Genres of
Poetry
(Literature:
An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama)
Lyric
--Originally referred to a poem sung to the music of a lyre
--By today’s definition, a short poem expressing the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker
--Often written in first person (Ex: “I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree”--“The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” William Butler Yeats), but can also describe an object or recall an experience without the speaker’s ever bringing himself or herself into it
“The Passionate Shepherd to His
Love” (1600)
Christopher
Marlowe
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.
And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed the flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals
And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;
A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;
A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me an be my love.
The shepherds’ swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.
“The Nymph’s Reply to the
Shepherd” (1600)
Sir Walter
Raleigh
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.
Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When rivers rage and rock grow cold.
And Philomel becometh dumb;
The rest complains of cares to come.
The flowers do fade and wanton fields
To wayward winter reckoning yields;
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy’s spring, but sorrow’s fall.
Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten--
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.
They belt of straw and ivy buds,
Thy coral claps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.
But could youth last and love still breed,
Had joys no date nor age nor need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.
“Song” (1935)
C. Day-Lewis
Come, live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
Of peace and plenty, bed and board,
That chance employment may afford
I’ll handle dainties on the docks
And thou shalt read of summer frocks:
At evening my the sour canals
We’ll hope to hear some madrigals.
Care on thy maiden brow shall put
A wreath of wrinkles, and thy foot
Be shod with pain: not silken dress
But toil shall tire thy loveliness.
Hunger shall make thy modest zone
And cheat fond death of all but bone--
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.
Narrative
--Relates a series of events or tells a story (Ex: Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey)
--Invites the skills of a fiction writer: the ability to draw characters, and settings briefly, to engage attention, to shape a plot.
Robert Frost
Dramatic
--Presents the voice of an imaginary character (or characters) speaking directly, without any additional narration by the author
--Dramatic poetry is often in the form of dramatic monologues--a poem written as a speech made by a character (other than the author) at some decisive moment. This speech is usually addressed by the speaker to some other character who remains silent.
Robert Browning
Didactic
--A poem written to state a message or teach a body of knowledge.
“The Fleece” (1757)
John Dyer