poetry, partly as a result of the Arabic language's influence in Al Andalus (modern Spain). Since the beginning of literary Arabic in the sixth century, Arabic language poets have made considerable use of rhyme, as seen in their lengthy, rhyming qasidas. Some rhyme schemes are now connected to a

Form in Poetry

Modernist and post-modernist poetry's poetic form is more adaptable and continues to be less structured than in earlier literary periods. Many contemporary poets write in free verse instead of using recognizable forms or patterns. Free poetry is not "formless," though; it is made up of a variety of subtler, more adaptable prosodic elements. Thus, poetry's essential formal frameworks continue to set it apart from prose in all of its forms;[82] despite how much they may seem to have been disregarded, all forms of free verse nonetheless show some consideration for these structures. Similar to this, there will be deviations from exact form in the best poetry produced in traditional genres for emphasis or effect.

Stanzas and lines

Poetry-related main articles: Line and Stanza

Lineation, the process of dividing poetry into lines on a page, is common. These lines might be based on the amount of metric feet or they might highlight a rhyme scheme at the end of each line. Particularly when the poem is not written in a traditional metrical style, lines may have additional purposes. Lines can show a change in tone, or they can be used to separate, compare, or contrast thoughts presented in distinct units. For details on the separation between lines, refer to the article on line breaks.

Visual presentation

Poetry's visual presentation frequently provided additional depth or meaning even before printing was invented. Acrostic poetry used letters at certain locations in the poem to communicate meaning. The visual display of intricately calligraphed poems has been a significant factor in the overall impact of many poems in Arabic, Hebrew, and Chinese poetry.

Diction

Poetic diction examines language use and takes into account not only the sounds utilized, but also the underlying meaning and how it interacts with shape and sound.

Poetic dictions in many languages and poetic genres are quite particular, to the point where different grammars and dialects are employed only for poetry. Poetry's registers can range from strictly employing everyday speech patterns, as was popular in many late-20th-century prosody, to very sophisticated language use, like in poetry from the medieval and Renaissance periods.

Genres

Narrative Poetry

Poetry that narrates a tale is known as narrative poetry. Although it broadly encompasses epic poetry, the phrase "narrative poetry" is frequently used to refer to shorter works that typically have a stronger human interest component. Perhaps the oldest form of poetry is narrative poetry. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are believed by many academics to be collections of shorter narrative poems that chronicle specific incidents. Many types of narrative poetry have their roots in performance poetry, including Scottish, English, and Slavic ballads as well as heroic poems from the Baltic and Slavic peoples. It has been hypothesized that several poetic devices, including as meter, alliteration, and kennings, which set poetry apart from prose, previously served as memory aids for bards who told old tales.

Lyric poetry

In contrast to epic and dramatic poetry, the genre of lyric poetry focuses more on the individual than on trying to portray a tale. This type of poetry is typically concise, lyrical, and reflective. It depicts the poet's actual emotions, mental states, and views rather than making up characters and events. The poets Christine de Pizan, John Donne, Charles Baudelaire, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Antonio Machado, and Edna St. Vincent Millay are notable examples of this genre.

Satirical Poetry

Satire can be effectively expressed through poetry. Romans had a long history of sarcastic poetry, most of it was composed for political reasons. The satires of the Roman poet Juvenal are a good example.

Elegy

A lament for the dead or a funeral song are examples of elegy, which is a somber, depressing, or sorrowful poem. A poem of lamentation is typically referred to as a "elegy," a name that originally signified a certain literary meter (elegiac meter). The author's perception of anything weird or enigmatic may also be reflected in an elegy. The elegy can be categorized as a type of lyric poetry if it is a reflection on a death, on sadness in general, or on a perplexing subject.

Dramatic Poetry

Dramatic poetry, which can take on a variety of, occasionally related forms throughout cultures, is theater composed in verse intended to be performed or sung. Greek tragedy in verse, which dates to the sixth century B.C., may have had an impact on Sanskrit drama's evolution, just as Indian play later seems to have had an impact on the bianwen verse tragedies in China, the forerunners of Chinese opera.

Prose poetry

The hybrid genre of prose poetry combines elements of both prose and poetry. It could be difficult to tell it apart from the microstory (a.k.a. the "short short story", "flash fiction"). Prose poetry is typically thought to have started in 19th-century France, where its practitioners included Aloysius Bertrand, Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Arthur Rimbaud. While some examples of earlier prose may seem poetic to modern readers, prose poetry is generally regarded as having originated there.

Speculative poetry

The poetic genre of "speculative poetry," also referred to as "fantastic poetry" (of which weird or macabre poetry is a major sub-category), deals thematically with subjects that are "beyond reality," either through extrapolation like in science fiction or through weird and horrifying themes like in horror fiction. These poems frequently appear in contemporary science fiction and horror publications. Some people consider Edgar Allan Poe to be the "founder of speculative poetry."

Light Poetry

Poetry that tries to be amusing is referred to as light poetry or light verse. Poems that are categorized as "light" are typically condensed, can be on a lighthearted or serious subject, and frequently use puns, daring rhyme schemes, and a lot of alliteration. Light verse in English often abides by at least some formal standards, despite the fact that a few free verse poets have achieved success outside the formal verse tradition. The limerick, the clerihew, and the double dactyl are examples of common forms.

Slam Poetry

Poetry slams The first poetry slam was staged in Chicago, Illinois, in 1986 by Marc Kelly Smith. Before an audience, slam performers speak out emotionally about personal, social, or other issues. Word play, intonation, and vocal inflection are the main aesthetics in slam. Slam poetry is frequently competitive at specific "poetry slam" competitions.

Performance poetry

Performance poetry is a type of poetry that, like slam, is performed in front of an audience and can incorporate a number of artistic mediums, including dance, music, and other forms of performance art.