Understanding poetry

About Poetry

Poetry is the oldest form of literature. Since its birth, poetry has emerged as a work that can be enjoyed through the use of unique, distinctive, and beautiful language as its medium. To be able to appreciate a poem well, an understanding is needed to straighten out the view of the various meanings of poetry. Many writers have defined poetry, but until now there has been no standard definition. This is because of the changes that always occur in the history of the development of poetry itself.

Definition of Poetry

Etymologically, the term poetry comes from the Greek poeima "making" or poeisis "making". In English, poetry is called poem or poetry. Aminuddin (2004: 134), explains poetry as the activity of "making" and "making" because through poetry someone has basically created a world of their own, which contains messages or images of something that is in their mind. The definition of poetry for the author himself is a tool for dictating reality in the perspective of honesty in restless black and white.

Today there are many opinions that provide limitations on the definition of poetry. These limitations are usually only related to its physical structure or its inner structure, but there are also opinions that provide limitations that include both structures. Regardless of the various definitions that exist, poetry remains one of the beautiful and unique literary works to be appreciated.

Quoting the opinion of Mc Caulay, Hudson in Aminuddin (2004: 134), poetry is a branch of literature that uses words as a medium of delivery to produce illusions and imagination. Waluyo (1995: 29), states "poetry is a form of literature that expresses the poet's thoughts and feelings imaginatively and is composed by concentrating all the power of language, namely by concentrating its physical structure and inner structure". Meanwhile, James Reeves in Waluyo (1995: 23), states "poetry is a rich and alluring expression of language".

From the several definitions above, it can be concluded in general that poetry is one type of literary work that expresses the imagination and thoughts of the poet which are transformed into a form of language with aesthetic value by utilizing physical and spiritual elements.

Types of Poetry

When viewed from the form and content, the variety of poetry is divided into several types. Aminuddin (2004: 134), states that these types include the following.

Epic poetry is a poem that contains a heroic story, either heroism related to legend, belief, or history.

Narrative poetry is a poem that contains a story, with actors, characters, settings, or a series of certain events that weave a story.

Lyric poetry is a poem that contains the poet's individual inner outpouring with all kinds of sediment of experience, attitudes, or the inner mood that surrounds it.

Dramatic poetry is a type of poetry that objectively describes a person's behavior, either through actions, 4. dialogue, or monologue so that it contains a picture of a certain story.
Didactic poetry is poetry that contains educational values that are generally displayed explicitly.
Satirical poetry is poetry that contains satire or criticism of the irregularities or irregularities in the life of a group or society.
Romance is poetry that contains an outpouring of someone's love for their lover.
Elegy is a poem of lamentation that expresses someone's pain.
Ode is poetry that contains praise for someone who has services or a heroic attitude.
Hymn is poetry that contains praise to God or an expression of love for the nation or homeland.

Elements of Poetry

Richards in Siswanto (2008: 113) states that the elements of poetry include the physical structure of poetry (poetry method) and the inner structure of poetry (the essence of poetry). For more details, it will be presented as follows.

Physical Structure of Poetry (Poetry Method)

Poetry Appearance (Typography)
Typography is the arrangement and writing of words, lines, and stanzas in poetry. In conventional poetry, words or diction are arranged in a series called lines or rows. A collection of statements in poetry does not form a paragraph but forms what is called a stanza.

Types of Poetry

When viewed from the form and content, the variety of poetry is divided into several types. Aminuddin (2004: 134), states that the types include the following.

Epic poetry is a poem that contains a heroic story, either heroism related to legend, belief, or history.

Narrative poetry is a poem that contains a story, with actors, characters, settings, or a series of certain events that weave a story.

Lyric poetry is a poem that contains the individual inner outpouring of the poet with all kinds of sediment of experience, attitudes, or the inner mood that surrounds it.

Dramatic poetry is a type of poetry that objectively describes a person's behavior, either through action, 4. dialogue, or monologue so that it contains a picture of a certain story.

Didactic poetry is a poem that contains educational values that are generally displayed explicitly.
Satiric poetry is a poem that contains satire or criticism of the irregularities or irregularities in the life of a group or society.
Romance is a poem that contains an outpouring of someone's love for their lover.
Elegy is a poem of lamentation that expresses someone's pain.
Ode is a poem that contains praise for someone who has services or heroic attitudes.
Hymn is a poem that contains praise to God or an expression of love for the nation or homeland.

Elements of Poetry

Richards in Siswanto (2008: 113) states that the elements of poetry include the physical structure of poetry (poetry method) and the inner structure of poetry (the essence of poetry). For more details, it will be presented as follows.

Physical Structure of Poetry (Poetry Method)

Poetry Appearance (Typography)
Typography is the arrangement and writing of words, lines, and stanzas in poetry. In conventional poetry, words or diction are arranged in a series called lines or rows. A collection of statements in poetry does not form a paragraph but forms what is called a stanza.

Diction
Diction is the choice of words made by the poet in his poetry. The choice of words in poetry is closely related to meaning, harmony of sound, and word order. In addition, the choice of words is closely related to the background of the poet. The broader the poet's insight, the richer and more substantial the words chosen.