CHARACTERISTICS OF POETRY

Poetry -- the Prestigious Genre

Poetry, the oldest form of literature, is considered by some people as the most prestigious literary genre. To be called a poet seems to be more complimentary than to be called a playwright or a novelist. It is usually the poets, rather than any other men of letters, who are most studied and remembered when we refer to the literature of any country.

Perhaps this is because studying poetry is usually more convenient than studying drama, novels or even short stories, since poems are generally shorter than other literary forms. Or perhaps poetry is created chiefly for art's sake, whereas plays, novels and short stories are created for money. Generally, though not always, poets write poetry because they feel an irresistible urge to write, with no ultimate motive of financial reward; whereas playwrights, novelists and short story writers expect to be paid, when their works are performed or published.

In a way, poetry is also the most immediate of all the literary forms. We have to attend a performance to see a play, buy a book to read a novel or short stories; but for poetry, all we need is to open our to recite. Sometimes, we don't even have to open our mouth -- we can dissolve ourselves into the charm of our favourite poems mentally. And we carry with us our favourite poems, or some memorable lines, wherever we go, to be recalled whenever needed for our entertain¬ment, consolation or inspiration -- a privilege not so readily possible with the other genres.

Yet, poetry demands comparatively the most skills if it is to be understood and appreciated fully. Almost anyone who knows the language, can virtually understand and enjoy a play, a novel or a short story; but various literary skills are needed for such understanding and appreciation of poetry. A person may know all the individual words in a poem, but because of the concise way the poem is written, and the conventions that are used, he may not understand its meaning, hence he misses its enjoyment.

This section of the book aims to equip you with the necessary skills and techniques to understand and appreciate poetry. We will start with examining the difference between poetry and prose.


Difference between Verse and Prose

Poetry is written in verse. So first of all, we need to know what is verse and what are its character¬istics. Verse is often written in stanzas, in contrast to prose which is written in paragraphs. Verse and prose can easily be differentiated by sight. What you are read¬ing now, for example, is in prose and is written in a paragraph; whereas the following four lines are in verse and are written in a stanza:

    Time, you old gipsy man,
    Will you not stay,
    Put up your caravan
    Just for one day?
    -- Ralph Hodgson
The second characteristic of verse is rhyme. In the example above, the first line rhymes with the third line, and the second line rhymes with the fourth line. Rhyme is generally absent in prose.

Rhyme is not only found in short stanzas, but also in very long poems, where the heroic couplets are often used. Heroic couplets are two adjacent lines that rhyme. The following extract from Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock shows the heroic couplets.

    This nymph, to the destruction of mankind,
    Nourish'd two Locks, which graceful hung behind
    In equal curls, and well conspir'd to deck
    With shining ringlets the smooth iv'ry neck.
    Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains,
    And mighty hearts are held in slender chains.
    With hairy sprindges we the birds betray,
    Slight lines of hair surprize the finny prey,
    Fair tresses man's imperial race insnare,
    And beauty draws us with a single hair.
Although a stanza form and rhyme are two common and easily detectable features of verse, they are not essential. Some of the very beautiful poetry of great poets, like Shakespeare, Milton and Wordsworth, is not written in stanzas and does not have rhyme; but in blank verse. The following example is from Wordsworth's The Prelude.
    By day or star-light thus from my first dawn
    Of childhood didst Thou intertwine for me
    The passions that build up our human Soul,
    Not with the mean and vulgar words of Man,
    But with high objects, with enduring things,
    With life and nature, purifying thus
    The elements of feeling and of thought,
    And sanctifying, by such discipline,
    Both pain and fear, until we recognize
    A grandeur in the beatings of the heart.


The Essential Feature

What is the common feature in all these examples that enables them to be called "verse"? That essential feature is a metre pattern. This means that in verse the stressed and unstressed syllables are arranged in a regular pattern. Take the last two lines in the above example, which are reproduced below:

    Both pain and fear, until we recognize
    A grandeur in the beatings of the heart.
Here are more examples from Pope's lines.
    With hairy sprindges we the birds betray,
    Slight lines of hair surprize the finny prey,
    Fair tresses man's imperial race insnare,
    And beauty draws us with a single hair.
In the two examples above, where the unstressed syllable comes before the stressed syllable, the metre is said to be "rising". If the stressed syllable comes before the unstressed, as in the example below, the metre is "falling".
    Time, you old gipsy man,
    Will you not stay,
    Put up your caravan
    Just for one day?
This metre pattern in verse is the most decisive feature that distinguishes it from prose. Metre is closely related to rhythm, an important factor in poetry. Metre and rhythm will be explained in detail in a later chapter, where we shall examine how poets use metre and rhythm to promote their meaning and intention.

On the other hand, the stressed and unstressed syllables in prose are irregular. Let us take, for example, the following two important sentences from Wordsworth's prose. Notice how irregular are the stressed and unstressed syllables.

It is the honorable characteristic of Poetry that its materials are to be found in every subject which can interest the human mind. The evidence of this fact is to be sought, not in the writings of Critics, but in those of Poets themselves.

Hence, the three characteristics of verse are a stanza form, rhyme and a regular metre pattern. In other words, verse is often written in stanzas, and the lines are rhymed; in contrast, prose is written in paragraphs, and the sentences do not rhyme.

