THE NATURE OF POETRY AS LITRATURE

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 INTRODUCTION

Literature is the art that imitates life in words, aiming to entertain and edify. There has long been a debate about whether literature resides in the subject matter, the object it concerns, or its manner and style of expression. While these arguments validly position literature among various written forms, its defining characteristics precisely distinguish it. In this context, literature is most accurately viewed as the body of work (written or oral) in which a person's experiences are artistically presented. The literary cosmos is marked by qualities such as imagination, creativity, and suggestiveness, notably evident in poetry, our focus in this course, being the oldest of major literary genres.

 OBJECTIVES

By the end of this article, you should be able to:

- Define and identify the essentials of literature.

- Understand and recognize the formal markers of literature.

- Differentiate literature from other forms of writing.

- Discuss the features of literature that contribute to its universality.

What is Literature?

Literature is written expression wherein ideas of enduring and universal values or interests are conveyed through deliberately embellished language. The purpose is twofold: to please both sensually and intellectually and to teach indirectly. This definition provides a clear understanding of literature as both content (what is said) and medium (how content is expressed). Compare this to Ezra Pound's definition: "Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree" (28).

The debate on the nature of literature revolves around whether it should be judged by the subject or content of a work or by the style of its expression. We leave this question for now, as you will form your own opinion while understanding the workings of literature and defend it with facts or illustrations.

However, some crucial aspects readers need to know about literature are its constitutive elements or characteristics, namely: imagination, creativity, suggestion, or indirection.

Imagination

Literature fundamentally thrives on imaginative constructs, serving as a composition form heavily reliant on the mental journeys of the composer or writer. This process transcends the given realities, delving into a realm of fantasy or the mind. Consequently, literary artists are not constrained by ordinary daily experiences, exemplified when a storyteller transports their audience to improbable and indeterminable lands and times born from imagination. Writers have guided readers through realms of giants, one-eyed monsters, flying humans, speaking animals, and enchanted forests—all products of their creative minds. Some have depicted environments resembling heaven or hell, aiming to illustrate the extremes of bliss/desire and repugnance/suffering. For instance, in Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis," readers encounter the unforgettable image of a young insurance executive transformed into a cockroach. All these extraordinary events and characters originate from the realm of literary invention and imagination. Imagination also manifests in the literary artist's portrayal of events and experiences from their social environment, infused with imagined aspects or qualities that elevate them beyond the ordinary.

The Imagination of the Literary Artist

The literary artist's imagination is evident in their use of language to express experiences, whether real or imagined. A skilled artist consistently discovers or envisions fresh ways to articulate ordinary experiences, elevating them to an extraordinary level. For instance, in the seemingly simple yet extraordinary expression, "He watches from his mountain walls/And like a thunderbolt, he falls," Victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson draws a parallel between the speed of a thunderbolt and that of an eagle descending to catch its prey. The poet's imagination creates this scene, stimulating a similar response in the reader's imagination. This collaborative process, as aptly described by James Reeves, highlights that "most good poetry demands study and interpretation; it costs its maker much effort of thought, imagination, and feeling, and it is worthy of corresponding efforts by its readers" (xxi).

Aristotle's comparison of history and poetry is instructive in discussing literary imagination. He contends that poetry (the poet) surpasses history (the historian) because the former is philosophical, expressing the probable, while the latter is factual, relying on what has been.

Creativity

The distinction between creativity, the foundation of literature, and the previously discussed imagination is subtle. Both are essential qualities and products of the artist; it is the skilled artist who envisions the optimal forms for their subject and style. Likewise, the artist creates a fictive world where imagination interacts with symbols to shape their work. In essence, these two qualities overlap, providing a comprehensive understanding of the true nature of literature. At the moment of creation, the literary artist, as described by Andrew Lang, is "a born visionary and mystic, beholding things unapparent, believing in experiences that were never actual" (Blakeney, xv, quoted by Brooke). For instance, British poets like William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and W.B. Yeats, who asserted that some of their major works were conveyed through supernatural mediums, exemplify this mold. Some of their poems originated from historical and legendary materials, infused with an extraordinary poetic touch. This creative faculty bestowed upon English literature notable works like Blake's "Jerusalem" and "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell," Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan," and Yeats' poems incorporating the occult and mythology of Irish folklore.

Suggestion/Indirection

The quality of suggestiveness distinguishes literature more distinctly from other forms of writing. While other types of writing may claim imagination and creativity, they lack the exclusive domain of literary language characterized by indirection or suggestiveness. Factual writings in sciences, history, geography, and the like cannot afford the purely suggestive nature inherent in literature, especially poetry. Respected literary critics like William Empson advocate for a certain level of ambiguity in a work deserving the label of literature. Empson, discussing the seven types of ambiguity, emphasizes the virtue of indirection in literary language. French Symbolist poet Mallarmé similarly asserts that direct naming destroys the essence of an object, stating, "poetry lies in the contemplation of things in the image emanating from the reveries which things arouse in us.... To name an object is largely to destroy poetic enjoyment, which comes from gradual divination. The ideal is to suggest the object" (quoted in Adams 1961, p. 168).

The Effect of Suggestion

Suggestion's impact is realized through figurative language in poetry and generally through language with multiple meanings. According to I. A. Richards and Cleanth Brooks, indirection or suggestiveness is best achieved through the use of irony and paradox. Brooks, in "The Well-Wrought Urn," asserts that "paradox is the language that is appropriate and inevitable to poetry. It is the scientist whose truth requires a language purged of every trace of paradox; apparently, the truth which the poet utters can be approached only in terms of paradox" (3).

