Can you define poetry
Astyanax said:The word 'poem' comes from an ancient Greek word from the 4th or 5th century BC - 'πόημα' ('poeema'), meaning 'that which is made', which itself comes from the verb, 'ποείν' ('poeen'): 'to make'. The essence of the concept is that a poem is something 'made' or 'contructed', not a natural occurrence. To put it another way, the essence of a poem is creativity. When we speak or write ordinary prose, we simply express thoughts or ideas in standard language to convey our meaning, but when we speak or write poetically, we choose particular words or phrases designed to create a greater effect than the basic meaning. So whatever the form, whatever the subject, a poem adds to the idea being expressed. To give a couple of examples, here are two ideas expressed first as prose, then as poetry:
Example 1:
Autumn is the time of the year when the sun is low and
everything gets ripe. Prose
'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run.' Poetry, from John Keats' 'Ode to Autumn'.
Example 2:
A bell is ringing to tell the shepherds it's time to bring the sheep in. Prose
'The curfew tolls the knell of parting day'. Poetry, from Thomas Gray's 'Elegy in a Country Churchyard'.
That's why poetry is different from prose - you added your creativity to it, and therefore the basic definition of a poem is that it's a creation.
I think I have to correct slightly the Greek orthography here:
Noun: "Ποίημα" => Poeema => Poem
Verb: "Ποιείν" => Poeen => Making (creating)
Νoun: "Ποίησης" => Poeesis => Poetry
You spell correctly the diphthongs in English. Why not in Greek also?
Otherwise I agree with your definitions.
By the way, I believe that it is only poets who cannot handle structures very well that are skeptical/afraid of formal poetry, ie, using meter or rhyme.
Example 1:
Autumn is the time of the year when the sun is low and
everything gets ripe. Prose
'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run.' Poetry, from John Keats' 'Ode to Autumn'.
Example 2:
A bell is ringing to tell the shepherds it's time to bring the sheep in. Prose
'The curfew tolls the knell of parting day'. Poetry, from Thomas Gray's 'Elegy in a Country Churchyard'.
That's why poetry is different from prose - you added your creativity to it, and therefore the basic definition of a poem is that it's a creation.
I think I have to correct slightly the Greek orthography here:
Noun: "Ποίημα" => Poeema => Poem
Verb: "Ποιείν" => Poeen => Making (creating)
Νoun: "Ποίησης" => Poeesis => Poetry
You spell correctly the diphthongs in English. Why not in Greek also?
Otherwise I agree with your definitions.
By the way, I believe that it is only poets who cannot handle structures very well that are skeptical/afraid of formal poetry, ie, using meter or rhyme.
Poetry is when a piano falls from a high rise building onto a piano salesman whose only reason for living was his love for music. And before he is crushed into a splattered pulp of jelly, the wind whistling across the ivories plays a tune in the key of Irony.
Poetry to me is unspoken words, feelings, thoughts and gestures that one may or May not be able to say to someone willingly by mouth. For me this is my way of getting out how I feel what I feel what I want to do or feel like doing. Inspiration comes from everywhere but it's in those quiet times in my head where I seem to do my best work. I have written/published a lot but those that I have are to me my way of expressing myself.
What poetry is to google and how google defines it... Just saying 
poetry
ˈ
noun
literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature.
"he felt a desire to investigate through poetry the subjects of pain and death"
synonyms: poems, verse, verses, versification, metrical composition, rhythmical composition, rhymes, rhyming, balladry; penillion; literarypoesy, Parnassus
a quality of beauty and intensity of emotion regarded as characteristic of poems.
"poetry and fire are nicely balanced in the music"
something regarded as comparable to poetry in its beauty.
"the music department is housed in a building which is pure poetry"
poetry
ˈ
noun
literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature.
"he felt a desire to investigate through poetry the subjects of pain and death"
synonyms: poems, verse, verses, versification, metrical composition, rhythmical composition, rhymes, rhyming, balladry; penillion; literarypoesy, Parnassus
a quality of beauty and intensity of emotion regarded as characteristic of poems.
