What is Poetry? What is Drama?

What is Poetry?

Poetry is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by its user and audience to differ from ordinary prose.

It may use condensed or compressed form to convey emotion or ideas to the reader's or listener's mind or ear; it may also use devices such as assonance and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poems frequently rely for their effect on imagery, word association, and the musical qualities of the language used. The interactive layering of all these effects to generate meaning is what marks poetry.

Because of its nature of emphasising linguistic form rather than using language purely for its content, poetry is notoriously difficult to translate from one language into another: a possible exception to this might be the Hebrew Psalms, where the beauty is found more in the balance of ideas than in specific vocabulary. In most poetry, it is the connotations and the "baggage" that words carry (the weight of words) that are most important. These shades and nuances of meaning can be difficult to interpret and can cause different readers to "hear" a particular piece of poetry differently. While there are reasonable interpretations, there can never be a definitive interpretation.

Types of Poetry

When studying poetry, it is useful first of all to consider the theme and the overall development of the theme in the poem. Obviously, the sort of development that takes place depends to a considerable extent on the type of poem one is dealing with. It is useful to keep two general distinctions in mind (for more detailed definitions consult Abrams 1999 and Preminger et al 1993): lyric poetry and narrative poetry.

Lyric Poetry

A lyric poem 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.

Subcategories of the lyric are, for example elegy, ode, sonnet and dramatic monologue and most occasional poetry:

In modern usage, elegy is a formal lament for the death of a particular person (for example Tennyson’s In Memoriam A.H.H.). More broadly defined, the term elegy is also used for solemn meditations, often on questions of death, such as Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.

Nature, Red in Tooth and Claw (In Memoriam A.H.H.)

Are God and Nature then at strife,

That Nature lends such evil dreams?

So careful of the type she seems,

So careless of the single life;

That I, considering everywhere

Her secret meaning in her deeds,

And finding that of fifty seeds

She often brings but one to bear,

I falter where I firmly trod,

And falling with my weight of cares

Upon the great world's altar-stairs

That slope thro' darkness up to God,

I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope,

And gather dust and chaff, and call

To what I feel is Lord of all,

And faintly trust the larger hope.

An ode is a long lyric poem with a serious subject written in an elevated style. Famous examples are Wordsworth’s Hymn to Duty or Keats’ Ode to a Grecian Urn.

The sonnet was originally a love poem which dealt with the lover’s sufferings and hopes. It originated in Italy and became popular in England in the Renaissance, when Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey translated and imitated the sonnets written by Petrarch (Petrarchan sonnet). From the seventeenth century onwards the sonnet was also used for other topics than love, for instance for religious experience (by Donne and Milton), reflections on art (by Keats or Shelley) or even the war experience (by Brooke or Owen). The sonnet uses a single stanza of (usually) fourteen lines and an intricate rhyme pattern (see stanza forms). Many poets wrote a series of sonnets linked by the same theme, so-called sonnet cycles (for instance Petrarch, Spenser, Shakespeare, Drayton, Barret-Browning, Meredith) which depict the various stages of a love relationship.

In a dramatic monologue a speaker, who is explicitly someone other than the author, makes a speech to a silent auditor in a specific situation and at a critical moment. Without intending to do so, the speaker reveals aspects of his temperament and character. In Browning's My Last Duchess for instance, the Duke shows the picture of his last wife to the emissary from his prospective new wife and reveals his excessive pride in his position and his jealous temperament.

Occasional poetry is written for a specific occasion: a wedding (then it is called an epithalamion, for instance Spenser’s Epithalamion), the return of a king from exile (for instance Dryden’s Annus Mirabilis) or a death (for example Milton’s Lycidas), etc.

Narrative Poetry

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).

Sub-categories of narrative poetry:

Epics usually operate on a large scale, both in length and topic, such as the founding of a nation (Virgil’s Aeneid) or the beginning of world history (Milton's Paradise Lost), they tend to use an elevated style of language and supernatural beings take part in the action.

The mock-epic makes use of epic conventions, like the elevated style and the assumption that the topic is of great importance, to deal with completely insignificant occurrences. A famous example is Pope's The Rape of the Lock, which tells the story of a young beauty whose suitor secretly cuts off a lock of her hair.

The Rape of The Lock – Alexander Pope

Canto I

What dire Offence from am'rous Causes springs,

What mighty Contests rise from trivial Things,

I sing-This verse to CARYL, Muse! is due;

This, ev'n Belinda may vouchsafe to view:

Slight is the Subject, but not so the Praise,

If She inspire, and He approve, my Lays.

