WHAT IS POETRY?
Poetry is a branch of Literature and it is a collection of poems.
What is a poem? Poem is a feeling expressed in imaginative language and in deep thought. The person that writes poem is a Poet while the female counterpart is a Poetess.
According to wordsworth, poetry is defined as an overflow of spontaneous emotions recaptured in tranquility.
Poetry is about beauty, passion, rhythm and grace therein in any emotional expression. Poetry must have rhythmic pattern because it is a rhythmic grace present in all creation, inspired, the poet conceptualizes or imagines an idea, based on an object, an incident an aspect of it. He uses words, phrases, poetic devices like figures of speech and imageries to concretize this idea in a poem. He arranges the word in a systematic pattern to achieve rhythm, harmony, symmetry and grace. With these, he/she creates a vivid picture of his/her idea for the enlightment and entertainment of his/her audience.
Characteristics of poetry
- Atmosphere: This refers to the psychological impact of the poem on the reader. A poem’s atmosphere is the combined effect of its tone and mood which elicit the reader’s response. The nature of the poem’s subject matter and its overall presentation by the poet determine its tone and mood and help in building its atmosphere.
- Couplet: This refers to the presentation of two rhyming line, often of equal length in a poem. The rhyme scheme for a couplet in aa, bb, etc
- Mood: This refers to the state of mind of the poet person which the reader perceives or assumes from the tone of the poem. The poems subject matter is presented as “clothed” in the perceived mood
- Enjambment: This term originates from the French word which means “Flowing into”. It refers to the continuation of the meaning in a line of a poem into another. Enjambment often features in the free verse, but sometimes it also occurs in rhymed verse.
- Tone: This refers to something like a voice from inside the poem which conveys the state of mind of the poet – person. The feelings of happiness, anger, sorrow, sarcasm, resignation, e.t.c. can be conveyed to the reader of a poem by its tone. The impact of the tone becomes the mood of the poem.
- Quatrain: This term refers to four rhyming lines of a poem
- Triplet: This term to three arranged rhyming lines in a poem
ONLINE WORK
Answer the following questions
- How did Wordsworth define poetry?
- Write short note on the following:
- Atmosphere
- Tone
- Mood
ASSIGNMENT
Write out all the various characteristics of poetry in your own words.
See also