Meter
There are two types of poetry: formal and free verse, and meter
is only used in formal verse. “Meter” is the “Repetition of evenly spaced
series of beats in a poem” (Strand & Boland, 2000). At one time, all poetry
was metrical, as it was during the Renaissance. Today’s poetry is written in
different forms and meters, or without meter, known as “free form,” though Shakespeare
wrote his plays in what is called “blank verse.”
Three types of meters include stresses or accents, and syllables:
Accentual, Syllabic, and Accentual-Syllabic. Meters are composed of “poetic
feet,” defined as “patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables” (Strand &
Boland, 2000). Of the “poetic foot,” there are two main categories: the “Rising
Meter” and the “Falling Meter.” In “Rising Meter” poems, unstressed syllables
come first. There are two types of Rising Meters: “Iambic” and “Anapestic.” Of
the Falling Meters, the stressed syllables come first, and there are two types:
“Trochaic” and “Dactylic.”
To “scan” a poem is to identify its meter and the number of feet it
contains. The Greek word for the study of metrics is “prosody,” which is to number
how many poetic feet a poem has. To calculate feet in a line of poetry, add the
metric units. The meter of a poem is always determined by the rhythm of its
first line. Most English poems are Iambic and have five feet of Iambs known as
a pentameter. However, they can also be written in these metrics: Trochee,
Anapest, and Dactyl. There are two variations on these forms: Spondee and
Pyric.
Defining
Poetry and Poetics
It is difficult to differentiate “poetry” from “poetics,” as the two
are nearly interchangeable, as are the words “poet” and “poem.” If “poetry” is
a noun, then “poetics” is a verb. “Poetry” is a finished poem, whereas
“poetics” is the act of literary creation, the process. Simply put, poetics
attempts to explain how a poem is structured rather than interpret its meaning
(PEPP, 2012).
Classical
Poetics
There are two perspectives or philosophies of Poetics: Western poetics,
and Classical. Western refers to the West’s Literary Criticism of poetry, while
Classical theory is Greek in origin. In “Ion,” the philosopher Plato described
poetry as artistic inspiration that comes from outside of oneself. He argued
that poetry is written “in a state of divinely inspired madness” (Plato, Ion,
380 BCE). In the “Republic,” Plato stated that poetry emanates from emotion
rather than rational thought, and therefore is inferior art. Next, the Greek
philosopher Aristotle, who was Plato’s student, divided poetry into two: epics,
and tragedies, although he added a third category of comedy to his “Poetics”
(Aristotle, Poetics, 4th Century BCE).
Western
Poetics-Overview
Periods of Western history have helped to define poetry. For example,
the Romantic Era produced Medieval and Early Modern poetry, and these authors
were more concerned with teaching morals through their poems and expressing
deep feelings than with form. Western poetic Literary Criticism includes
technique, conventions, and strategies. Writing techniques have been used among
poets to varying degrees over time, such as the technique of self-disclosure.
Described as “The image of the poet within the poem, like a painter’s
self-portrait…” (PEPP, 2012), this technique creates a more intimate connection
between the reader and the poet. Free speech is another technique that has
enabled poets to contribute to the betterment of society: “The mandate to serve
as guard and witness has not lost its force.” When free speech is stifled,
dissident poets give a voice to the oppressed (PEPP, 2012).
Poetry
The term “poetry” originated in Europe and included a variety of
metrics and forms. Poetic form and utility have evolved in step with society.
During the 1800-1900s, poetry was lyrical and in short narrative form. Ballads
and folk songs were also considered poetry. In the 20th Century, “oral poetry”
became popular. Contemporarily, social activism is the foundation for poetic
criticism.
Differing definitions of poetry arose in various parts of the world.
The German philosopher Hegel defined poetry as “inner representation,” while in
the 1900s, the ideal poetry in France was musical, aesthetically pleasing, and
emotionally intense (PEPP, 2012). Yet, throughout history, poetry has been
criticized as little more than socialist propaganda.
