Wstęp do literaturoznawstwa 2 część1

POETRY

The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim. It is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes. W. Somerset Maugham

POETRY

POETRY: any type of literature that employs some principle of METER. Relies on sound and imagery.

POETRY LYRIC

eclogue  reverdie  ode  hymn  sonnet elegy  haiku  limerick  free verse

POETRY NARRATIVE

epic poem  mock-epic poem  saga  ballad  lay  fable

POETRY DRAMATIC

dramatic monologue  soliloquy  character sketch  closet drama

LYRIC POETRY

originally designed to be sung to music (a lyre)  usually short, of unified mood (e.g., melancholy, pastoral)  employs repetitions, mellifluous syntax  written in the first person (‘I’)  gives vivid images of Nature, rather than constructions

LYRIC POETRY

 expresses powerful feelings of joy or sorrow, gives space for contemplation, reflection

LYRIC POETRY

conveys the vision of life as „ as a sequence of intensely felt moments, rather than a structure of interrelated and assessed experiences” (The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms)  British poetry tends to be lyrical  kinds of lyric poetry: eclogue,

ECLOGUE

a short pastoral poem; synonymous with the terms ‘bucolic’ and ‘idyll’ Presents idealized Nature and shepherds as characters E.g., Edmund Spenser The Shepherd’s Calendar

The Shepheardes Calender, series of poems by Edmund Spenser, published in 1579 and considered to mark the beginning of the English Renaissance in literature.

Following the example of Virgil and others, Spenser began his career with a group of eclogues (short poems usually cast as pastoral dialogues),

in which various characters,

in the guise of innocent and simple shepherds, discuss life and love, formulating weighty—and often satirical—opinions on questions of the day

The Calender consists of 12 eclogues, one for each month

employing a variety of metres and including archaic vocabulary Spenser borrowed from earlier poetry (particularly that of Geoffrey Chaucer).

The first and last of the eclogues, each presenting a “complaint” by the shepherd boy Colin Clout (Spenser), frame the remaining 10 rustic dialogues.

The latter deploy the full complement of pastoral poetic conventions, including the singing contest, the encomium (a panegyric to Elisa [Elizabeth I]), the hymn to Pan, and the dirge.

LYRIC POETRY

ECLOGUE

REVERDIE

REVERDIE A short lyric glorifying spring E.g., Cuckoo

ODE

ODE a lyric poem of some length and elevated style on a serious subject

Pindaric ode

Pindaric ode=passionate, visionary, complex stanzas; e.g. Ben Jonson Ode to Sir Lucius Cary and Sir Henry Morrison

Horatian ode

Horatian ode=meditative, colloquial, in a single stanzaic form; e.g., John Keats Ode on a Grecian Urn

Irregular ode

Irregular ode; e.g. William Wordsworth Ode: Intimations of Immortality

HYMN

HYMN Greek hymnos: a 'song of praise', honouring gods or heroes In Christian tradition: songs of worship Structurally resemble ballads, simple e.g., William Cowper and John Newton Olney Hymns

SONNET

SONNET ELEGY 14 lines, in the 9th line contains a volta (a turn, a twist); an elegant form, calling for discipline Deals with courtly love, presents idealized lover

SONNET Kinds:

Petrarchan: the octave (the first eight lines), with an a-b-b-a a-b-b-a rhyme scheme, and the sestet (the final six lines), rhyming either c-d-e c-d-e or c-d-c c-d-c Spenserian: three quatrains a-b-a-b b-c-b-c-c-d-c-d and a final couplet e-e

Shakespearean: SONNET

Shakespearean: three quatrains a-b-a-b c-d-c-d e-f-e-f and a final couplet g-g

ELEGY

ELEGY A poem meditating on the death of an individual or on the fact of mortality in general E.g., Thomas Gray Elegy Written in the Country Churchyard

