Poetry: from the Greek poiesis

The word means: (The making of Poetry)

Poetry is a type of literary art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to

create meaning

Poetry is emotion put into measure. Thomas

Hardy

Poetry is the language of the imagination and the passions. William

Hazlitt

Methods of writing Poetry:

1- Personal way: when the poet speaks in his own voice and expresses his own feelings.

Example : Rafif Zyadah’s poem.This kind of poems are called “lyrical”2- Impersonal way: when the poet expresses

what others might have felt or suffered without providing a clue to his own feelings.

For example: The extract on Page(34).

The two styles, personal and impersonal dominate the whole

history of poetry.

Sometimes the two styles are combined in one poem.

All classifications of poetry start from the differentiation between

them.

Impersonal style in poetry:

EpicBalladSatire

Narrative

1- Epic

An Epic is : 1- along narrative poem

2- it is written in a grand ceremonious style3- Celebrates and describes the deeds of a

hero 4- the hero is usually protected from gods or

sometimes a demi-god (a character larger than life)

5- the hero performs supernatural actions in his

voyages and battles

Epics are part history, part legend and part pure myth.

Epics are a source of information. They tell us about

old nations history.

Kinds of Epics: 1- Primary

2-Secondary3- philosophical

4- Romantic5-Mock heroics

The Primary Epics vs. The Secondary epics

• Primary epics are the oldest epics with mysterious origins.

• Examples: • Beowulf• Gilgamesh• Mahabharata• Ramayana

• Secondary epics are the literary epics that are written by known poems to celebrate their nations. (Imitations of the primary epics)

• Examples:• Homer’s Iliad and

Odyssey• Virgil’s Aeneid• Milton’s Paradise Lost

3- Philosophical epicsfor example: Dante’s Divine

Comedy4- Romantic epics.

For example: Ariosto’s Orland Furioso and Spencer’s The Faerie

Queen

5- Mock- heroic : some poets used the grand style of epics for humorous purposes. They choose a trivial matter and give it a very serious treatment.For example : Pope’s The Rape of the Lock (deals with the stealing of a lock

of hair from the head of a girl!!)

Heroic Poetry

Kind of narrative poetry that deals with war and military adventures but instead of

dealing with a long poem they deal with single episodes.

For example: Widisth

The Battle of Maldon