Say what strange Motive, Goddess! cou'd compel

A well-bred Lord t'assault a gentle Belle?

Oh say what stranger Cause, yet unexplor'd,

Cou'd make a gentle Belle reject a Lord?

In tasks so bold, can little Men engage,

                                                                                   And in soft Bosoms, dwell such mighty Rage?

Sol through white Curtains shot a tim'rous Ray,

And ope'd those Eyes that must eclipse the Day:

Now Lap-dogs give themselves the rouzing Shake,

And sleepless Lovers, just at Twelve, awake:

Thrice rung the Bell, the Slipper knock'd the Ground,

And the press'd Watch return'd a silver sound,

Belinda still her downy Pillow prest,

Her guardian Sylph prolng'd the balmy rest.

'Twas he had summon'd to her silent Bed

The Morning Dream that hover'd o'er her Head.    The Dream (Beardsley)

A Youth more glitt'ring than a Birth-night Beau

(That ev'n in slumber caus'd her Cheek to glow)     The Dream (Du Guernier)

Seem'd to her Ear his winning Lips to lay,

And thus in Whispers said, or seemed to say.      The Dream...(Fuseli)

Fairest of Mortals, thou distinguish'd Care

Of thousand bright Inhabitants of Air!

If e'er one Vision touch'd thy infant Thought,

Of all the Nurse and all the Priest have taught,

Of airy Elves by Moonlight Shadows seen,

The silver Token, and the Circled Green,

Or Virgins visited by Angel-powers

With Golden Crowns and Wreaths of heav'nly Flow'rs;

Hear and believe! thy own Importance know,

Nor bound thy narrow Views to things below.

Some secret Truths, from Learned Pride conceal'd,

To Maids alone and Children are reveal'd:

What tho' no Credit doubting Wits may give?

The Fair and Innocent shall still believe.

Know then, unnumber'd Spirits round thee fly,

The light Militia of the lower sky:

These, tho' unseen, are ever on the Wing,

Hang o'er the Box, and hover round the Ring.

Think what an Equipage thou hast in Air,

And view with scorn Two Pages and a Chair.

As now your own, our Beings were of old,

And once inclos'd in Woman's beauteous Mold;

Thence, by a soft Transition, we repair

From earthly Vehicles to these of Air.

Think not, when Woman's transient Breath is fled,

That all her Vanities at once are dead.

Succeeding Vanities she still regards,

And tho' she plays no more, o'erlooks the Cards.

Her Joy in gilded Chariots, when alive,

And love of Ombre, after Death survive.

For when the Fair in all their Pride expire,

To their first Elements the Souls retire:

The Sprites of fiery Termagants in Flame

Mount up, and take a Salamander's name.

Soft yielding Minds to Water glide away,

And sip, with Nymphs, their elemental Tea.

The graver Prude sinks downward to a Gnome,

In search of Mischief still on Earth to roam.

The light Coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair,

And sport and flutter in the Fields of Air.

Know further yet; Whoever fair and chaste

Rejects Mankind, is by some Sylph embrac'd:

For Spirits, freed from mortal Laws, with ease

Assume what Sexes and what Shapes they please.

What guards the Purity of melting Maids,

In Courtly Balls, and Midnight Masquerades,

Safe from the treach'rous Friend, the daring Spark,

The Glance by Day, the Whisper in the Dark;

When kind Occasion prompts their warm Desires,

When Music softens, and when Dancing fires?

'Tis but their Sylph, the wise Celestials know,

Tho' Honour is the Word with Men below.

Some Nymphs there are, too conscious of their Face,

For Life predestin'd to the Gnomes' Embrace.

Who swell their Prospects and exalt their Pride,

When Offers are disdain'd, and Love deny'd.

Then gay Ideas crowd the vacant Brain,

While Peers and Dukes, and all their sweeping Train,

And Garters, Stars, and Coronets appear,

And in soft sounds, Your Grace salutes their Ear.

'Tis these that early taint the Female Soul,

Instruct the eyes of young Coquettes to roll,

Teach Infant Cheeks a bidden Blush to know,

And little Hearts to flutter at a Beau.

Oft when the World imagine Women stray,

The Sylphs through Mystic mazes guide their Way.

Thro' all the giddy Circle they pursue,

And old Impertinence expel by new.

What tender Maid but must a Victim fall

To one Man's Treat, but for another's Ball?

When Florio speaks, what Virgin could withstand,

If gentle Damon did not squeeze her Hand?

