What is Poetry and Drama?

What is poetry?

Poetry is a form of literary art intended to express oneself in sense of emotions, thoughts, ideas or pretty much anything that could be expressed. What sets poetry apart from other forms of written arts is/are the stanza(s). It does not necessarily have to rhyme, it could be written in a free form even. Regardless, there are also well constructed forms of poetry. Below are some of the form and terms in poetry:-

Acrostic - The first letter of each line spells out a word, name, or phrase when read    vertically

Ballad - narrative song passed down orally

Ballade - consists of three eight-line stanzas and a four-line envoy, with a rhyme scheme of ababbcbc bebc

Couplet - A pair of rhyming lines

Elegy - Melancholy poem that laments the subject’s death but ends in consolation

Epic - A long poem that tells about heroism

Haiku - Three unrhymed lines in five, seven, and five syllables

Octave - An eight-line stanza or poem

Sonnet - A 14-line poem with a variable rhyme scheme

Stanza - A group of lines

For more form of poetry and poetry terms, do visit :-

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/glossary-terms?category=forms-and-types

Below is one of the earliest poems that I fell in love with. It was written by Konstantin Simonov entitled Wait for Me (1941) for his lover Valentina Serova when he was summoned to the battlefield in the WWII:-

 

Konstantin Simonov

to Valentina Serova

Wait for me, and I'll come back!
Wait with all you've got!
Wait, when dreary yellow rains
Tell you, you should not.
Wait when snow is falling fast,
Wait when summer's hot,
Wait when yesterdays are past,
Others are forgot.
Wait, when from that far-off place,
Letters don't arrive.
Wait, when those with whom you wait
Doubt if I'm alive.

Wait for me, and I'll come back!
Wait in patience yet
When they tell you off by heart
That you should forget.
Even when my dearest ones
Say that I am lost,
Even when my friends give up,
Sit and count the cost,
Drink a glass of bitter wine
To the fallen friend -
Wait! And do not drink with them!
Wait until the end!

Wait for me and I'll come back,
Dodging every fate!
"What a bit of luck!" they'll say,
Those that would not  wait.
They will never understand
How amidst the strife,
By your waiting for me, dear,
You had saved my life.
Only you and I will know
How you got me through.
Simply - you knew how to wait -
No one else but you.

Below are some of the best poems ever created throughout the history of mankind:-

- Beowulf by unknown (as the poem has been passed down orally and altered)

- Whoso list to hunt by Sir Thomas Wyatt

- When We Two Parted by Lord Byron

- To My Wife - With a Copy of My Poems by Oscar Wilde

- The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot

- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

- Success is Counted Sweetest by Emily Dickinson

- No Second Troy by William Butler Yeats

- All the World's a Stage by William Shakespeare

- The Nightingale by William Wordsworth 

What is Drama?

Drama is a performing art usually performed on stage by actors before the audience. The history could be traced back to the Greek which the term ‘Drama’ originated from. The term itself means ‘action’ which explains the performance on the stage. Some of the major dramas throughout the history are:-

- Hamlet by Shakespeare

- The Alchemist by Ben Jonson

- Doctor by Christopher Marlowe

 

Christopher Marlowe

There are various histories of drama coming from all around the world such as from Classic Greek, Asian drama, Classic Roman, Medieval, and probably the most noticeable during the Elizabethan and Jacobean era where Shakespeare arts were blooming.   Each of these dramas has their own unique and distinct features and elements.

There are a lot of forms of drama. Some of them are:-

Opera

Combination of theatre and music originated from the Greek and still being practised until now.

Pantomime

 A form of drama that emphasised on reminders, doing good deeds and such and using stock characters is usually the main ingredient in making this sort of drama.

Creative drama

A drama that focused on educational elements intended for children as the audience.