The
Enlightenment/Renaissance
Poetic criticism sprung up during the Enlightenment that compared
poetry to other art forms. England’s Shakespeare, Italy’s Leonardo di Vinci,
and Germany’s Lessing (Laokoon, 1766) asserted that Horace’s (65-8 BCE) belief "that poetry should resemble a painting”
was incorrect. These arguments about the importance of poetry have been termed
“medium specificity.”
Romanticism
and New Criticism
In
the 1800s, poets, literary critics, and philosophers broke with Aristotle and
sided with the Expressionists. “In the West, people took to describing and
evaluating poetry based on its success or failure in eloquently and accurately
communicating a writer’s innermost thoughts, feelings, experiences, fantasies
and dreams…fidelity of moral purpose matter less than a given writer’s
intensity, sincerity, passion, and ingenuity” (PEPP, 2012). As for morality in
modern poetry, “Indecorous or lowly content and mannered or otherwise distorted
depictions of the external world are excusable as long as poets obey the
dictates of their imagination and conscience” (PEPP, 2012).
Emanual Kant and Hegel provided the philosophical argument that one’s
mind constructs the external world, what has been called "The Romantic
Doctrine." Kant explained that poetry was a work of art instead of moral
instruction. He felt that poetry should be judged on its aesthetics. Schiller
(1795) made a case for “art for art’s sake.” These perspectives gave poets
autonomy from the restraints of politics and history, allowing them to be imaginative
artisans. This philosophy has been called “The Expressive School of Poetics”
(PEPP, 2012).
Postmodernism
Early in the 20th Century, Russian poet formalists moved away from Expressionism
and emphasized a poem’s construction, function, language, and prosody. Next,
“New Criticism” in America sought to analyze these factors. As a reaction to
New Criticism, Structuralism developed after WW2 in France,
reversing this trend of attention to form. It focused on culture, and poetry’s
place within said culture as compared to similar poetic works.
Modern
Poetics and Poetry: Post-Structuralism and the New Historicists
Post-Structuralism
In the 1970s and 1980s,
Post-Structuralism was popularized by universities. Philosopher Martin
Heidegger suggested that “Art was the best vehicle for pondering how and why
the world exists” (Heidegger, 1927). Post-Structuralists opposed the ideas of
Structuralism by claiming that it was impossible to accurately describe an
ever-changing culture and its systems. Derrida was a Post-Structuralist who
focused on language and texts to interpret a work. Then there was a shift away from
linguistics and towards analyzing poetry according to social, cultural,
economic, and political systems. Finally, philosopher Foucault
presented all texts as a part of “networks of power and knowledge” (Foucault,
1975).
New
Historicists
Contemporary activism has become the foundation for new poetic
criticism. “The composition and interpretation of poetry are often related to
contemporary activist projects” (PEPP, 2012). Transnationalism in poetics looks
at how poetry “takes shape and operates transnationally across and despite
nation-state boundaries” (PEPP, 2012). Another modern approach to poetry is to
“incorporate those disciplines of linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, and
philosophy of mind” (PEPP, 2012). This approach has been labeled “Cognitive
Poetics” and seeks to understand how cognition informs poetic structure and
response.
Public universities and the internet have profoundly revolutionized the definition and scope of poetics. Poets can find a platform for their work at university-sponsored “poetry readings” and at local coffee shop open mics. They can display their work online, and give and receive critique via internet poetry groups, and contests. Anyone can self-publish and sell their poetry if they are willing to navigate sites such as Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. Poetics is no longer for the university-educated only. It is no longer a local phenomenon, and it has more than a national reach. Modern poetics is a worldwide pastime and a beloved online hobby for millions. For talented poets, it can be a path to literary fame, though as ever, it seldom brings with it fortune. As a result, career poets are a dying breed.
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. M. Foucault,
1975.
Ion. Plato. 380 BCE.
Laokoon. G. E. Lessing, 1766.
Odes, Satires, Epistles. Q. H. F. (Horace),
65–8 BCE.
On naive and sentimental poetry. F. von Schiller, 1795.
The Making of a Poem: A
Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. Strand, M., E. Boland.
W.W.
Norton & Company, New York, 2000.
The Princeton
Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics. Greene, Roland, et al., 4th
edition.
Princeton
University Press, 2012.
The Princeton
Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, 4th Edition
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