However, there are some types of verse that are not written in stanzas, nor do their lines rhyme. But if the piece of writing has a regular metre, we can be quite sure that it is written in verse. On the con¬trary, if it does not have a regular metre, we can almost always say that it is written in prose. Almost always -- because there are some kinds of verse, known as free verse, that sometimes do away with this regular metre. Isn't that interesting? We shall study more about free verse later. Meanwhile let us examine another interesting or surprising situation.


Poetry and Verse

Poetry is written in verse, but not all verse is poetry! Actually, this fact is not so bewildering if we compare it to the following analogy: all English literature is written in English, but not all that is written in English is English literature.

The following nursery rhyme is written in verse. It has a stanza form, rhyme, and regular metre; but it is not poetry.

    Baa, baa, black sheep,
    Have you any wool?
    Yes sir, yes sir,
    Three bags full.
What then is poetry? As poetry is written in verse, it therefore has a stanza form, rhyme and metre. But besides these three features, there must be three other features, namely verbal music, deep insight and powerful emotion. In other words, if a piece of writing has only a stanza form, rhyme and metre, then it is only verse; but if it also possesses music, insight and emotion, then this verse is elevated to be called poetry.


Music, Insight and Emotion

A remarkable characteristic of poetry is verbal music, that is, music of words. How a poem sounds is perhaps more important than how it looks. A poet chooses and arranges the words of his poem artfully so that they produce very pleasant sounds. He can do this by means of rhyme and rhythm, and various other audio devices.

The beauty of poetry is best appreciated not merely by looking at its printed words, but by enjoying its enchanted sounds. In a later chapter, we shall study in detail how a poet creates verbal music. But meanwhile, treat yourself to the poetic music of Tennyson in the following poem. Read the poem aloud to yourself and let "the sounds of music creep into your ears."

    Sweet and low, sweet and low,
    Wind of the Western sea.
    Low, low, breathe and blow,
    Wind of the Western sea.
    O'er the rolling waters go,
    Come from the dying moon, and blow,
    Blow him back to me! Blow him back to me!
    While my little one, while my pretty one sleeps.
Besides poetic music, another important character¬istic of poetry is deep insight. A poet has powers of observation and intuition not possessed by ordinary people. Hence, he is able to share with us through his poetry, his poetic vision and wisdom that common people do not have. In this way we benefit tremendously, for through the poet's vision and wisdom, we learn to experience life with deeper insight.

For example, to ordinary people a clod of clay is a clod of clay, and nothing more. But in the following poem, William Blade reveals to us in his poetic, mystical way that a clod of clay despite its down trodden condition is happy, because it expresses unselfish love; whereas a pebble despite its more favourable environment is unhappy, because it is selfish.

    Love seeketh not Itself to please,
    Nor for itself hath any care,
    But for another gives its ease,
    And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair.

    So sang a little Clog of Clay
    Trodden with the cattle's feet,
    But a Pebble of the brook
    Warbled out these metres meet:

    Love seeketh only Self to please,
    To bind another to Its delight,
    Joys in another's loss of ease,
    And builds a Hell in Heaven's despite.

A poet not only shows us insight, and he does so in musical language, but he also conveys his insight with strong, sincere feeling. This feature of forceful emotion is perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of great poetry. It is often for this very reason -- to convey whatever he wants to convey in forceful emotion -- that the author chooses to write in poetry instead of prose.

A poet may write his poetry the very moment he experiences this powerful emotion. Keats said that "if poetry does not come as naturally to a poet as leaves to a tree, it may as well not come at all." Or a poet may first experience this powerful emotion, then much later he recollects this powerful emotion in his poetry. Wordsworth, who lived about the same period as Keats, said that "poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility."

Such powerful feelings in poetry may be an open out-burst, or elegantly subdued. But the strong feeling is always there, and it touches on an extensive range of emotions -- of love, regret, sorrow, joy, anger, gratitude, and so on. It can be safely said that if you read a poem but fail to experience any emotion, then either you have missed the significance of the poem, or that poem is badly written.

How do you feel when you read the following first stanza of Shakespeare's poem, Fidele?

    Fear no more the heat o' the sun,
    Nor the furious winter's rages;
    Thou thy worldly task hast done,
    Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages:
    Golden lads and girls all must,
    As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.


Free Verse in Modern Poetry

Poetry, therefore, has six characteristics, namely a stanza form, rhyme, rhythm, poetic music, insight and emotion. The last three characteristics are most important, without which it is merely verse. Some poems may not even have the first three characteristics of verse, but they always have poetic music, insight and emotion. An example is the following extract from a modern poem, Mending Walls, by Robert Frost, which is written in free verse, whereby the poet has suspended the regular metre of the poem.

    I let my neighbour know beyond the hill;
    And on a day we meet to walk the line
    And set the wall between us once again.
    We keep the wall between us as we go.
    To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
    And some are loaves and some so nearly balls.
    We have to use a spell to make them balance:
    "Stay where you are until our backs are turned!"
    We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
In this chapter, we have learnt the difference between prose and verse, and the qualities that elevate verse into poetry. We also have learnt that good poetry enchants us with the music of words, as well as enriches our life with poetic insight and strong emotional experience.

Yet, we are still not ready to understand and appreciate poetry fully. To do that, it is useful to know the various kinds of poetry, and the approaches we can take to understand better the poem's meaning as well the poet's attitude and intention. We shall examine these in the next chapter. Then we shall study the poet's craft, that is, those techniques poets use to produce music, reveal insight and convey emotion.

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