Classification of Poetry

CLASSIFICATION OF POETRY

W. H. Hudson has discussed the types of poetry in his book ‘An Introduction to the Study of Literature’. Critics classify poetry into two basic types:

1. SUBJECTIVE OR PERSONAL POETRY

2. OBJECTIVE OR IMPERSONAL POETRY

1. SUBJECTIVE OR PERSONAL POETRY:

Subjective poetry is also known as personal poetry. Here the poet tries to express his personal feelings, experiences, emotions, views about life. According to Wordsworth, “Poetry is spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions recollected in tranquility". Here Wordsworth talks about personal emotions of the poet. So poetry is subjective or personal by nature. Lyrics are mostly subjective poetry. For example, in ‘Sonnet 144’ Shakespeare expresses his personal conflict between good and evil. In ‘Break, Break, Break’ Tennyson expresses his personal feeling of sorrow after the death of his friend.

2. OBJECTIVE OR IMPERSONAL POETRY:

Objective poetry is also known as impersonal poetry. Here the poet observes the society and human life objectively. The poet acts as an external agency and presents his observations in an objective manner. According to T.S Elliot "Poetry is not a turning loose of the poet’s personality, it is escape from personality; poetry is not the expression of poets emotions, it is an escape from emotions.” Here Eliot has given the definition of an objective poetry. Poetry doesn't express the poet’s personality or emotions; it is an escape from emotions and personality. Most of the Ballads are objective kind of poetry. For example, ‘Eve of St. John's’, written by Scott. Epics are also objective in tone and treatment. For example, ‘Paradise Lost.’

Some other critics classify poetry as under:

1. NARRATIVE POETRY:

It is a poem that tells a story and has the elements of the story. Often narrative poetry has a rhyme scheme. Here the poet tries to narrate one particular event or one particular story from the life of the character.

2. DRAMATIC POETRY:

It is a poem where the speaker is someone else, other than that poet himself. A dramatic poem often includes characters and dialogues. Dramatic monologues written by Robert Browning fall in this category of poetry.

3. LYRICAL POETRY:

It is a short, musical poem written on a single subject matter which expresses the personal emotions and experiences of the poet. It appeals the reader’s senses and is mostly singable. It is called “Lyric” because in the ancient times such songs were sung by men and women in the company of a musical instrument called “Lyre”. There are different types of lyric in English literature such as sonnet, ballad, ode, elegy etc. which we shall discuss in another chapter separately.

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