Why teaching poetry is so important

Why teaching poetry is so important




Beauty as it is often said cannot be bound by words. But the fact of the truth remains that beauty can easily be uncaptured in words. ''The term poetry'' is derived from the Greek word''creator ''that can be defined as;


''Any metrical writing or composition is called poetry.''



Poetry is the oldest genre of English literature. Infect, it is the beauty of literature by appealing to the aesthetic sense, the poem leaves the readers in a state of long-lasting bliss. Poems create beauty through rhythm, sounds, and thoughts. ''William Wordsworth ''calls poetry as;


''The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings and emotions recollected in tranquility.''



As ''S.T Coleridge'' has very beautifully defined poetry as;


''Best words in best orders.''



Poetry is also to some extent an evaluate term. The fundamental aim of teaching poetry is to give the learners chance to express their emotions and enjoy them. As Robert frost once said;


''Poetry begins in delight and ends in wisdom.''


Importance of poetry in English literature:


Poetry is the most important genre of English literature because it shoes different shades of human beings. It is a great product of human imagination. It expresses human feelings and emotions such as friendship, love, death, and other emotions. In literature, poetry has great power to influence this word. It dominates other forms of literature such as novel drama and short stories. It has become an important subject for all classes. The real reason is that poetry can encourage the emotion of students and their power of imagination. In the history of literature, poetry has a special place rather than other forms.

purposes of poetry in literature:



There are many purposes of poetry in English literature but the most important among them are as follows;

• It is important because it builds your brain. The power of the metaphor, simile, parallel and figurative language is a good way to put things into perspective.
• Another purpose of poetry is that it is therapeutic. It is something we can show off or keep either entertain ourselves, work on, or indulge in enjoyable recollection of past events
• The third purpose of poetry is versatility. Once you can start writing poetry, there is nothing you cannot do with it. it is an alternative form of communication.
• The fourth purpose of poetry is that it encourages deeper intrapersonal relationships. As you write, your ideas bloom, your vocabulary gets broader, your understanding about relationships comes closer to gather.
• The last purpose of poetry is that you are opening yourself up to a wealth of human knowledge. By writing you can understand other poets. There are many poets and each of them writes to a different aim.

Kinds of poetry in English literature:



There are two kinds of poetry which are as follows;

• Subjective poetry
• Objective poetry

Subjective poetry:



In this type of poetry, the personality of the poet is reflected in the verses.

For example;

‘’Shelley’’ tells us about the sorrows of life in his poem’’ ode to the west wind’’;

‘’I fall upon the thorns of life, I bleed.’’



Objective poetry:


In this type of poetry, the personality of the poet remains in the background. It has the following further categories are as under;


1.Ballad:

Ballad is a narrative short poem originally designed to be sung.


2.Epic:


Epic is a long narrative poem in verse


3.Mock epic:


A mock-epic is a parody of the epic.



7 Types of poetry:



Some important types of poetry are as follows;

• Blank verse
• Rhymed poetry
• Free verse
• Narrative poetry
• pastoral poetry
• sonnet
• elegy

1.Blank verse:


It is a type of poetry that is written with a precise meter. It is an unrhymed verse and always in iambic pentameter.

Example
Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Milton’s Paradise lostWordsworth’s long poem The Prelude


2.Rhymed poetry:


Correspondence of sound between words or the ending of words especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry.

Example;


''Balloon rhymes with moon'' 

3.Free verse:


Free verse is an open form of poetry that cannot follow a proper rhyme scheme. Free verse cannot have any set of rules. Poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter is called free verse.

Example;


I am staying home from school today

I had rather be in bed

Presenting that I have a pain

That is pounding in my head


4.Narrative poetry:


It is a type of poetry that tells a story often using the voices of the narrator and characters.

Example;


Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered,

Weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of

forgotten lore


5.Pastoral poetry:


It is a type of poetry that refers to a literary work dealing with shepherds and rustic life. It is a poetry of pastures.


6.Sonnet:


Sonnet is a short poem of fourteen lines.


Example;
John Donne’s death be not proud
William Shakespeare’s shall I compare thee to a summer’s dayE.E, Cummings’ I carry your heart with me


7.Elegy:



This is a brief lyric of meaning or direct utterance of personal bereavement.
John Milton Lycidas
In memoriam A.H.H. BY Alfred lord Tennyson
In memory of W.B. Yeats by W.H. Auden

Final thought:

Summing up the topic we can say

‘’Poetry is a medium of instruction, enjoyment, and appreciation of objects.’’

Its characteristics are music, vision, imagery, and emotion. The teacher must be very careful in teaching poetry. He should make conceptual use of certain political devices and figures of speech. In other words, we can say that;



‘’Poetry can pave the for the learning and teaching of basic language skills.’’