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Katie Lafferty

White

24 February 2019

UWRT 1104

Genre Analysis: Poetry

Genre is an extremely broad term that can be applied to many different ideas. Genre,

generally, is categorizing a piece of work based on similarities in details and subject. Poetry is a

genre of literature its own; to be classified as a poem a piece of writing needs to be somewhat

rhythmic and full of emotion. In order to analyze poetry, you must look for the key details that

make a poem a poem. Poetry comes in many different forms, but it is relatively simple to classify

it because they are so distinct from other literature pieces.

Poetry has evolved so much from the time period that it was established. The first poem

known to be created, around 2500 BC, was “The Epic of Gilgamesh.” This was incredibly long

and some people could confuse it as a novella or a story. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” is specifically

an epic poem, this means that not only is the piece of work filled with many different emotions

and feelings but it also tells a complex and unique story. It tells a story about a man using a hero

complex; it shows his various emotions through life, including friendship, love, and death.

“Becoming aware of himself, he sought a friend” (Unknown 194). This line proves to be small in

the very complex text but extremely important. Throughout the epic, Gilgamesh adventures on a

long journey that has many different turmoils, and he goes on this expedition alone. Throughout

the journey his loved ones are killed and he suffers extreme moral contradictions. Since the poem

is so lengthy and full of immense detail, it’s somewhat difficult to follow and know what’s going

on, but through it, the reader feels what Gilgamesh is feeling as he attempts to find himself and
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who he truly wants to be. This poem differs from a lot of poetry because it is so long and tedious

to read; the language can be difficult to read because it was created so long ago. There are many

different types of poetry, from free write to haikus, but they’re all considered poetry because the

immense amount of feeling throughout them. This type of writing makes the reader feel what is

on paper, whether it be sad, happy, or excited, the way that they are written in almost a songlike

form forces the reader to come in contact with the depths of the emotion the piece of writing is

displaying. Some people argue that “The Epic of Gilgamesh” was extremely important to the

world of poetry because it introduced a subgenre to poetry, which is the epic poem.

As time passed poetry began to become a lot more popular and highly recognized. In the

1500s William Shakespeare came to light and his poetry has gained a lot of attention and is now

studied in many classes. Almost every person who has any type of academic education has heard

of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. His sonnets are similar to “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” as they are

difficult to understand and put together, but they are what could be considered the most famous

poetry that has ever existed. Shakespeare’s sonnets are composed of fourteen lines and a very

specific rhyming pattern. This is why they are noted under the genre of poetry and more

specifically sonnets. They have a pattern to them and are filled to the brim with emotion. Think

about Shakespeare’s 8th sonnet, “Music to hear, why hear'st thou music sadly? Sweets with

sweets war not, joy delights in joy” (1-3). Shakespeare is explaining how music brings harmony

and people together. Nothing gives people more joy than the sound of music. He rhymes the end

of the lines and the words of the poem almost flow out of the readers mouth; this is another

classification of this unique form of writing. No matter what type of poem you are reading it

slips from your mouth with such ease and tranquility, and this is why it is such an adored and

acknowledged form of writing.

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As time passed, poetry began to modernize. In the 1800-1900s, Robert Frost began

writing poetry. We’ve all heard of the poem “The Road Not Taken.” This poem talks about how

difficult it is to choose between things in life. You have to choose between two roads everyday in

life. People make decisions and prosper in the outcome or suffer the consequences. “Two roads

diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both, and be one traveler, long I stood”

(1-3). Poetry talks about everyday life in a way that makes you really think about everything that

you do. No one would really look at two choices and consider them as paths and look that deeply

into the decision, but this poem takes a look at the situation in a deeper and more metaphorical

way. Poetry has a way of taking life and making it a giant metaphor that is difficult to decipher.

The tough decision being made is compared to two separate roads. This poem also has a specific

rhyme scheme; every poem has a distinctive set of rhyme schemes; this one, for example, is

ABAAB. The difference between this poem and William Shakespeare’s pieces is that “The Road

Not Taken,” is easily understood and analyzed. Some poetry is a lot more difficult to

comprehend. “The Raven,” by Edgar Allan Poe, for example, proves to be fairly difficult to

attain the true meaning. After reading the poetry once, you may think it’s just about a bird

pecking at his window, but after further consideration the reader realized that the writing is truly

about Poe’s long lost love, Lenore, whom the bird continuously asks about. He wants to find

relief from the loss of a loved one but cannot seem to find it with this bird constantly bothering

him. “But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping, and so faintly you came

tapping, tapping at my chamber door” (21-22). The similarity between this one and Robert

Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” is that they both have rhyme schemes, as do many pieces. There

is a lot of repetition and it’s really a giant metaphor comparing the nuisance of a bird to the

thoughts of Lenore clouding his mind. You can analyze some poems for days in order to find a
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meaning, and through a lot of poetry you can find how it relates to you, personally. Poetry is

extremely emotional and because of that some people find it easy to apply to their life and find

personal recognition in it.

Far more recently, in the 2000s, a new poet named Rupi Kaur gained a lot of popularity,

many are familiar with her book Milk and Honey. This poet has a lot of other singular pieces of

work as well. Her writings prove to be a lot different than the other ones because they are very

short and the meaning is more bluntly stated in her words. Kaur’s poetry is considered more of a

free write, as a lot of it doesn’t follow any specific rhyming pattern or rules. Regardless of the

rules of poetry her poems express a plethora of emotions and describe her feelings throughout

life and turmoils. Kaur’s poems are easily relatable and make a lot of sense, especially to

younger generations. Rupi Kaur’s poem “You Should Have Known I Was A Fire” reads, “I will

never understand how you held me if you were afraid of warmth” (1). Although this poem is

very short it proves a very easy read, and forces the reader to come in contact with hidden

emotions. This poem may have less that 20 words, but it offers all of the poet’s feelings to the

reader. She writes about a man she loved and how she doesn’t understand how he made her fall

in love with him only to leave her because of his commitment issues. Another poem of Kaur’s,

“Balance,” reads, “I thank the universe for taking away everything it has taken and given to me

everything it has given” (1). This poem is very similar to the previous one. It offers a different,

happier emotion but in every word the reader has the opportunity to feel what the poet is feeling.

Another type of poetry that is also very brief is a haiku. Haikus are made of three lines;

the reason a haiku is a haiku is because there are a certain amount of syllables in each line. The

first known poet to write a haiku was Basho Matsuo. “An old silent pond… A frog jumps into

the pond, splash! Silence again” (1-3). Although this minuscule piece of writing may seem to be
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as simple as it gets, it holds a lot of truth and clarity. The poet is talking about nature; nature

musters up a lot of different sentiment in many different people. Haikus are normally regarding

nature and although they are small they tell a great story and provide imagery that makes the

reader able to imagine in their minds what the poet states in words. Natsume Soseki writes,

“Over the wintry forest, winds howl in rage with no leaves to blow” (1-3). This poem uses nature

to create a metaphor about a person standing alone, screaming, but no one seems to hear. Poetry

differs extensively depending on who is writing it and what it means to the reader.

Poetry can vary from a three hundred some pages poem, to a piece with less than 20

words and this is what makes it such an interesting genre. There are many different types that

relate to many different ideas, but no matter what you can always find meaning in poetry through

imagery and metaphors and relate it back to yourself and how it personally makes you feel. The

genre of poetry is vast but easily recognizable; you can point out a poem from another piece of

writing from a mile away. The way that words are sewn together in a fashion that makes you

really think and clash head on with the way you feel is what makes poetry such an amazing and

breathtaking genre.
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Works Cited

Akkadian And Sumerian. [New York] : Penguin Books, 2000.

Frost, Robert, The Road Not Taken: An Introduction To Robert Frost. New York: Holt, 1951.

George, Andrew, The Epic Of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem And Other Texts In

Akkadian And Sumerian. New York: Penguin Books, 2000.

Vendler, Helen Hennessy. The Art Of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Cambridge: Belknap Press Of

Harvard University Press, 1999.

Kaur, Rupi. Milk and Honey. Canada: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2014.

Natsume, Sōseki. Botchan. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1978.

Poe, Edgar Allan. Complete Stories And Poems Of Edgar Allan Poe. New York, Doubleday,

1984.

Ueda, Makoto. Matsuo Bashō. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1970.