INTRODUCTION:
This article will provide you with a detailed study of the major forms or types of poetry, with a special emphasis on their distinguishing features. It is essential that you can identify the type of poem you are dealing with at any given time.
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this article, you should be able to:
1. Recognize and explain the different forms of poetry.
2. Describe in detail each type of poetry.
3. Distinguish between the different forms of poetry based on their individual characteristics.
4. Determine and rationalize the type of poem you may need to appreciate in a professional manner.
MAIN CONTENT:
In contemporary times, discussing various types of poetry has become commonplace. It is crucial to note that these types evolved during different periods in the extensive history of written English poetry. Early communal forms, such as the epic and the ballad, have been supplemented by other forms, often rooted in these earlier types but predominantly belonging to the lyrical stock. The latter is focused on expressing intense personal emotions or feelings of the poet regarding a specific subject. These major forms, also known as "fixed forms" in poetry, adhere to traditional patterns or structures of rhymes and line lengths that govern the entire poem. Among these traditional patterns, the sonnet holds particular importance.
The major forms or types we will explore in this article include the epic, the ballad, the ode, the sonnet, the elegy, and the lyric.
The Epic:
The epic is a poem composed on a grand scale, usually spanning many separate books or volumes. It focuses on the exploits of a great national, historical, or legendary character or hero. In essence, an epic celebrates the feats of one or more heroic characters in the form of a continuous narrative, often related to history or tradition. Typically, the epic addresses a lofty theme, and its characters are usually of high social standing or possess significant power. As expected, the narrative of an epic presents actions that intimate and comment on the values and destiny of a particular people or race, despite its episodic nature.
There are two major types of the epic: the primary (folk) and the secondary (art) epics. A primary epic draws mainly from the oral tradition of a people, hence the label "folk," while the secondary epic is a modified and reorganized version by identifiable or known authors. The latter, due to its basis and nature, is written with literary sophistication by poets who imitate the primary epic in both subject and manner.
Characteristics of an Epic:
Whether folk or art, epics share common general characteristics and conventions:
1. The poet begins by stating the theme and invokes the Muse for inspiration and guidance.
2. The story starts "in medias res," in the middle of things, and objectively recounts the great deeds of heroes.
3. Actions involving supernatural forces are unified and integral.
4. The story is extensive, spanning a long period and covering multiple nations, the poet's contemporary world, or an imagined universe.
5. The hero, of legendary significance, performs superhuman actions symbolizing the aspirations and destiny of their nation or race.
6. The narrative style alternates between grand simplicity and sublime or sustained elevation.
7. Elaborate formal speeches by main characters are included.
8. Constituent episodes easily arise from the main story, making detachment without loss to the whole impossible.
9. Epic poetry features a long list of warriors, armies, and war machines, employing epic similes or extended comparisons.
Well-known examples of the epic in English literature include:
- Traditional/folk/primary: Homer's Iliad, Odyssey; Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; Indian Mahabharata; French Chanson de Roland; and Spanish El Cid.
- Art/Literary/Secondary: Virgil's Aeneid; Milton's Paradise Lost.
The term "epic" is loosely applied to other works, both poetry and prose, written on a grand scale, attempting to capture the spirit of the epic in subject and style. Examples include Dante's Divine Comedy, Spenser's Faerie Queene, Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, Ezra Pound's Cantos, and Niane's Sundiata.
Ballad:
The ballad, among the earliest poetry forms, is a song that narrates a story or conversely, a story told through song. It is a short narrative poem adapted for singing, with a simple plot and metrical structure. Divided into stanzas of four lines (quatrains) rhyming alternately, the ballad is characterized by complete impersonality from the perspective of the author or singer.
