Popular Definitions of Poetry & Poetic devices

 

Definitions of Poetry

 “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” -Robert Frost

“Poetry is a Rhythmical Creation of Beauty”. Edgar Allan Poe

 

poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity – Wordsworth

“Poetry is at bottom a criticism of life- Matthew Arnold

“Poetry is all that is worth remembering in life.” William Hazlitt

 

  Poetry = the best words in the best order - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

Poetic devices 

Imagery

Imagery refers to the use of a series of images to convey a feeling or idea. The image of a lone cloud floating over a valley can be used to express the loneliness of the writer. 

 

E.g. I wandered lonely as a cloud

The line is from Wordsworth's poem

 

Metaphor

Metaphors are comparisons in which the two things are equated to each other. 

 

E.g. He was a lion on the battlefield.

Here the man and the lion are equated. Words like “as” and “like” are not used. Metaphors can be considered as symbols also. For example, a ‘red rose’ is considered as the symbol of love. 

 

 

Simile

Simile is a form of comparison in which one thing is compared to another by using words like as, like etc. E.g. He was like a lion on the battlefield. 

 

When we compare one thing to another the qualities of one thing is ascribed to the other. For example, when we compare love to a rose, the beauty and fragrance of the rose is ascribed to love.

E.g. from poetry -

Oh my love's like a red, red rose..

Oh my love's like a melodie

 

Personification

When we attribute human qualities to something non-human or consider a non-human entity as a human, it is known as personification.

 e.g. rain drops are drumming on the glass

 

“Because I could not stop for Death -

He kindly stopped for me” Emily Dickinson.

 

 

Hyperbole

Hyperbole is a kind of exaggerated comparison. In order to express the intensity of an emotion extremely, a writer compares his emotion to something which is bigger than it. For example, a writer may compare a tear to a flood to convey the intensity of the sorrow. Hyperbole can be considered as an amplified simile or metaphor. 

 

E.g. * Bright like a sun

       * He's running faster than the wind.

       * My dad will kill me when he comes home.

       * An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes