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KINDS OF POETRY. |
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soliloquies and dialogues were introduced; here we have the dawn of the drama.
The different kinds of poetry may be briefly considered under the following heads :— |
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I.—LYRIC POETRY.
This is so called, because it was originally intended to be sung and accompanied on the lyre. We find some early specimens of it in the Old Testament, such as Miriam and Deborah's songs, and David's elegy on Saul and Jonathan. Lyric poetry comprehends several different kinds.
(a). The Ode.
Ode is from a Greek word meaning song. The term ode, though generic, is restricted to lyrical compositions of some length and generally of complexity of structure, corresponding in some degree to the typical form of the Greek choral odes. These consisted of irregular stanzas, arranged in groups of three ; the strophe to be chanted by one half of the singers, the anttstrophe by the other half, and the epode by the whole. In our own language we have odes written upon a variety of subjects, heroic, sacred, moral, and amorous. Gray has composed some fine examples, adhering in one case strictly to the Greek model; but perhaps the finest specimen we have is Dry-den's Alexander's Feast. Collins, Campbell, Shelley, Wordsworth, and Tennyson have produced almost |
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