Changes

4,091 bytes added ,  18:59, 15 February 2010
Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame '''Poetry''' (from the Greek "ποίησις", poiesis, a "making") is a form of literary [[art...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Tamil-poetry-page_2.jpg|right|frame]]

'''Poetry''' (from the [[Greek]] "ποίησις", poiesis, a "making") is a [[form]] of [[literary]] [[art]] in which [[language]] is used for its [[aesthetic]] and evocative [[qualities]] in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent [[meaning]]. Poetry may be written independently, as discrete poems, or may occur in conjunction with other [[The Arts|arts]], as in poetic [[drama]], hymns, lyrics, or prose poetry. Poetry is published in dedicated magazines, e-zines, [[individual]] collections and wider anthologies, although it is rare to see anything other than [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyric_poetry lyric poetry] outside of collections.

Poetry, and [[discussions]] of it, have a long [[history]]. Early attempts to define poetry, such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle Aristotle]'s ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetics_(Aristotle) Poetics]'', [[focused]] on the uses of [[speech]] in [[rhetoric]], [[drama]], song, and comedy. Later attempts concentrated on features such as [[repetition]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(poetry) verse] form and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyme rhyme], and emphasized the aesthetics which distinguish poetry from prose. From the mid-[http://www.wikpedia.org/wiki/20th_Century 20th century], poetry has sometimes been more loosely defined as a [[fundamental]] [[creative]] [[act]] using [[language]].

Poetry often uses particular forms and [[convention]]s to suggest alternative [[meanings]] in the [[words]], or to evoke [[emotional]] or sensual [[responses]]. Devices such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assonance assonance], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliteration alliteration], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia onomatopoeia], and [[rhythm]] are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory [[effects]]. The use of [[ambiguity]], [[symbolism]], [[irony]], and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple [[interpretations]]. Similarly, [[metaphor]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simile simile], and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonymy metonymy] create a [[resonance]] between otherwise disparate images—a layering of [[meanings]], forming [[connections]] previously not [[perceived]]. Kindred forms of resonance may exist, between [[individual]] verses, in their [[patterns]] of rhyme or rhythm.

Some forms of poetry are specific to particular [[cultures]] and [[genres]], responding to the characteristics of the [[language]] in which the poet writes. While [[readers]] accustomed to identifying poetry with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri Dante], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe Goethe], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Mickiewicz Mickiewicz] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi Rumi] may think of it as being written in rhyming lines and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter_(poetry) meter], there are [[traditions]], such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_poetry Biblical poetry], that use other approaches to achieve rhythm and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphony euphony]. Much of modern British and American poetry is to some extent a [[critique]] of poetic [[tradition]], playing with and testing (among other [[things]]) the principle of euphony itself, to the extent that sometimes it deliberately does not rhyme or keep to set rhythms at all.

Great poems differ from others exactly because of these, since their [[words]] invoke [[thoughts]] and powerful [[feelings]] in the listener or [[reader]]. Some poets, like the Hungarian [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attila_Jozsef József Attila], wrote exceptional poems with words combined in sentences that achieve [[meaning]] greater than the [[Synergy|sum of the meanings]] of the [[words]]. Some of these became sayings in the everyday [[language]]. Across [[time]] and cultures the meanings of the words change, and make it difficult to enjoy the [[original]] [[beauty]] and [[power]] of poems.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry]

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]