It is important for the student of poetry to know the principal classes
into which poems are divided. The following brief explanations do not
pretend to be exhaustive, but they should be of practical aid. It must
be remembered that a long poem is sometimes not very definitely of any
one class, but combines characteristics of different classes.
_Narrative_ poetry, like narrative prose, aims primarily to tell a
story.
The _epic_ is the most pretentious kind of narrative poetry; it tells in
serious verse of the great deeds of a popular hero. The _Iliad_, the
_Aeneid_, _Beowulf_, _Paradise Lost_ are important epics. The _Idylls of
the King_ is in the main an epic poem.
The _metrical romance_ is a rather long story in verse, of a less
exalted and heroic character than the true epic. Scott's _Lady of the
Lake_ is a familiar example.
The _verse tale_ is shorter and likely to be less dignified and serious
than the metrical romance. The stories in Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_,
or Burns's _Tam O'Shanter_, may serve as examples.
The _ballad_ is a narrative poem, usually rather short and in such form
as to be sung. It is distinguished from a song by the fact that it tells
a story. _Popular_ or _folk_ ballads are ancient and of unknown
authorship--handed down by word of mouth and varied by the transmitters.
_Artistic_ ballads are imitations, by known poets, of traditional
ballads.
_Descriptive_ and _reflective_ poems have characteristics sufficiently
indicated by the adjectives in italics.
The _pastoral_ is a particular kind of descriptive and narrative poem in
which the scene is laid in the country.
The _idyll_ is, according to the etymology of its name, a "little
picture." Tennyson's _Idylls of the King_ are rather more epic than
idyllic in the strict sense of the term. The terms _idyll_ and
_pastoral_ are not definitely discriminated.
_Lyric_ poetry is poetry expressing personal feeling or emotion and in
tuneful form. _Songs_ are the simplest examples of lyric poetry; formal
_odes_, such as Wordsworth's on "Immortality," the most elaborate. A
lyric does not primarily tell a story, but it may imply one or refer to
one.
The _elegy_ is a reflective lyric prompted by the death of some one.
Tennyson's _In Memoriam_ is a collection of elegiac lyrics.
A _hymn_ is a religious lyric.
_Dramatic_ poetry presents human life in speech and action.
A _tragedy_ is a serious drama which presents its hero in a losing
struggle ending in his death.
A _comedy_ does not end in death, and is usually cheerful and humorous.
The _dramatic monologue_ is a poem in which a dramatic situation is
presented, or perhaps a story is told, by one speaker.
_Satire_ in verse aims to correct abuses, to ridicule persons, etc.
_Didactic_ poetry has the purpose of teaching.
[Transcriber's Note:
The following errors have been corrected in this text: