According to Merriam Webster, POETRY is 'metrical writing: verse'. In neophyte lexis, poetry is 'writing that usually involves figurative languages and lines that have rhythm'. In my words 'poetry' is all those words cached within a heart, those couldn't be articulated through the tongue. All those words which are left unsaid, while compiled, form what we term as poetry in these days.
'Poem' came from the Greek word ‘poiema’, meaning 'a thing made.' The word 'poetry' was derived from the Greek word 'poietes' which itself originated from 'poiein' which translated to 'to make.' The word 'poet' is also a descendant of the Sanskrit word 'cinoti', meaning "he gathers, heaps up."
Poetry presumably dates back to early cavemen and the earliest shamans, who chronicled events in picture stories. The preliminary forms of poetry exist as hymns, such as the work of Sumerian priestess Enheduanna, and other types of songs, as songs narrating about customs or ways of living and songs of devotion.
A momentous figure who was widely known for her undefiled verses was the Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna, Saint Meerabai.
The very first poem dates back to 2100 B.C. The Epic of Gilgamesh started out as a series of Sumerian poems and tales. The Epic of Gilgamesh was part of the oral tradition of the Sumerians. But the most complete version was written around the 12th century B.C. by the Babylonians.
Most of the earliest known poetry was a form of epic poetry, some of which dates back centuries before humans began poetry or even scrawling stories.
It is barely known by anyone but the first person ever to compose a poetic verse was Enheduanna. Enheduanna was born more than 4,200 years ago and became the high priestess of a temple in what we now call southern Iraq. And while mentioning about the first known poet, it is mandatory to know who is known as the father of poetry. Born in 1340, in London, United Kingdom, Sir Geoffrey Chaucer is known as the father of poetry. Geoffrey Chaucer is called the father of English literature because he was the first to write what became generally well-known and recognized poems and stories in the language of the common people of his time- medieval English.
The various kinds of poetries are:
- Haiku: Haiku is a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.
- Sonnet: A sonnet is a 14 lines poem, typically concerning the topic of love, but not exclusively. There are Shakespearean sonnets, Petrarchan sonnets, Spenserian sonnets, and Miltonic sonnets.
- Limerick: A limerick is a five lines poem that consists of a single stanza, an AABBA rhyme scheme, and whose subject is a short pithy tale.
- Tercet: A Tercet is made up of 19 lines; five stanzas of three lines each and a final stanza of four lines (quatrain).
Other than that there are free verse, ballad, villanelle, ode, epic poetry, elegy, blank verse, couplet, acrostic, lyric poetry, epigram, concrete poetry, pastoral, etc.
Both reading and writing poetry is not only a therapeutic activity, it also improves language skills. The process of writing poetry builds vocabulary. Poetry writing will expose individuals to meter, and several literary devices such as alliteration, metaphors, and personification. When someone molds or even reads a poem, it forms their brain to be more creative and sparks creativity. Poetry creates self-awareness and leads a way for everyone to discover themselves. Poetry helps one to expand their views about the world. They can draw inspiration from what is going on in the world today and craft them into poems. Poets have an opportunity to widen their views about the world. They usually keep updated about things that go on in their daily lives.
In conclusion, poetry could be a good substitute for an escape from reality. Not only does it assists one in lightening their heart but poetry and poets also entertain the world in a way that is disparate from everyone and everything else.