The 7 most important types of Poetry (with examples)

Poetry is probably the oldest literary genre. We have clear examples of poetry in the Bible (the Song of songs and the psalms, for example), in classical Greek poetry, in the civilizations of the Indus Valley and in distant China.

On the other hand, poetry is a very extensive concept that encompasses several subtypes, depending on the information it transmits and the nature of said transmission. In this article we will give a brief review of the different types of poetry that exist. and we will talk about how to differentiate each of them with famous examples from the world of literature.

The types of poetry and their characteristics

Poetry, subjective genre par excellence, has allowed the human being to express his most intimate emotions and his most hidden thoughts through this form of communication. art.

Traditionally, poetry has been classified into three subgenres, namely: lyrical poetry, epic poetry and dramatic poetry, to which some authors include some more, such as choral poetry or poetry bucolic. In fact, like everything related to human expression, it is difficult to establish clear limits, so the division can be extended practically to infinity.

In this article we will focus on the three classic subgenres which, in turn, can be expressed through compositions with their own characteristics. Let's see it.

1. lyrical poetry

It is probably the oldest poetic subgenre. Lyric poetry gets its name from the lira, the instrument with which, in the Ancient Greece, the declaimer was accompanied. Lyric poetry is characterized by containing a high subjectivism, which is expressed through rhetorical figures and other literary resources, whose objective is to enhance the personal message of the poet.

For this reason, the most common thing is that the lyrics are expressed in the first person: it is the declaimer who is expressing his inner world, his desires and his most intimate feelings. Generally, one can distinguish subject, that is, the person who sings his emotions, and the object, which is nothing other than the element or the person to whom the song is directed.

It is usual for lyrical poetry to have content loving, but it can also tell us about patriotic feelings, longing for a specific place or time or what the poet feels at that very moment.

The traditional compositions to express the lyric are basically four: the sonnet, the ode, the elegy and the epigram. We are going to see what each of them consists of and we will illustrate it with some examples.

1.1. the sonnet

The sonnet was born in Europe around the 13th century and its popularity extended until the 17th century. It consists of fourteen verses of major art, that is, more than eight syllables (generally, hendecasyllables)., and its stanzas are grouped into two quatrains and two triplets.

Here is an example of a sonnet by the great Garcilaso de la Vega (1499-1536); it is his famous Sonnet XXIII:

While rose and lily

The color is shown in your gesture,

and that your ardent, honest look,

with clear light the serene storm;

and as long as the hair, that in the vein

from gold was chosen, with swift flight,

by the beautiful white neck, upright,

the wind moves, spreads and messes up;

take from your joyous spring

the sweet fruit, before the angry weather

cover the beautiful summit with snow.

The icy wind will wither the rose,

Light age will change everything,

for not making a change in his custom.

1.2. the ode

Another type of lyrical composition is the ode, which it is generally intended to praise the qualities of a character, an idea, a feat, etc. His tone is elevated and thoughtful.

Here is an example of an ode, in this case, by the German poet Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805); a fragment of his acquaintance ode to joy, musicalized by beethoven in his 9th symphony.

Oh friends, let's leave those shades!

Let us sing more pleasant songs

and full of joy!

Joy, beautiful flash of the gods,

daughter of Elysee!

Drunk with enthusiasm we entered,

heavenly goddess, in your sanctuary.

Your spell binds again

what bitter habit had separated;

all men are brothers again

there where your soft wing perches.

1.3. the elegy

As for the elegy, it is characterized by containing an eminently sad character. In the elegy, the poet expresses the sadness wave nostalgia What do you experience when evoking something?, usually a person who is deceased or absent.

It is essential to review here a fragment of the Elegy to Ramón Sijé, which the Levantine poet Miguel Hernández wrote in honor of his best friend, who died at the age of twenty-two:

I want to be the gardener crying

of the land that you occupy and manure,

soul mate, so early.