"poetry and fire are nicely balanced in the music"
something regarded as comparable to poetry in its beauty.
"the music department is housed in a building which is pure poetry"
Defining poetry:
Allegory
Alliteration
Assonance
Denotation and Connotation
Diction
Image
Irony
Metaphor
Meter
Rhyme
Simile
Symbol
Tone
Word Order
"To fully understand poetry, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme and figures of speech, then ask two questions: 1) How artfully has the objective of the poem been rendered and 2) How important is that objective? Question 1 rates the poem's perfection; question 2 rates its importance. And once these questions have been answered, determining the poem's greatness becomes a relatively simple matter.
If the poem's score for perfection is plotted on the horizontal of a graph and its importance is plotted on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the poem yields the measure of its greatness.
A sonnet by Byron might score high on the vertical but only average on the horizontal. A Shakespearean sonnet, on the other hand, would score high both horizontally and vertically, yielding a massive total area, thereby revealing the poem to be truly great. As you proceed reading through poetry, practice this rating method. As your ability to evaluate poems in this matter grows, so will, so will your enjoyment and understanding of poetry."
Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, Ph.D.
Allegory
Alliteration
Assonance
Denotation and Connotation
Diction
Image
Irony
Metaphor
Meter
Rhyme
Simile
Symbol
Tone
Word Order
"To fully understand poetry, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme and figures of speech, then ask two questions: 1) How artfully has the objective of the poem been rendered and 2) How important is that objective? Question 1 rates the poem's perfection; question 2 rates its importance. And once these questions have been answered, determining the poem's greatness becomes a relatively simple matter.
If the poem's score for perfection is plotted on the horizontal of a graph and its importance is plotted on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the poem yields the measure of its greatness.
A sonnet by Byron might score high on the vertical but only average on the horizontal. A Shakespearean sonnet, on the other hand, would score high both horizontally and vertically, yielding a massive total area, thereby revealing the poem to be truly great. As you proceed reading through poetry, practice this rating method. As your ability to evaluate poems in this matter grows, so will, so will your enjoyment and understanding of poetry."
Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, Ph.D.
Poetryman said:Defining poetry:
Allegory
Alliteration
Assonance
Denotation and Connotation
Diction
Image
Irony
Metaphor
Meter
Rhyme
Simile
Symbol
Tone
Word Order
"To fully understand poetry, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme and figures of speech, then ask two questions: 1) How artfully has the objective of the poem been rendered and 2) How important is that objective? Question 1 rates the poem's perfection; question 2 rates its importance. And once these questions have been answered, determining the poem's greatness becomes a relatively simple matter.
If the poem's score for perfection is plotted on the horizontal of a graph and its importance is plotted on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the poem yields the measure of its greatness.
A sonnet by Byron might score high on the vertical but only average on the horizontal. A Shakespearean sonnet, on the other hand, would score high both horizontally and vertically, yielding a massive total area, thereby revealing the poem to be truly great. As you proceed reading through poetry, practice this rating method. As your ability to evaluate poems in this matter grows, so will, so will your enjoyment and understanding of poetry."
Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, Ph.D.
While I can appreciate that those methods can contribute to making a poem great, if it isn't engaging, or making the reader connect to the words written on a page, then it's still crap. The emotions it conveys, the thoughts it conjures up in a reader are the key things, and they can be done without using any of these methods, but I haven't enjoyed reading anything that has no heart, even if it is flawed. It's Christmas dinner without the turkey.
Allegory
Alliteration
Assonance
Denotation and Connotation
Diction
Image
Irony
Metaphor
Meter
Rhyme
Simile
Symbol
Tone
Word Order
"To fully understand poetry, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme and figures of speech, then ask two questions: 1) How artfully has the objective of the poem been rendered and 2) How important is that objective? Question 1 rates the poem's perfection; question 2 rates its importance. And once these questions have been answered, determining the poem's greatness becomes a relatively simple matter.