At its simplest, suggestiveness or indirection is achieved when a writer deliberately refrains from naming an object, instead using words and expressions that imply the object. The following provides an excellent example of a poet's description of an object by indirection: 

I like to see it lap the miles

And lick the valleys up,

And stop to feed itself at tanks

And then prodigious step

Around a pile of mountains,

And supercilious peer

In shanties by the sides of the roads,

And then a quarry pare

To fit its sides

And crawl between

Complaining all the while

In horrid, hooting stanzas

He then chase itself downhill

And neigh like Boanergesf

Then prompter than a star,

Stop, docile and omnipotent,

At its own stable door.

__Emily Dickinson

Forms or Genres of Literature

Literature encompasses major types or forms, reducible to four primary genres: poetry, drama, novel or prose fiction, and non-fiction prose, commonly known as the essay. Unlike thematic focus, these literary types are strictly categorized based on their stylistic features, even though they may share common themes. Therefore, the most effective approach to studying or understanding these major forms is by recognizing their defining characteristics, which include:

Poetry

Poetry, the oldest of the three major literary forms, traces its roots deep into the rituals and religious observances of antiquity. Initially oral and performance-driven, poetry served as a tool for supplication, communal tribal celebration, reverence for the supernatural, and appreciation of nature's gifts. From these early origins emerged personal and impersonal forms, represented by the lyric on one hand and the traditional epic and ballad on the other. As we will delve into poetry in more detail in subsequent sections of this course material, let's briefly outline its defining characteristics:

• Imagery: Sensory language used in poetry, appealing to or affecting the senses of the reader or audience.
• Sound: The auditory aspect inherent in poetry, emphasizing its original form as a song, retained in many short lyrics today.
• Rhythm: The wave-like movement discernible in poetry, contributing, along with sound, to its musical quality.
• Diction: The special choice or selection of words utilized by the poet in their work.

Drama

The second of the three major literary genres studied in this course, drama, like poetry, originated in ritual, song, and dance. Therefore, a comprehensive definition of drama incorporates these defining strands:

Drama is a story told through action by actors who impersonate the characters of the story. It is a work of literature designed for presentation on a stage in a theatre, where individuals impersonate or imitate characters, delivering prescribed dialogues and actions. For drama to exist, there must be characters imitating or impersonating speeches and actions on a stage in a theatre. The defining characteristics or elements of this form include:

• Action: The events or occurrences within the story, conveyed through performance.
• Plot: The structured arrangement of events in the narrative.
• Dialogue: The spoken interactions between characters, a crucial element for character development and story progression.
• Character (isation): The portrayal and development of individuals within the narrative.
• Setting: The time and place in which the events of the drama unfold.

Novel/Prose Fiction

The novel is an extended fictitious prose narrative involving human beings or humanized non-humans in actions over a period of time. It presents various human characters engaged in relationships in situations that simulate life. Essentially, the novel is a make-believe account of the sequence of lives of human beings. Although it gained recognition as a widely practiced form of literature later than the other two major genres, its antecedents were already present in the oral modes and poetic narratives of past eras.

Despite being relatively newer compared to poetry and drama, the novel has rapidly evolved to become the most popular and widely read of the three. It successfully accommodates subcategories such as science fiction, fantasy, and utopia. The unifying elements or defining features shared by these subcategories include:

• Story: The narrative of events or experiences.
• Plot: The structured arrangement of events in the narrative.
• Setting: The time and place in which the events of the novel occur.
• Characterization: The portrayal and development of individuals within the narrative.

Functions/Uses of Literature

As mentioned earlier, literature serves important purposes in human society, with two major functions being entertainment/pleasure and the teaching of values. Critics often assert that literature goes beyond these roles and serves as the conscience of society. The writer is viewed as a sensitive moral compass, consistently admonishing wayward humanity and guiding them toward the right path to ensure social harmony and health. P. B. Shelley, the Romantic poet, goes so far as to consider poetry (and literature in general) as the unacknowledged legislator of the world.

While these perspectives on literature's role in society may be subject to debate, there is no doubt that literature entertains and edifies by creating beauty and expressing thoughts and emotions.

CONCLUSION

This article has laid the groundwork for understanding literature as an art form, delving into essential concepts that will serve as a valuable reference as you explore various literary forms, with a specific focus on poetry.

 SUMMARY

Throughout this article, you have gained insights into:

1. The concept of literature as an imaginative and creative construct that communicates its thoughts through suggestion/indirection.

2. The major forms or genres of literature and their stylistic markers, encompassing imagery, sound, rhythm, and diction in poetry; action, dialogue, plot, character(ization), and setting in drama; and story, plot, setting, and characterization in the novel.

3. The primary functions of literature in society, namely pleasure and instruction.

REFERENCES/FURTHER READING

Abrams, Meyer H. (1971). A Glossary of Literary Terms. New York: Holt, Rinehart

and Winston.

Adams, Hazard (1961). The Contexts of Poetry. New York: Harcourt.

Aristotle. ―On the Art of Poetry‖. Classical Literary Criticism. Edited T.S.

Dorsch. Harmondsworth: Penguin Classics.

Blakeney, Edward H., ed. (1926). Selections from Shelley. English Literature Series.

No. 92. London: Macmillan.

Brooke, Stopford (1926). Introduction.  E.H. Blakeney. Selection from Shelley.

Brooks, Cleanth (1975). The Well Wrought Urn: Studies in the Structure of

Poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.

Heese, Marie and Robin Lawton (1988). The New Owl Critic: An Introduction to

Literary Criticism. Cape Town: Nasou.

Holman, C. Hugh (1972). A Handbook to Literature. Indianapolis: Bobbs-

Merrill.

Pound, Ezra. (1951). The ABC of Reading. London: Faber and Faber.

Reeves, James, ed. (1972). The Poets’ World. An Anthology of English Poetry.

London: Heinemann.