Feeding rains, snails

and organs my pain without instrument,

to the discouraged poppies

I will give your heart for food.

So much pain gathers in my side,

Because it hurts, even my breath hurts.

1.4. the epigram

Finally, within the subgenre of lyrical or subjective poetry we have the epigram, a type of composition little known but widely used, especially in classical times.

The epigram was born as a kind of epitaph, which the ancient Greeks carved on tombs or statues in memory of the character in question. Gradually, the epigram (from the Greek "to write on it") was expanding its field of action, and already in the Middle Ages we find it as a very brief, incisive and forceful form of poetry. Here is an epigram of Fray Luis de León (1527-1591), an epitaph to Prince Don Carlos:

Here lie the remains of Carlos:

the main part turned to heaven,

with her was courage; it fell to the ground

fear in the heart, tears in the eyes.

2. epic poetry

Epic poetry describes feats of famous people, who can be both true and of character legendary. They are usually very long poems, and can be classified into epic songs and epics, although both have very similar characteristics, as we will see below.

2.1. the epic

The epic is an epic story that is transmitted orally and, therefore, does not have a definitive form unless it is later reflected in writing. This is the case of famous epics such as the Iliad and the Odyssey, by Homer, or the mahabharatha Hindu. The oldest known epic is, however, the poem or epic of Gilgamesh, written in the III millennium BC. c. in ancient Mesopotamia from oral accounts.

The poem narrates the adventures of the Sumerian hero Gilgamesh and his pilgrimage in search of the meaning of death. Here we offer you a fragment of this original epic (version by Federico Lara Peinado):

Tears stream down Gilgamesh's face

(while he says):

-"(I will walk) a path

which I have never walked.

(I'm going on a journey)

unknown to me.

[...] I should be happy,

with a joyful heart [...].

(If I win I will make you sit on) a throne."

They brought him his armor,

[...] mighty swords,

bow and quiver,

and they put it into his hands.

He took the adzes,

[...] the trembling of him,

(the bow) of Anshan;

he put the sword in his belt.

They could start the journey.

2.2. The song of deed

What difference, then, to the epic of the song of deed? Both talk about the exploits of heroes and characters halfway between reality and legend. How to differentiate them?

The main difference is that the epic songs arose during the centuries of the European Middle Ages and, generally, the facts that narrate can be located in a specific historical moment (unlike the epic, which mixes gods and men at a specific time). remote). Even more; In the case of the epic song, the language used is usually light and easy, since the minstrels were in charge of singing these feats in towns, roads and cities.

The example of deed song par excellence in the Spanish language is, of course, the Sing of Mío Cid, by an anonymous author and which narrates the adventures of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, a Castilian knight of the 11th century. Here we collect a fragment, corresponding to the first of the songs of the poem, the so-called Song of Banishment:

From the eyes of him so strongly crying,

He turned his head and was tasting them.

He saw open doors and unlocked shutters,

Empty perches, without skins and without cloaks,

And without hawks and without molted goshawks.

My Cid sighed, for he had great care.

My Cid spoke well and so measured:

-Thanks to you, Mr. Father, that you are up high!

-This has made my bad enemies!

3. dramatic poetry

It is mainly related to the theater, because in dramatic poetry the parliaments of the different characters are included.

We find abundant examples in the work of Lope de Vega (1562-1635), the great playwright of the Spanish Golden Age; Here is a fragment of scene III, act two, from his play the silly lady (1613):

NISE: Does it seem like a month?

I excuse you, don't talk;

that the moon is in the sky

without mortal interests,

and in a month, and even a little less,

it is waxing and waning.

You on earth, and from Madrid,

where there are so many gales

interest in men

It was no miracle to move.

Tell him, Celia, what you have seen.

CELIA: Now, Laurencio, don't be scared

that Nise, my lady,

This is how I treat you:

I know what you said to Finea

compliments...

LAURENCIO: that you lift me up,

Celia, such testimonials...