1. The earliest forms of poetry predate written language. They were sung or recited to help people remember ethics, laws and history.
2. The word "poetry" is from the Greek term poiesis, which means "making."
3. The oldest surviving epic poem is the Epic of Gilgamesh and dates from the 3rd millennium BC in Sumer (now Iraq). In it we have the story of a king, Gilgamesh, who was half-god, half-man. It is believed that the Epic of Gilgamesh is around 4,000 years old, that circulated from Mesopotamia, Europe all the way to Asia, carved on stone pillars. It goes to reason that the first ever scripture was based on verbal storytelling styles that existed way before – so yes, spoken word and written poetry are positively, decisively, ancient art forms.
They also go hand in hand. From the 11th to the 14th century, troubadours and trobairitz (male and female composers and performers of Old Occitan lyric poetry) formed the first Romance language – meaning they used techniques to beautify or spoil words when speaking, adding layers of depth to the already apparent meaning of what were normally humorous or vulgar satires. They advanced metaphysical and intellectual perspectives, developing European lyricism with mechanisms such as euophony, cacophony, sound symbolism and metre. Bringing language to life, and performing is a large part of poetry. Poems aren’t songs because they don’t need music. A poem has music between the lines, on either side of each word, and inside the very syllables of each word.
4. The longest poem in the world is the Mahabharata. An Indian epic poem dating from the 4th century BC or earlier, the poem has about 1.8 million words.
5. Poet's Day is celebrated every August 21.
6. One of the most popular forms of writing short poems is the haiku. Originating from Japan, the haiku has only seventeen syllables. There are three lines containing five, seven, and again five syllables.
7. March 21st is World Poetry Day. This day is celebrated on an initiative by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for appreciation and support for poetry and poets from around the world.
8. The Epic is one of the earliest types of poetry. It consists of a long story (narrative) which includes many awesome heroic actions.
9. A stanza, originally contains 12 lines. A couplet is a two-line stanza, and a quatrain is a four line couplet.
10. Poetry is an outlet for our emotions. It doesn’t matter what kind of emotion it is. Poetry helps us define it in our hearts and reminds us that these words are a reminder of our expressions towards others, things, world, life or ourselves.
11. Poetry is a great way to improve your vocabulary. As you read poetry you will start to find more complex words that you’ve never heard of, same is with writing, you would like to find new words so you can mix those with your poetry. So, poetry will invoke your creativity and you will start to look for words to add to your vocabulary.
12. Poetry can be used to make your rap better. When comparing rap music vs. poetry, it’s important not to think in a negative way. Just because the mainstream media is broadcasting rap about guns, drugs, women and money it doesn’t mean that that should be your style of writing. There are a lot of underground artists trying to uplift our society and you should be one of them, just find a theme that challenges and inspires the mainstream society.
13. Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythm qualities of language!
14. Forms and conventions are used in poetry to suggest differential interpretation to words, or to evoke emotive responses!
15. The oldest poem in English is ”Beowulf”! It was written in the 8th century!
16. Aristotle's writings formed the basis for much of Western philosophy, covering everything from biology, zoology and metaphysics to ethics, government, and poetry. He divided poetry into the epic, the comic and the tragic – developing rules to distinguish each genre and the basis for future interpretations throughout the Middle East in the Islamic Golden Age and Europe during the Renaissance.
It was upon his philosophy that the three still-standing categories of poetry were established: lyric (expresses personal emotions, usually in the first person), dramatic (describes an event or situation, normally a story told out loud to teach something) and epic (covers topics around culture, patriotism or heroic deeds, typically a lengthy, character-led narrative).
17. While there are rules that help us define poetry, poetry is all about breaking protocol
Poets are the directors, the runners, the cast, the entire team – they decide and deliver every single element of their own work. Because poetry is such an autonomous act, it is often born from the depths of our souls and covers very personal material, becoming the movies of self – think of the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Frank O’Hara, and Don Paterson.
As such, there can be a loneliness in the process, as a poet chases the perfect way to express what they alone know and crystallise how they feel in words. That desire to encapsulate memories and emotions, which are often shapeshifting, means poems can be equally shapeshifting – a poem doesn’t have to rhyme, readers of poetry don’t need to pause at the end of every line – often you’re actually meant to push through onto the next line, and poetry is the only art form where there’s never really clarification as to whether the context is fiction or nonfiction. Poetry empowers you to adapt and to experiment.
18. Poetry can be a gateway to other creative arts
Poets are investigators who have been liberated from the conventions of language and social mores: changing patterns of language as they write, to change the metacognition of their audience as they read. They say all the world’s greatest thinkers do poetry – either writing it or reading it.
Not only that but, poetry is the basis of creation for many of the artworks, paintings, crafts, songs and music all around the world. Poetry also had been a way of rebellion in many protests and for encouraging the soldiers in wars in our history.
19. As a thinking, feeling, philosophical artist, you can use your poetry experience to deal with your internal world and free it from the seclusion of your soul, expressing yourself in the external world.
Poetry can be the breath that gives life to your own unique voice, becoming the foundation for understanding yourself as a creative being in the wider world. Many poets have simultaneously been philosophers (Friedrich Nietzsche), actors (Peter Sellers), authors (Maya Angelou), musicians (Leonard Cohen) and even politicians (Pablo Neruda) – and conversely they’ve also been some the most vital activists throughout history.
20. Poetry is a vehicle for social change
One of the earliest authors and poets ever known by name in world history, was early female philosopher and poet, Enheduanna (2354 BC) – but from what we know, it was extremely rare for women to be literate during this era. Poetry proved itself just as radical in the Women’s Movement of 1960; a decade when many women writers challenged traditional poetic form and subject matter, entering into feverish dialogue with the sexist and racist society around them, and mobilising the civil rights camp – especially in America.
To name just a few legendary poets of the time, there was Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Adrienne Rich, Muriel Rukeyser, and Audre Lorde. She was born in 1934 and died in 1992, but understood intersectional feminism way before it became the buzzword it is today, famously saying; “Those of us who are poor, who are lesbians, who are Black, who are older — know that survival is not an academic skill. It is learning how to take our differences and make them strengths. For the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” More than a hobby or a career, women like her saw it as their duty to bring an anger, an emotional precision to the table for the sake of survival, fuelling generations of literary activists, both male and female, to come.
Thank you for reading ♡
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The facts were taken from below sites:
https://www.interestingreality.com/10-interesting-facts-about-poetry/
https://www.factretriever.com/poetry-facts
https://www.city-academy.com/news/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-poetry/
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