examples of lyrrical verse drama
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Lyric poetry is one of three main genres of poetry. The other two are dramatic and narrative. Nowadays, poetry has evolved to where it's difficult to contain it to these three categories. Yet, it's always best to understand the basic constructs within this expanding universe of lyrical beauty.
Examples of lyric poetry abound; the category encompasses sonnets, ballads, odes and more. You won't be surprised to learn that Shakespeare was adept at this art form. In the examples below, we'll explore some of his work, as well as some other lyrical masters.
Lyric Poetry
"Lyric" comes from the Latin word "lyricus," meaning "of/for the lyre." These short poems were originally accompanied by music. So in lyric poetry, the mood is melodic and emotional. The writer uses words that express his or her state of mind, perceptions, and feelings, rather than tell a story. A lyric poem is usually written in the first person. Some of the best examples of lyric poetry come from Italian and English sonnets. Let's take a closer look.
William Shakespeare
Let's start with an English sonnet by none other than William Shakespeare. Here's his famous "Sonnet Number 18:"
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.
Edmund Waller
"Go, Lovely Rose" by Edmund Waller is a famed example of a lyrical love poem, in which the poet speaks to the rose he is sending to his love:
Go, lovely Rose-
Tell her that wastes her time and me,
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.
Tell her that's young,
And shuns to have her graces spied,
That hadst thou sprung
In deserts where no men abide,
Thou must have uncommended died.
Small is the worth
Of beauty from the light retired:
Bid her come forth,
Suffer herself to be desired,
And not blush so to be admired.
Then die-that she
The common fate of all things rare
May read in thee;
How small a part of time they share
That are so wondrous sweet and fair!
James DeFord
Many lyric poems are about love, although they can be about anything which stirs the emotions. "Italian Sonnet" by James DeFord, is a good depiction of this:
Turn back the heart you've turned away
Give back your kissing breath
Leave not my love as you have left
The broken hearts of yesterday
But wait, be still, don't lose this way
Affection now, for what you guess
May be something more, could be less
Accept my love, live for today.
Emily Dickinson
Here's a lyric poem written by Emily Dickinson. It's titled "I Felt a Funeral in my Brain." Painfully, it describes a person who is going insane, or at least thinks they are:
I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading - treading - till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through -
And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a
Drum -Kept beating - beating - till I thought
My Mind was going numb -
And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space - began to toll,
As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange
Race Wrecked, solitary, here -
And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down -
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing - then -
Dramatic Poetry
Now you're familiar with examples of lyric poetry, let's compare it to the other two branches of poetry's tree, dramatic and narrative poetry.
Dramatic poetry is written in blank verse and is meant to be spoken. Its main purpose is to tell a story or describe an event in an interesting and descriptive way.
Sure to taste sweetly, -- is that poison too?