With varying Vanities, from ev'ry Part,

They shift the moving Toyshop of their Heart;

Where Wigs with Wigs, with Sword-knots Sword-knots strive,

Beaux banish Beaux, and Coaches Coaches drive.

This erring Mortals Levity may call,

Oh blind to Truth! the Sylphs contrive it all.

Of these am I, who thy Protection claim,

A watchful Sprite, and Ariel is my name.

Late, as I rang'd the crystal Wilds of Air,

In the clear Mirror of thy ruling Star

I saw, alas! some dread Event impend,

Ere to the Main this morning's Sun descend,

But Heav'n reveals not what, or how, or where:

Warn'd by thy Sylph, oh pious Maid beware!

This to disclose is all thy Guardian can.

Beware of all, but most beware of Man!

He said: when Shock, who thought she slept too long,

Leap'd up, and wak'd his Mistress with his Tongue.

'Twas then, Belinda! if Report say true,

Thy Eyes first open'd on a Billet-doux;     The Billet-doux (Beardsley)

Wounds, Charms, and Ardors, were no sooner read,

But all the Vision vanish'd from thy Head.

And now, unveil'd, the Toilet stands display'd,

Each Silver Vase in mystic Order laid.

First, rob'd in White, the Nymph intent adores

With Head uncover'd, the Cosmetic Pow'rs.

A heav'nly Image in the Glass appears,      The Toilette (Beardsley)

To that she bends, to that her Eyes she rears;

Th' inferior Priestess, at her Altar's side,

Trembling, begins the sacred Rites of Pride.

Unnumber'd Treasures ope at once, and here

The various Off'rings of the World appear;

From each she nicely culls with curious Toil,

And decks the Goddess with the glitt'ring Spoil.

This casket India's glowing Gems unlocks,

And all Arabia breathes from yonder Box.

The Tortoise here and Elephant unite,

Transform'd to Combs, the speckled and the white.

Here Files of Pins extend their shining Rows,

Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-doux.

Now awful Beauty puts on all its Arms;

The Fair each moment rises in her Charms,

Repairs her Smiles, awakens ev'ry Grace,

And calls forth all the Wonders of her Face;

Sees by Degrees a purer Blush arise,

And keener Lightnings quicken in her Eyes.

The busy Sylphs surround their darling Care;

These set the Head, and those divide the Hair,

Some fold the Sleeve, whilst others plait the Gown;

And Betty's prais'd for labours not her own.

A ballad is a song, originally transmitted orally, which tells a story. It is an important form of folk poetry which was adapted for literary uses from the sixteenth century onwards. The ballad stanza is usually a four-line stanza, alternating tetrameter and trimeter.

Descriptive and Didactic Poetry

Both lyric and narrative poetry can contain lengthy and detailed descriptions (descriptive poetry) or scenes in direct speech (dramatic poetry).

The purpose of a didactic poem is primarily to teach something. This can take the form of very specific instructions, such as how to catch a fish, as in James Thomson’s The Seasons (Spring 379-442) or how to write good poetry as in Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism. But it can also be meant as instructive in a general way. Until the twentieth century all literature was expected to have a didactic purpose in a general sense, that is, to impart moral, theoretical or even practical knowledge; Horace famously demanded that poetry should combine prodesse (learning) and delectare (pleasure). The twentieth century was more reluctant to proclaim literature openly as a teaching tool.

What is Drama?

‘Drama’ is an Ancient Greek word meaning ‘act’ or ‘deed’. The Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle used this term in a very influential treatise called the Poetics. In this text, Aristotle classified different forms of poetry according to basic features he thought could be commonly recognized in their composition. He used the term ‘drama’ to describe poetic compositions that were ‘acted’ in front of audiences in a theatron.

While Aristotle offered drama as a general term to describe forms of poetry that were ‘acted’, he identified different types of composition within this category, including comedy and tragedy. He regarded comedy as a form of drama because it represented acts that made audiences laugh and he considered tragedy a form of drama because it represented acts that made audiences feel pity or fear. The Roman theorist Horace introduced another view of these poetic forms when he suggested that their purpose was to either delight or instruct. Although various definitions and developments in drama must be considered in addition to Aristotle’s original assessment of dramas, many of the terms of classification he introduced are still used or debated today.

Work Cited:

Poetry.org. http://www.poetry.org/whatis.htm , 2005.

 Poetry02. http://www2.anglistik.uni-freiburg.de/intranet/englishbasics/PoetryTypes01.htm

Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Memoriam_A.H.H.

Umass.edu. http://people.umass.edu/sconstan/poem1c1.html

Australia Catholic University.  http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/faculties/learndrama/what_drama.htm . 2005