Poetry Definition, Types, Elements, and Genres of Poetry l Poetry in Literature l History of Poetry l Types of Poetry in Literature l The Importance of Poetry l Types of Poems

What is Poetry? 

Poetry is literature built on words and rhythms interplaying. It frequently uses rhymes and meters (a set of rules governing the number and arrangement of syllables in each line). Words are joined together in poetry to create sounds, pictures, and thoughts that may be too complicated or abstract for straightforward description.

Once upon a time, poetry was produced by very strict meter and rhyme rules and each culture had its own laws. Anglo-Saxon writers, for example, had their own rhymes and meters, while Greek poets and Arab poets had others. While these classical forms continue to be extensively used today, contemporary poets often eliminate restrictions — their poems do not usually rhyme or follow any specific meter. However, these poems still have a rhythmic character and are designed to produce beauty in words.

The Importance of Poetry

Poetry is arguably the earliest literary genre and it certainly predates the beginning of writing itself. The earliest manuscripts we have are poetry that recount tales of ancient mythology, most of the epic poems. are The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Vedas. (Sacred texts of Hinduism). This writing style may have been created to assist humans to store lengthy information chains in the days before writing. Rhythm and rhythm may make the material more remembered and thus simpler for civilizations without written language to maintain.

Poetry may be written for the same reason as any other kind of writing - beauty, comedy, narration, political statements, etc.

History of Poetry:

We witness the earliest poetry, the advent of literature as human oral tales are penned. The first poet that we know by name is Enheduanna (2300 B.C.). As a Sumerian lady and high priestess, she has written hundreds of hymns for major temples across Mesopotamia and songs that praise the goddess of the lunar moon, Inanna.

The oldest epic poetry has been found centuries later. The Epic of Gilgamesh (2100 B.C.), etched on clay tablets, informs us of the quest for immortality by the ruler of Mesopotamia. Iliad and Odyssey (both from 700 B.C.) still impact western literature today in Homer's epic works. Two Sanskrit epic poems describe the original histories of Hinduism around 400-300 B.C, the Mahābhārata and the Ramayana. The foundation of Rome, described by Virgil's Aeneid (19 B.C.) is the first written in Latin.

The epic develops over the following 1300 years. Narrative tales are still important, but poets are beginning to experiment with form and substance. Our hero fights monsters and dragons in the Old English epic poem Beowulf (about 1000) for the protection of the King of the Danes, a tale that inspired both Tolkien and George R. R. Martín. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri (1320), written first hand, recounts his trip through the city, purgatory, and furrow with his companion poet Virgil.

In this period, shorter poetry is also produced. From Italy, the Petrarchan sonnet of the 13th century (the perfecter of the form called after Petrarch) is just 14 lines of a mixed rhyme design, with a problem and a solution. In Persia the ghazal, short yet passionate poetry of no more than thirty lines (15 pairs) peaks with the poet Hafiz about 1370. Shakespeare releases his Sonnet in 1609, a collection of 154 pieces of poetry at a period when he is renowned for his plays. Shakespeare's are presented from the standpoint of ordinary men and women coping with love, sorrow, passion and violence from the challenging centuries of sonnet tradition.

From this point on, epics remain quite popular (like John's Milton's Paradise Lost in 1667), but shorter, more personal poetry becomes the dominating genre. The poems of Anne Bradstreet in The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650) are a daring critique of puritanism and "The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope (1712) a mock-epic in which it makes fun of the aristocratic society of the XVIIIth century.

Arts now thrive in the Enlightenment Age (17th to 19th centuries), and many of the longest-lasting poets come from two literary movements: romanticism and realism.

The Lyrical Ballads (1798-1802) by William Wordsworth and Taylor Coleridge is a classic collection of romantic poetry, which established Romantics as nature, memory, and imagination poets. These topics are likewise celebrated by Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (1855) and Whitman's reputation is cemented as the father of free verses. Realism opposes the romantic emotional focus but seeks to depict life as it is. The classical "We Wear the Mask" (1895) of Paul Laurence Dunbar explores the sorrow at the turn of the century of African American experience.

Realism maintains an important emphasis in the twentieth century, but when poets respond to two world wars and significant changes in society, language fragments and imagery match with events. Modernistic works like the Tender Buttons of Gertrude Stein (1914) and The Waste Land of T.S. Eliot (1922) are disjointed, often hard to follow, but reflect their day's unsafeness.

Types of Poems
There different types of Poems of them are given below;

Blank Verse:

Blank verse is poetry composed with a specific meter—almost usually iambic pentameter—that does not rhyme. It has unrhymed lines.
Example:

The Second Coming by William Butler

Rhymed Poetry:
In opposition to blank verse, It has rhymed lines and rhyme by design, but their pattern changes.

Example:

Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats  

Free verse:
As the name itself suggests, Free verse. It is poetry that lacks a regular rhyme system, metrical rhythm, or melodic structure.

Example;

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman  

Epic Poetry:
An epic poem is a long, narrative piece of poetry. These lengthy poems usually describe the amazing achievements and adventures of a Hero.
Example:

Paradise Lost by John Milton 

Narrative Poetry:

It is the kind of poem that tells a story. Like an epic, storytelling poetry recounts a tale. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Henry Wadsworth " illustrates this style.

Haiku:

Haikus focus on a short period, opposing two pictures and generating a quick feeling of enlightenment. A haiku is a poetry three-line form from Japan. In the first line, there are five syllables, in the second line, there are seven syllables, in the third line there are five syllables.

Example:

Lighting One Candle” by Yosa Buson

Pastoral Poetry:
It is a kind of poetry about the natural world, rural life, and the countryside. 
Example:
 The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe

Sonnet:

A sonnet is short poetry in lyrics consisting of 14 lines, usually written in iambic pentameter.

It is a type of lyrical poetry from the thirteenth century in Italy. Actually, "sonnet" comes from the Italian word Sonetto, which means "small sound" or "little song."

Example:

Death be not proud by John Donne

Elegies:

An elegy is a poem about death or grief. It traditionally includes grief, loss, and contemplation topics. It may, however, also study themes of redemption and comfort. 
Example:
Lycidas by John Milton

Ode:

An ode is a kind of poetry that typically praises something. An ode is a lyrical style of poetry, reflecting emotions. It is typically dedicated to someone or something or reflects the thinking of the author like Keats' ode gives us his view of the Greek urn.

Example:

Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats

Limerick:

A limerick is a five-line poem consisting of a single stanza, a rhyme of AABBA, and brief touches of humor, a pithy story, or a description of its topic. Edward Lear was the person who invented Limerick Poetry.
Example:

To Miss Vera Beringer by Lewis Carroll

Lyric Poetry: 

Lyrical poetry refers to a wide poetry genre that deals with emotion. Lyrical poetry is a formal style of poetry, usually addressed in the first person and which conveys personal emotions or sentiments.

Example:

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Ballad Poetry:

A ballad (or ballad) is a narrative verse that may be lyrical or musical. It usually follows a rhymed quatrain pattern. It is a melodic narrative style, from John Keats to Samuel Taylor Coleridge through Bob Dylan.

Example:

To a Skylark by PB Shelley

Villanelle:

Villanelles initially focused on pastoral landscapes and on many of its rural life topics. The authors utilized the set villanelle to acquire popularity for addressing all kinds of significances, from celebration to sorrow and from love to loss.

Example

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas