poetry

Poetry (from Ancient Greek: p????/p??? (poiéo/poió) = I create / I make / I do / I cause) is traditionally a written art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. The increased emphasis on the aesthetics of language and the deliberate use of features such as repetition, meter and rhyme, are what are commonly used to distinguish poetry from prose, but debates over such distinctions still persist. Some modernists approach this problem of definition by defining poetry not as a literary genre within a set of genres, but as the very manifestation of human imagination, the substance from which all creative acts derive.

Poetry often uses extremely condensed forms to convey an emotion or an idea to the reader or listener, as well as using devices such as assonance, alliteration and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Furthermore, poems often make heavy use of imagery, word association, and musical qualities. Similarly, poetry's use of nuance and symbolism can make it difficult to interpret a poem or can leave a poem open to multiple interpretations.

It is difficult to define poetry definitively, especially when one considers that poetry encompasses forms as different as epic poetry and haiku. Needless to say, many poets have given their own definitions. Samuel Taylor Coleridge defined poetry as "The best words in the best order." Carl Sandburg said that "poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits.", while Robert Frost stated that "Poetry is the first thing lost in translation".