HAIKU

HAIKU A type of Japanese poetry that captures the impression of a single object or aspect of nature Consists of 17 syllables, arranged in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables e.g., Bashō’s haiku

e.g., Bashō’s haiku

The old pond; A frog jumps in — The sound of the water. Translated by R.H. Blyth

FREE VERSE

Lines of poetry written without a regular meter and usually without rhyme e.g. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

When I Read the Book, Walt Whitman

When I read the book, the biography famous, And is this then (said I) what the author calls a man's life? And so will some one when I am dead and gone write my life? (As if any man really knew aught of my life,

LIMERICK

A form of light verse consisting of five anapestic lines rhyming a-a-b-b-a E.g., Edward Lear’s limericks

W. H. Auden

T. S. Eliot is quite at a loss When clubwomen bustle across At literary teas Crying, “What, if you please, Did you mean by The Mill On the Floss?”

NARRATIVE POETRY

 the oldest type of poetry  tells a story, usually lenghty  undertakes historical, legendary or mythical themes; has a partially informative character

kinds of NARRATIVE POETRY

Epic mock-epic Saga Ballad Lay Fable

EPIC POETRY

tells a story (e.g. Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey, Virgil’s Aeneid, Epic of Gilgamesh, Kalevala, Tale of Genji)  features an epic hero: noble-born, leader, warrior, courageous, daring, physically strong

EPIC POETRY

the characters are subjet to fate, they are parts of a greater scheme  encompasses great scope of events, personages, settings, etc.  strives for objectivity  concentrates on actions, not emotions

EPIC POETRY

extolls heroic values: strength, prowess, valour in battle  rests on the images of sublimity and grandeur  its voice is simple and authoritative  presents the overview of the society in its historical context

MOCK-EPIC POETRY

a form that employs the “high style” associated with epic poetry in order to satirize a trivial subject flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries e.g. The Rape of the Lock (Alexander Pope), Baratrachomyomachia

SAGA

a medieval Scandinavian or Icelandic narrative poem depicting the adventures of legendary figures; e.g. Nibelung Saga Three kinds: family saga, kings’ saga, heroic saga Written in laconic, objective style

SAGA

Themes: growth of social stability, the role of powerful human emotions

BALLAD

Originally accompanying dancing; written in short stanzas, in the form of dialogue, a lot of repetitions, refrains Deals with romantic passions, unhappy love affairs, political/military subjects e.g., Robin Hood ballads

LAY

a short lyric or narrative poem intended to be sung; called also lai; we talk especially about Breton lays usually dealing with matters of history or romantic adventure, which were sung by minstrels; contains supernatural elements

LAY

usually dealing with matters of history or romantic adventure, which were sung by minstrels; contains supernatural elements (e.g. the land of fairies) e.g., The Lais de Marie de France („Chevrefoil”)

FABLE

A short narrative in verse in which the action of the characters, usually animals (a beast fable), conveys a moral lesson e.g., de La Fontaine’s fables, Krasicki’s fables

DRAMATIC POETRY

 written in the form of a dialogue or a monologue, with the speakers clearly marked  places focus on the character development

DRAMATIC POETRY  forms:

dramatic monologue: / soliloquy:/ character sketch:/ closet drama:

 dramatic monologue: a speech made by the character at the critical moment; implies the presence of the listener; indirectly presents the features of the speaker; focuses on the character; e.g. My Last Duchess, Robert Browning

soliloquy: no one present to listen to the monologue; the character openly reveals his traits, thoughts, ambitions, etc.; comments on the plot; e.g. To Be or Not To Be, William Shakespeare

character sketch: the poet-observer comments on the character rather than the story; involves the elements of suspense, tension; e.g. General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer

closet drama: a play designed to be read either silently or in a group, not performed; e.g. Manfred, Lord Byron

“A man of genius can hardly be sociable, for what dialogues could indeed be so intelligent and entertaining as his own monologues?”

Schopenhauer