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Poetry is one of the most ancient and universal forms of human expression. Whether sung, spoken, or written, poetry carries the deep emotions, thoughts, and imaginative rhythms of the human experience. But what exactly is poetry? Why does it affect us so deeply, and how has it been defined by great thinkers over time?
In this post, we will explore the motivations behind poetry, examine various influential definitions, and conclude with a comprehensive understanding of what poetry is.
The Human Impulse Behind Poetry
The creation of poetry—be it oral or written—stems from three core human instincts:
1. Imitative (Mimetic) Impulse
This is the natural human tendency to imitate. From childhood, we mimic sounds, actions, and emotions. Aristotle described poetry as an imitative art, a reflection of life and nature.
2. Aesthetic or Emotional Impulse
Humans derive pleasure from recognising beauty and emotion in expression. Poetry satisfies this emotional hunger through carefully chosen words, vivid imagery, and artistic structure.
3. Musical Impulse
Poetry thrives on rhythm, sound, and musicality. From lullabies to love songs, the melodic nature of poetry helps convey feelings that words alone might not capture.
These motivations are not limited to poetry—they also apply to other art forms like music, dance, and visual arts. However, in poetry, these impulses converge in a unique and powerful way.
Poetry and Everyday Life
Consider your earliest memories: the lullabies sung to you as a child. Though you may not have understood the words, you were soothed by the rhythm, the repetition, and the sounds—some mimicking birds, animals, or nature. These lullabies contained imitation, music, and emotion—the very foundations of poetry.
This example illustrates that poetry is not something foreign or academic. It is an innate part of our human experience, present from infancy and passed down through generations.
What Is Poetry?
Trying to define poetry is like trying to define love—every attempt captures a part, but not the whole. There is no single, universally accepted definition of poetry. Instead, we can better understand it by exploring the definitions offered by poets, critics, and philosophers.
Notable Definitions of Poetry
- Edwin Arlington Robinson: “Poetry is the language that tells us, through a more or less emotional reaction, something that cannot be said.”
- Edgar Allan Poe: “Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty… it has no concern whatever either with duty or with truth.”
- William Wordsworth: “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.”
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “The proper object of poetry is the communication of pleasure.”
- Percy Bysshe Shelley: “Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the best and happiest minds.”
- Andrew Bradley: “An actual poem is the succession of experiences—sounds, images, thoughts, emotions—through which we pass when we are reading as poetically as we can.”
- Dylan Thomas: “…the rhythmic, inevitably narrative, movement from an overclothed blindness to a naked vision.”
- Emily Dickinson: “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that it is poetry.”
Interpreting the Definitions
Each of the above definitions emphasises a different element of poetry. Poe focuses on form and musicality. Wordsworth and Robinson emphasise emotion and content. Dickinson uniquely values the physical and emotional impact of poetry on the reader.
Despite their differences, common threads run through these perspectives: emotion, imagination, rhythm, language, and expression.
To bring together the variety of interpretations, we may propose the following comprehensive definition:
Poetry is a form of literary composition in verse, characterised by the imaginative and rhythmic expression of deep emotions or noble thoughts, often using beautiful, embellished, or symbolic language to communicate a personal or shared experience.
This definition includes the essential elements of poetry:
- Imagery
- Rhythm and sound
- Diction (word choice)
- Emotional and imaginative depth
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