Poetry SS1 Nigerian History Lesson Note

WHAT IS POETRY?

Poetry is a branch of Literature and it is a collection of poems. 

What is a poem? A poem is a feeling expressed in imaginative language and deep thought. The person that writes poems is a Poet while the female counterpart is a Poetess.

According to Wordsworth, poetry is defined as an overflow of spontaneous emotions recaptured in tranquillity. 

Poetry is about beauty, passion, rhythm and grace therein in any emotional expression. Poetry must have a rhythmic pattern because it is a rhythmic grace present in all creation, inspired, the poet conceptualizes or imagines an idea, based on an object, an incident, or an aspect of it. He uses words, phrases, poetic devices like figures of speech and imageries to concretize this idea in a poem. He arranges the word in a systematic pattern to achieve rhythm, harmony, symmetry and grace. With these, he/she creates a vivid picture of his/her idea for the enlightenment and entertainment of his/her audience. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF POETRY

1. Atmosphere: This refers to the psychological impact of the poem on the reader. A poem’s atmosphere is the combined effect of its tone and mood which elicit the reader’s response. The nature of the poem’s subject matter and its overall presentation by the poet determine its tone and mood and help in building its atmosphere. 
2. Couplet: This refers to the presentation of two rhyming lines, often of equal length in a poem. The rhyme scheme for a couplet in aa, bb, etc
3. Mood: This refers to the state of mind of the poet person which the reader perceives or assumes from the tone of the poem. The poem’s subject matter is presented as “clothed” in the perceived mood 
4. Enjambment: This term originates from the French word which means “Flowing into”. It refers to the continuation of the meaning in one line of a poem into another. Enjambment often features in the free verse, but sometimes it also occurs in rhymed verse. 
5. Tone: This refers to something like a voice from inside the poem which conveys the state of mind of the poet–person. The feelings of happiness, anger, sorrow, sarcasm, resignation, etc. can be conveyed to the reader of a poem by its tone. The impact of the tone becomes the mood of the poem. 
6. Quatrain: This term refers to four rhyming lines of a poem 

Triplet: This term to three arranged rhyming lines in a poem  

ASSIGNMENT: 

1. Write out all the various characteristics of poetry in your own words. 

DIFFERENT FORMS OF POETRY AND TYPES OF POETRY

1. Ballad: The word ballad is derived from the Latin word “ballare” meaning “to dance”. It comprises words which are out of current use. The poems are derived from village festivals and are not often written but handed down orally from generation to generation. The themes are based on popular stories or legends and great village heroes. We have two(2) types of ballad and they are (1) 
2. Traditional ballad: Which exists mainly if stories are told by word of mouth  (II) Literacy ballad: Which is a written type e.g. “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 
3. Elegy/ Dirge: This developed from the Greek word “elegos” meaning, a lament, a song of mourning, a sorrowful event like the death of a bosom friend. E.g. “Lycida” by Milton or “In Memoriam” by Tennyson. Elegy or dirge may also be an expression of regret for the past pessimistic fears for the future, or a solemn meditation on humanity like “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Thomas Gray. 
4. Didactic Poem: This is a type of poem that conveys an instruction or points out or teaches a moral. A well knowndidantic poem is Alexander Pope’s “Essay an Nlan”
5. Epic:  An epic derived from the Greek Word “Epos” meaning, a word, is a long poem narrating the heroic deeds of a people, or great men; the epic normally has a hero who is an epitome of flame, nobility and strength of character. E.g. “Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, Homer’s Odyssey” or “Wole Soyinka’s” image”. 
6. Narrative Poem: This  is a long poem, that tells a story, examples are “The Myth of the Bagre”
7. Ode:  An ode is a poem written or spoken in the form of an address to somebody or something. Usually used to mark a special occasion. An Odist, that is the writer of odes, is usually nostalgic and he/she thinks of or wants something that is either far away or is gone. E.g Wordsworth’s “Ode to Duty” Coffin’s “Ode to Evening” and shelly’s ode to the West Wind”
8. Chant: This is mostly a religious song or a prayer. It is a way of singing using only a few notes that are repeated many times. A Gregorian chant is a type of church music for voices alone and it has been used since the Middle Ages 
9. Incantation: Are special words or sacred words that are spoken or sung to have a magic effect and the act of speaking or singing these words – Ogun incantation
10. Recitation: Is an act of singing a creative literary piece (poetry) that you have learned to an audience. It is mostly oral and unwritten.