poetry - definitions

Poem, Poetry Definitions

It's difficult to produce a satisfactory definition of the word "poem" or the word "poetry". But here are a couple of attempts at doing that.

A "poem", conventionally defined, may be thought of as a piece of writing divided into short lines. Often some kind of pattern is used to help meld the piece of writing into a coherent whole, typically rhyme or a repeated rhythm.

A poem which has neither rhymes nor possesses a set rhythmical pattern may be called a free verse poem.

"Poetry" may be defined as writing in the form of a poem.

To venture beyond the above rather timid definitions is unlikely to produce satisfaction, and no exercise in definition can be bulletproof. That said, to think productively about "poetry" (and the word "productively" signals that the aim is to produce a definition which might be useful rather than one which might be academically flawless) it could be argued that a piece of poetry is a passage which has been produced in a synthetic language which has been modified to increase its effect.

For example, ordinary conversational language typically does not rhyme, but poetry often does. Ordinary conversational language does not typically make heavy use of alliteration (the repetition of consonants at the start of words, as in the repetition of the "l" sound in "long lank limbs loping" but poetry not infrequently does.

A poem, then, can be defined as a passage written in the language of poetry.

As for a prose poem, that can be defined as a chunk of the language of poetry which has not been divided into short lines.

Examples:-

Sample One

Methotrexate is a drug
I really wouldn't like to hug,
But now the time is on the clock
So we've no option but to rock.

Sample Two

In the limbo of methotrexate
There are no icecreams;
Melting,
The hours are endless,
Their hallucinations cuneiform.

Technical note: methotrexate is a toxic substance used in chemotherapy. While it has many side effects, as far as I know it does not cause hallucinations.

Looking above, Sample One can pass itself off as a poem, although not a good one. It's divided into short lines and the lines rhyme: "drug" ends with the same sound as "hug" and "clock" ends with the same sound as "rock".

As for Sample Two, that can be categorized as a sample of free verse. The techniques involved inlude use of the very short line "Melting", which slows the poem down after "There are no icecreams", a combination which invites the reading voice to speed. The use of this technique brings the poem to a crunching halt for a moment, which is similar to what has happened (for the moment) to the person who is receiving methotrexate, and who is in "limbo" (who is, literally, flat on his or her back in a hospital bed, going nowhere.)

To expand on the notion of poetry being "a passage which has been produced in a synthetic language which has been modified to increase its effect" it is helpful that this "synthetic language" often takes the form of imagery, imagery being language which describes things using similes or metaphors.

A simile is a statement in the form "X is like Y", or some grammatical equivalent. For example, the statement that "Peter is like a rock" is a simile. So, too, is the statement "Peter is as strong as a rock." "The waves are rising like mountains" is a simile and so, too, is the statement "The waves are as high as mountains."

By comparison, a metaphor is a statement in the form "X is Y" or some grammatical equivalent. For example, "Peter is a rock" is a metaphor. "The waves became mountains" is also a metaphor.