What Is Poetry?

According to Webster's dictionary, a poem is "a composition in verse; lofty or imaginative writing or artistic expression." The definition itself is not very poetic, nor does it place any strict regulations on what one might consider poetry. I've listened to and read many so-called poets throughtout the years and, in my opinion, what some consider to be poetry would be better off left unsaid and unwritten.

The best poems flow, roll effortlessly off the tongue, and are written and read in metre, a regular ongoing rhythm. They are like a dance, moving everyone they contact. A perfect example of such poems are those written by Edgar Allan Poe. However, not all poets use rhyme as Poe did. Some great poets used rhyme off and on throughout a single piece of work (see Hart Crane). T.S. Eliot's poem The Love Song Of J. Alfred Prufrock plays upon yet another form that I call "breaking metre." The rhythm is constantly changing, placing emphasis on various stanzas. It would be similar to dancing to a waltz one minute, then switching to the foxtrot, then back to a waltz again.

Some Terms Used In Poetry

Verse - a single line of poetry

Stanza - a group of verses

Verse Paragraph - a stanza of irregular length

Pentameter - a line of verse with five feet

Foot - the regular unit of rhythm which, when repeated, makes up a verse

Metaphor - an implied comparison between two things that are essentially different in order to emphasize a quality that they share

Assonance - resemblance or similarity in sound between vowels followed by different consonants in two or more stressed syllables

Pun - a humorous play on words of similar sound

Alliteration - the repetition of beginning sounds

Onomatopoeia - words whose sounds suggest their meaning (e.g. "buzz" of a bee)

Personification - giving animals, objects, or ideas human characteristics such as emotion

Simile - a comparison using "like" or "as" between two things that are essentially different in order to emphasize a common characteristic

Hyperbole - intentional exaggeration (usually for purposes of emphasis)

Symbolism - something that represents more than what it is in a literal sense