If the poem's score for perfection is plotted on the horizontal of a graph and its importance is plotted on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the poem yields the measure of its greatness.
A sonnet by Byron might score high on the vertical but only average on the horizontal. A Shakespearean sonnet, on the other hand, would score high both horizontally and vertically, yielding a massive total area, thereby revealing the poem to be truly great. As you proceed reading through poetry, practice this rating method. As your ability to evaluate poems in this matter grows, so will, so will your enjoyment and understanding of poetry."
Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, Ph.D.
While I can appreciate that those methods can contribute to making a poem great, if it isn't engaging, or making the reader connect to the words written on a page, then it's still crap. The emotions it conveys, the thoughts it conjures up in a reader are the key things, and they can be done without using any of these methods, but I haven't enjoyed reading anything that has no heart, even if it is flawed. It's Christmas dinner without the turkey.
DystopianMelody said:[quote-297049-Poetryman]Defining poetry:
Allegory
Alliteration
Assonance
Denotation and Connotation
Diction
Image
Irony
Metaphor
Meter
Rhyme
Simile
Symbol
Tone
Word Order
"To fully understand poetry, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme and figures of speech, then ask two questions: 1) How artfully has the objective of the poem been rendered and 2) How important is that objective? Question 1 rates the poem's perfection; question 2 rates its importance. And once these questions have been answered, determining the poem's greatness becomes a relatively simple matter.
If the poem's score for perfection is plotted on the horizontal of a graph and its importance is plotted on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the poem yields the measure of its greatness.
A sonnet by Byron might score high on the vertical but only average on the horizontal. A Shakespearean sonnet, on the other hand, would score high both horizontally and vertically, yielding a massive total area, thereby revealing the poem to be truly great. As you proceed reading through poetry, practice this rating method. As your ability to evaluate poems in this matter grows, so will, so will your enjoyment and understanding of poetry."
Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, Ph.D.
While I can appreciate that those methods can contribute to making a poem great, if it isn't engaging, or making the reader connect to the words written on a page, then it's still crap. The emotions it conveys, the thoughts it conjures up in a reader are the key things, and they can be done without using any of these methods, but I haven't enjoyed reading anything that has no heart, even if it is flawed. It's Christmas dinner without the turkey.
[/quote]
Yes...technique is secondary to a good kick in the guts....although technique can assist with the kickin'...
Allegory
Alliteration
Assonance
Denotation and Connotation
Diction
Image
Irony
Metaphor
Meter
Rhyme
Simile
Symbol
Tone
Word Order
"To fully understand poetry, we must first be fluent with its meter, rhyme and figures of speech, then ask two questions: 1) How artfully has the objective of the poem been rendered and 2) How important is that objective? Question 1 rates the poem's perfection; question 2 rates its importance. And once these questions have been answered, determining the poem's greatness becomes a relatively simple matter.
If the poem's score for perfection is plotted on the horizontal of a graph and its importance is plotted on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the poem yields the measure of its greatness.
A sonnet by Byron might score high on the vertical but only average on the horizontal. A Shakespearean sonnet, on the other hand, would score high both horizontally and vertically, yielding a massive total area, thereby revealing the poem to be truly great. As you proceed reading through poetry, practice this rating method. As your ability to evaluate poems in this matter grows, so will, so will your enjoyment and understanding of poetry."
Dr. J. Evans Pritchard, Ph.D.
While I can appreciate that those methods can contribute to making a poem great, if it isn't engaging, or making the reader connect to the words written on a page, then it's still crap. The emotions it conveys, the thoughts it conjures up in a reader are the key things, and they can be done without using any of these methods, but I haven't enjoyed reading anything that has no heart, even if it is flawed. It's Christmas dinner without the turkey.
[/quote]
Yes...technique is secondary to a good kick in the guts....although technique can assist with the kickin'...
Anonymous
And robin Williams would tell you to rip that page out, poetryman.
