A poem is a literary composition.
A poem is a literary composition that falls within the field of poetry . The text may be developed in verse or prose ; in the latter case, we speak of poetic prose .
In ancient times, all literary compositions were called poems, since the word comes from the Greek verb poesin ( to make ). Therefore, a poem was any type of product born from literature .
A person who writes poems is known as a poet (or a poetess, if the poet is a female). The work of poets is considered to be influenced by the cultural tradition of the region where they live, although poetry can also be universal and deal with themes common to all human beings.
The lyrical poem
Among the poems, the most subjective genre is considered to be lyric poetry , since the author usually appears within the text. The poet almost always situates himself in the present and his most common means of expression is short verse , where repetitions of a phonetic and semantic nature and specific syntactical structures can be appreciated.
The lyrical poem has several subgenres, among which the hymn , the ode , the elegy and the satire stand out. We will detail some of them:
The eclogue is poetry that refers to the activity of shepherds. It is characterized by naming nature, bucolic landscapes, and the species that inhabit the earth in an idealized way, comparing them with the feelings that love awakens in two lovers . It can also contain elements of drama and tell stories in the form of poems. Garcilaso de la Vega was a master of this type of poetry.
Poems can be developed in verse or prose.
The epic
The epic poem was one of the popular forms in which the adventures and exploits of superhuman heroes who had been able to help people overcome certain tragedies were recounted. They were stories written in verse but which had the characteristic of being narrative. These stories revolved around certain elements of oral tradition ( myths, folk tales, legends ) and were generally accompanied by musical pieces.
This type of poem usually recounts difficult journeys, battles and plots where magic and the supernatural were essential protagonists and helped to highlight the heroism of the humans who participated in them.
Two of the most famous works that belong to epic poetry are "The Odyssey " by Homer and "The Aeneid" by Virgil , very similar in many aspects but differ in the way of treating the hero, in Virgil's case it is not a warrior who fights tirelessly but a man obedient to the gods who endures everything that comes upon him as if it were a destiny that he cannot modify, while for Homer the hero is untouchable and unalterable. Furthermore, Virgil introduces for the first time in an epic poem elements of dramatic and lyrical works to achieve a language and expressiveness that border on realism.
Ode, sonnets and other types of poems
The ode was the lyrical expression par excellence in ancient times and consisted of a way of praising some divinity or muse. A song that was moved by a strong passion and that led the poet to express himself through exclamatory words and praises to address a loved one, objects, landscape or divinity. Pablo Neruda gave them a dose of modernity without forgetting the fundamental essence of these poetic songs; his "Ode to the Onion" has been notably acclaimed.
The sonnet is a poem composed of fourteen verses of eleven syllables (hendecasyllables). It originated in the Renaissance period and emerged in Italy, where its main exponent was the poet Francisco Petrarca. Lovers of symmetrical, harmonious and orderly poetry highly praise this lyrical type, which is organized into two quartets and two tercets that are intertwined.
The madrigal is a short poem that shows feelings of love, an incorruptible, unique love . They are usually short and are a song to love. Among the poets who have cultivated this style is Gutierre de Cetina.
An elegy is a poem that inspires pain and sorrow. In them, the poet expresses deep feelings of despair, anguish and helplessness ; generally, they are poems that touch on themes related to death or a loss that has left a great void in the poet.
Epigrams, haikus and other subgenres
The epigram is a very short poem (two verses), even shorter than the madrigal, and in it the poet conveys feelings of joy, festivity, happiness, mixing these feelings with irony and some sarcastic overtones . There have been many poets who have cultivated it, such as Ernesto Cardenal.
Haiku , also called haikai, is of Japanese origin and has been cultivated in the West since the 20th century. It is a poem written in seven verses that alternate between five-syllable (1st and 3rd) and heptasyllabic (2nd) verses. In most cases, these are poems that evoke some aspect of nature. Nowadays, the verse is not as rigorous, and even the number of syllables and stanzas varies greatly. Among the Western authors who stand out in this type of poems are Jorge Luis Borges and Octavio Paz . It should be noted that a haiku written in this period can deal with various themes.
Other subgenres mentioned by specialists are the epithalamium (a song that exalts weddings), the epigram (a concise satire), and the paean (a war song).