History
of Poetry
Poetry, from the Greek poesis meaning 'making' or
'creating', has a long history. As an art, poetry may out date literacy itself.
In prehistoric and ancient societies poetry was used as a way to record
cultural events or tell stories. Poetry is
among the earliest records of most cultures with poetic fragments found on
monoliths, rune stones, and stelae.
The telling of stories about history have been used up until
the 20th century, and in some cases, it is still in use today. During the
Middle Ages, Ballads were a common way of doing just this, and it was also a
way to pass along news
throughout the kingdoms. Today, Ballads are not used in the same way.
However, Odes, for example, have been and will always be a way to tell stories
about histories greatest feats.
The oldest surviving poem is the "Epic of Gilgamesh".
The poem, based on the history of King Gilgamesh, was written around 3000 BC in
Sumer, Mesopotamia in cuneiform script on clay tablets.
Ancient societies such as the Chinese Shi Jing developed canons
of poetic works to ritual, as well as aesthetic, importance. Recently,
intellectuals have struggled to find a definition that covers the entire poetic
compass from the differences of haiku to
Shakespearean to slam poetry. Tatakiewicz, a Polish historian of
aesthetics, wrote in The Concept of Poetry "poetry expresses a certain
state of mind." This view point has been growing in popularity every year.
Today, even media that doesn't involve words has been called poetry; for
example, paintings and classical music.
Aristotle's Poetics describes three genres of poetry: epic,
comic and tragic. Aristotle's work was highly influential throughout the Middle
East during the Islamic Golden Age, then through Europe during the Renaissance.
Later, aestheticians described poetry to have three major genres: epic, lyric
and dramatic, with dramatic holding the subcategories tragic and comedy. During
early modern Western tradition, poets and aestheticians sought to distinguish
poetry from prose by using the understanding that prose was written in a linear
narrative form and used logical explication, while poetry was more abstract
and beautiful.
Modern theorists rely less on opposing prose and poetry as
to focusing on the poet as an artist. Intellectual disputes over the definition
of poetry had erupted throughout the 20th century resulting in rejection of
traditional forms and structures of poetry, coinciding with questioning of traditional
definitions of poetry and its distinction between prose. More recently,
post-modernists began to embrace the role of the reader and highlight the
concept of poetry; incorporating its form from other cultures and the past.
Last update: Thu, 01/25/2018 - 06:09
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