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Praising Points of Poetry by Susan Thurman

People have enjoyed poetry for thousands of years. The Epic of Gilgamesh, written in Samaria about 2000 B.C.E., is the oldest surviving poetry. Poetry in English has a far shorter history. It was first written down during the Anglo-Saxon period (the mid-400s C.E. to 1066) but probably predates that in the form of oral tradition.

<tgroup cols="2" align="center"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><B>ballad</B></p></td> <td><p>a poem that tells a story and usually has a repeated refrain</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>caesura</B></p></td> <td><p>a pause or break in a line of poetry</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>couplet</B></p></td> <td><p>two consecutive rhyming lines</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>epic</B></p></td> <td><p>an extended narrative poem, written in lofty language, celebrating a hero's feats</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>elegy</B></p></td> <td><p>poetry that mourns someone or something</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>eye rhyme</B></p></td> <td><p>words that are spelled as if they should rhyme (e.g., <emphasis>though</emphasis> and <emphasis>tough</emphasis>)</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>feminine rhyme</B></p></td> <td><p>rhyme that matches at least two syllables at the end of the lines (e.g., <emphasis>hand painted</emphasis> and <emphasis>acquainted</emphasis>)</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>free verse</B></p></td> <td><p>poetry with neither a regular rhythmic pattern nor a regular rhyme scheme</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>haiku</B></p></td> <td><p>an unrhymed seventeen-syllable poem of Japanese origin, usually consisting of three lines</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>internal rhyme</B></p></td> <td><p>rhyme within a line of poetry</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>limerick</B></p></td> <td><p>a witty (and often bawdy) poem of five anapestic lines and an <emphasis>aabba</emphasis> rhyme scheme</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>masculine rhyme</B></p></td> <td><p>a rhyme of single syllables at the end of words</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>ode</B></p></td> <td><p>a lengthy lyric poem having a serious nature and expressing a lofty idea</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>rhyme scheme</B></p></td> <td><p>the pattern of rhyme in a poem</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>scanning (scansion)</B></p></td> <td><p>establishing the type of foot used in a poem as well as the sequence of different feet</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>sonnet</B></p></td> <td><p>a fourteen-line poem, usually written in iambic pentameter, with a particular rhyme scheme</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><B>stanza</B></p></td> <td><p>two or more lines of a poem, grouped together for length, metrical form, rhyme scheme, or meaning</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>Here's something that may be a surprise to you: poetry doesn't have to rhyme. A line of a poem can have one word or many, can have a particular beat or none at all, can rhyme within itself or with another line or not at all. The looks, the moods, the messages of poems — all are as numerous as their creators.</p> <p>So what makes a group of words a poem? That question has been debated for thousands of years. An exact definition of poetry is difficult; suffice it to say that poetry comes from any creative expression shown through sound, language choice, and emotion. In the words of Robert Frost, a complete poem is one in which “emotion has found its thought and the thought has found the words.”</p> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/literary-terms-you-need-to-know/in-praise-of-prose.htm" title="In Praise of Prose">In Praise of Prose</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/literary-terms-you-need-to-know/poetry-the-beat-and-the-feet.htm" title="Poetry — The Beat and the Feet">Poetry — The Beat and the Feet</a> </li></ul></div></div> <div id="coda"> <div id="rel"><div class="n5">Related Articles</div><ul> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/literary-terms-you-need-to-know/praising-points-of-poetry.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Praising Points of Poetry - Grammar and Style </a></li> <li><a href="http://homeschooling.about.com/library/blreadact4.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Poetry in Motion - Helping your child learn to read </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/songwriting/elements-of-a-lyric/writing-rhymes.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Writing Rhymes - Songwriting </a></li> <li><a href="http://poetry.about.com/cs/textarchives/a/poetrybyheart_2.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Step-by-Step By Heart </a></li> <li><a href="http://poetry.about.com/cs/textarchives/ht/howmemorizepoem.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> How To Memorize a Poem — To Memorize Poetry, Step-by-Step You Le... </a></li> </ul></div> <div id="sec"><div class="n5">Read More Literary Terms You Need to Know</div><ul><ul class="col1"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/literary-terms-you-need-to-know/echoing-your-english-teachers-the-basics.htm">Echoing Your English Teachers: The Basics</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/literary-terms-you-need-to-know/beyond-the-basics.htm">Beyond the Basics</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/literary-terms-you-need-to-know/in-praise-of-prose.htm">In Praise of Prose</a></li> <li class="btO">Praising Points of Poetry</li> </ul><ul class="col2"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/literary-terms-you-need-to-know/poetry-the-beat-and-the-feet.htm">Poetry — The Beat and the Feet</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/literary-terms-you-need-to-know/oh-the-drama-of-it-all.htm">Oh! 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