Poetry: Origin, Definition, Elements & Types

  Poetry and its  elements: in this article you will be leaning about poetry and it's elements. This article is made for B.A. English hons first semester students of BBMKU and VBU. 

WHAT IS POETRY ?

Etymologically, the term poetry comes from the 'Greek' word 'poiesies' which means the 'act of making or creating something'. The related words are Poem, Poisy and Verse. 

Poetry is one of the oldest form of literature. It's a musical form of literature. It is a literary work which creates Imagery and uses figurative languages with words to convey the message. It expresses poet's or poetess' feeling, thoughts and emotions.

A poetry is a form of literature that uses some aesthetic and rhythmic qualities. It is a literary composition composed by the poet. There are some elements which are used while composing a poetry such as rhythm, rhyme, Stanza, style, theme, figurative languages etc. 

There are two types of poetry: subjective poetry (also known as personal poetry or lyrical poetry) and Objective poetry (also known as impersonal poetry or narrative poetry). 

ELEMENTS OF POETRY 

While composing a poetry we need some elements. There are several elements of a poetry such as stanza, symbolism, rhyme, rhythm, theme, tone, figurative language etc. Each of them are described below: 

1.  Stanza: it reffers to the group of lines in a poem. Stanza in poetry is equivalent to the paragraph in a story. Stanza can be of two lines, three lines, four lines, five lines, six lines, seven lines, eight lines etc. A stanza of two lines is called couplet, a stanza of three lines is called triplet, a stanza of four lines is called quatrain. 

2. Symbolism: it reffers to the symbols which poets often use in their poem to convey his or idea and thought. 

3. Rhyme: it is one of the essential elements of poetry. Rhyme is when two or more than two lines  sound same at the end. Rhyming words don't have to be spelled the same. Rhyme creates a pattern within the poem which makes it more interesting These patterns are called rhyme scheme. Rhyme scheme pattern example- abab bcbc cdcd efef gg. 

4. Rhythm: when we talk about rhythm we're talking about how the syllables are stressed or unstressed. Stressed syllables often called strong syllable and unstressed syllables are called weak syllable. 

5. Theme: it reffers to the central idea of the poem. Theme can be called the message which the poet/poetess wants to convey to the reader through their poetry. However, not all the poems contain theme. 

6. Tone: it is created by word choice, regular or irregular metre, figurative language and rhymes. It is important to understand how to use each of these if you want to create the correct mood. 

7. Figurative language: a lots of tool fall under this element such as metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, Metonymy, Onomatopoeia etc. 

Related links 

B.A. English honours semester l syllabus