Poetry and Its Many Insights
Poetry is often seen as the most personal and mysterious of literary forms. Poetry, in fact, helps us to embrace the mystery of life. We can talk about the “inside” of poetry (ideas, images, and feelings) and about the “outside” of poetry (appearance and form). Attention to form, that is, to the very structure of the text, is the starting point for its interpretation. However, when studying the poetic text, care must be taken not to lose sight of the whole, the unity of the poem.
By awakening imaginative powers, poetry makes life more full and radiant. Every poem has an emotional appeal. Without emotion, there is no poetry. Lyricism can sometimes have nothing to do with reasoning. It will then be like a wounded bird singing. The poet is not subordinate to the laws of logical thinking. Lyric poetry is emotional and reflective, as it expresses an inner meditation. It expresses feelings of one kind or another, and these feelings are universal. In revealing his understanding of the world, the poet makes a confession that is transfigured by art.
It would therefore not be an exaggeration to say that a great poem is always the account of its author’s spiritual adventure. Personal motives are thus the lyric elements in poetry. They constitute the background and the framework of lyric poetry. The verse manifestations are classified in the following poetic forms: lyrical, epic or tragic (they revolve around a historical event, presenting, in general, images of superior men) and dramatic.
Poetry is a compact language. Poetry use words to communicate ideas and emotions. Poetic language is believed to be one of the oldest forms of human expression. When thinking about written language, it is interesting to note that in some countries, such as Italy, the language of poetry was born before the language of prose. There, this poetic language called Sicilian literary, in its written form, was born in Sicily. It was at the Sicilian court that the sonnet genre emerged in the 13th century. The Sicilian sonnet is a traditional type of poem formed by 14 verses divided into four verses: the first two with four verses and the others with three verses each. Its origin is in the poetry of the Provencal troubadours.
The choice of words, images and sounds affects the atmosphere (general feeling or emotion) and the meaning of the poem. Sound and meaning combine to express feelings, thoughts and ideas. When writing, the poet can adopt a neutral, satirical, ironic, melancholic, sentimental, interrogative, allusive, cheerful, macabre, fantasist tone, etc. Music communicates ideas and affects the mood. The melody of the poem can be pleasant or threatening, happy or sad, romantic or expressionless. It reaches the mind and heart, intensifying the impact of words and images. The word is something complex and mysterious. Each word is a complex of associations and can have several meanings. Its meaning depends on the human being, that is, on its use.
