Introduction to Poetry

INTRODUCTION TO POETRY

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings." - William Wordsworth

The ancient Greeks and Romans regarded poetry as the means in expressing their feelings spiritually and philosophically using oral tradition. It is the language of emotions, which is expressed from the heart of the poet (Kirzener & Mendel Pg. 659, 664).

Function of Poetry based on William Wordsworth:

Solely giving pleasure to the reader

It gives pleasure because:

a) It imitates nature well, and a thing well-imitated causes pleasure.

b) It increases the reader's knowledge of the primary nature of men.

c) It arouses sympathy that brings inner sympathy.

d) It increases the reader's knowledge of the essence of men and nature.

Four stages of Poetic Composition:

1. Stage one: Observation

Perception of the object, character or situation that brings in the emotional state of the poet's thought.

     2. Stage Two: Recollection

The poet will explore his or her past experiences stored in the part of their unexplored thoughts that will bring peacefulness in them.

     3.Stage three: Filtering

 The poet  is purged of non-essential elements and thus makes his experience communicable to all men. For instance, generating the emotion in his or her mind to gain the emotion that is needed to compose a poem.

    4. Stage four: Composition

The process of composing poetry starts here. The poet seeks to express his feelings on a paper and talks to the reader. Wordsworth claimed that it is important to share poetry with the reader by expressing your expression well in writing a poem.

Types of Poetry:

1.Narrative Poem

• Epics
• Ballad (Ballad Stanza)

2. Lyrical Poem

• Elegy
• Ode
• Aubade
• Ocassional Poem
• Meditation
• Pastoral
• Emblem Poem
• Visual Poetry (Dadaism, Surrealism, Futurism)
• Concrete Poetry

References:

Kriszner and  Mandell. Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting and Writing. Boston, 

Thomson Wadsworth, 2007.

Unit 3: Wordsworth: Preface to Lyrical Ballad, n.d, 6th October 2013.

             https://sites.google.com/site/nmeictproject/collections/3-2-3-definition-of-poetry

Raghukul, T (1996). History & Principal of Literary Criticism. New Delhi: Rama Brothers: William Wordsworth (Pg. 243-255)