Similar to the epic, there are two main types of ballads: the folk ballad (popular or traditional) and the art or literary ballad. These terms denote the origins and nature of this poetry type, echoing distinctions seen in the epic genre. A folk ballad is anonymous, but it can be inferred that a poet exists since poems are typically composed by individuals. According to Hugh Holman, "debate still rages as to whether the ballad originates with an individual composer or as a group or communal activity" (52). Whether composed individually or collaboratively, the personal emotions of the poet don't manifest in the work. The first person singular (I) is absent, and if it appears, it is within the context of speech by identifiable characters in the poem. Studying the folk ballad means delving into the poetry of traditional people, distinct from the poetry of art, as seen in the art ballad, where the writer, known and possibly modifying folk materials, is identified. Oral transmission serves as the medium for spreading the song of the folk ballad.
Various sub-categories of the ballad exist, including ballads of history, love, humor, domestic tragedy, domestic border, and those derived from epic materials.
Features of the Ballad:
To effectively identify, describe, and critique the ballad as a form of poetry, consider the following characteristic features:
1. Impersonality and lack of sentimentality.
2. Anonymity of authorship and the consequent absence of authorial comments.
3. Simple repetition.
4. Incremental repetition, intended to slow down action, add suspense, and emphasize points in dialogue.
5. Focus on a single episode.
6. Use of dialogue to make the story's action dramatic, compressing and removing unnecessary descriptions and details.
7. Absence or minimal use of figures of speech.
8. Use of refrains, contributing to musicality and performing the functions of repetition mentioned in #4.
9. Stereotype or stock epithets and concrete diction.
10. Quatrain stanzas.
As a general rule, the ballad typically employs a common measure of a four-line stanza rhyming abab, abcb, or xaxa. Note that in this rhyming pattern, the first and third lines may rhyme (represented as 'a' in abab), while the second and fourth lines (represented as 'b') must rhyme. In some ballads, the first and third lines may not rhyme (as in abcb and xaxa, where 'x' represents 'no rhyme'), but this deviation does not disqualify such lines as ballad stanzas.
Notable Examples of Folk Ballad and Art Ballad:
Folk/Popular/Traditional Ballad:
- "Sir Patrick Spens"
- "The Wife at Usher's Well"
- "The Daemon Lover"
- "Edward"
- "The Three Ravens"
- "Lord Randal"
- "The Twa Corbies"
Extracts:
(1) Edward
"Why does your brand sae drop wi' blude,
Edward, Edward?
Why does your brand sae drop wi' blude,
And why sae sad gang ye, O?"
"O I hae kill'd my hawk sae gude,
Mither, Mither;
O I hae kill'd my hawk sae gude,
And I had nae mair but he, O."
(Reeves 4-6)
(2) Sir Patrick Spens
The king sits in Dunfermline town
Drinking the blude-red wine,
"O whare will I get a skeely skipper
To sail this new ship o' mine?"
O up and spak an eldern knight,
Sat at the king's right knee;
"Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor
That ever sailed the sea."
(Reeves 7-10)
Art/Literary Ballad:
- Extracts from literary ballads could be provided based on specific selections or preferences.
Art/Literary Ballad Examples:
- Scott's "Proud Maisie"
- John Keats's "La Belle Dame sans Merci"
- Samuel T. Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
- Robert Burns's "A Red, Red Rose" and "Anna"
Gerard Manley Hopkins's "Felix Randal"
(1) A Red, Red Rose
O my love is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
O my love is like the melody,
That's sweetly played in tune.
As fair thou art, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.
(Reeves 60)
(2) La Belle Dame sans Merci
"What can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
'O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel's granary is full,
And the harvest's done."
(Reeves 212-214)
CONCLUSION:
In this article, we explored two specific types of poetry: the Epic and the Ballad. We delved into the distinct features and characteristics that define each, providing particular examples to enhance our understanding.
SUMMARY:
In summary, the epic is characterized by its grandiosity and length, while the ballad, in contrast, is short and relatable, making it a familiar form of poetry for the average person. Each type of poem possesses its unique strength and beauty.
REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Holman, Hugh, ed. (1972). A Handbook of Literature. Indianapolis:
Bobbs-Merrill.
Reeves, James, ed. (1972). The Poet’s World: An Anthology of English Poetry.
London: Heinemann.
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