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Lyric Poetry

Also Known As Lyric Verse
Lyric and Short Poetic Forms

A genre of poetry expressing the personal feeling or reflection of a single speaker, as distinct from narrative poetry's telling of a story or dramatic poetry's staged dialogue. Its name derives from the ancient Greek practice of singing such poems to the lyre, and short fixed forms are especially associated with it across traditions, the sonnet in the European tradition and the haiku in the Japanese. Because it centers a speaking voice rather than a plot, lyric poetry is the genre most closely tied to particular formal structures, meter, rhyme and line, that a reader is expected to recognize as much as any subject matter.

Facts
Place of Origin
Ancient Greece 1
Notable Example
Sappho's surviving fragments 1
Defining Trait
A formal type of poetry that expresses personal emotion or feeling, typically spoken in a first-person voice. 1
Defining Trait
Mood and Effect 2
Lyric Poetry
Filter Results12 entries
FAQs

Why did Aristotle matter to the idea of lyric poetry?

His three-way division of poetry into lyrical, dramatic and epic gave the term its place in literary theory.

Aristotle divided poetry into three broad categories, lyrical, dramatic and epic, and that division is the reason the term carries so much importance in literary theory. Lyric poetry is also described as one of the earliest forms of literature. The word itself comes from Greek lyric, a form defined by its musical accompaniment, usually on a seven-stringed lyre known as a kithara.
Connections

Associated With

Renga, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Limerick, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics

Encompasses Form

The Found Poem, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Ghazal, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Haiku, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Kyrielle, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Lai, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Marsiya, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Muwashshah, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Ode, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Pantoum, Forms
Source Pantoum (Wikipedia)
The Praise Poem, Forms
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Qasida, Forms
Source Qasida (Wikipedia)
The Rondeau, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Rubaiyat, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Sestina, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Sonnet, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Subhashita, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Tanaga, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Tanka, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Triolet, Forms
The Villancico, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Villanelle, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Virelai, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Zajal, Forms
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Torneyamen, Genres
Viadera, Genres
Waiata, Forms
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Showing 51 to 79 of 79 in Encompasses Form, page 2 of 2.

Features Author

Source Adam de la Halle (Wikipedia)
Source Alexander Blok (Wikipedia)
Source Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Wikipedia)
Ariel, Works
Source Ariel (poetry collection) (Wikipedia)
Source Because I Could Not Stop for Death (Wikipedia)
Source Bertran de Born (Wikipedia)
Buch der Lieder, Works
Source Buch der Lieder (Wikipedia)
Canzoniere, Works
Source Wikipedia: Il Canzoniere
Catullus, Authors
Source Diego de San Pedro (Wikipedia)
Divan-e Hafez, Works
Source Wikidata: Divan-e Hafez
Duino Elegies, Works
Source Duino Elegies (Wikipedia)
Enheduanna, Authors
Source France Prešeren (Wikipedia)
Gedichte, Works
Source Georges Brassens (Wikipedia)
Gitanjali, Works
Source Gitanjali (Wikipedia)
Hafez, Authors
Holy Sonnets, Works
Source Holy Sonnets (Wikipedia)
Horace, Authors
Source Horace (Wikipedia)
Howl, Works
Source Howl (poem) (Wikipedia)
Hwang Jini, Authors
Jaufre Rudel, Authors
Source Jaufre Rudel (Wikipedia)
Kubla Khan, Works
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Leaves of Grass, Works
Source Leaves of Grass (Wikipedia)
Source Les Fleurs du mal (Wikipedia)
Lord Byron, Authors
Source Lord Byron (Wikipedia)
Lyrical Ballads, Works
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Mirza Ghalib, Authors
Source Notebook of a Return to the Native Land (Wikipedia)
Petrarch, Authors

Canzoniere already in-genre Lyric Poetry; Petrarch himself carried no in-genre edge to it.

Source Wikipedia: Petrarch
Pigments, Works
Source Leon Damas (Wikipedia)
Pindar, Authors
Source Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Wikipedia)
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Sappho, Authors
Source Sergei Yesenin (Wikipedia)

A narrative ballad rather than a pure lyric, but anthologized under lyric poetry with the rest of Lyrical Ballads; see the Ballad form entry for the distinction.

Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
The Weary Blues, Works
Source The Weary Blues (Wikipedia)
Source They Flee from Me (Wikipedia)
Tristan Tzara, Authors
Source Tristan Tzara (Wikipedia)
Source Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (Wikipedia)
Source William IX of Aquitaine (Wikipedia)
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics

Form Of Genre

Poetry, Genres

Subgenres

Alba, Genres
Source Alba (poetry) (Wikipedia)
Arlabecca, Genres
Source Wikipedia: Arlabecca
Dansa, Genres
Source Dansa - Wikipedia
Descort, Genres
Source Wikipedia: Descort
Devinalh, Genres
Source Wikipedia: Devinalh
Enuig, Genres
Source Wikipedia: Enuig
Partimen, Genres
Source Wikipedia: Partimen
Pastorela, Genres
Source Wikipedia: Pastorela
Serena, Genres
Source Serena (genre) - Wikipedia
Sirventes, Genres
Source Sirventes - Wikipedia
Torneyamen, Genres
Source Torneyamen - Wikipedia
Viadera, Genres
Source Viadera - Wikipedia
In the Other Atlases

Originated In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poeticstier 1
Sources
1. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Princeton University Press
  • s.v. Lyric
    a formal type of poetry that expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in a first-person narrative
  • Lyric entry
  • Encompasses Form: The Sonnet
  • Encompasses Form: The Haiku
  • Encompasses Form: The Ode, s.v. Ode
  • Encompasses Form: The Elegy, s.v. Elegy
  • Encompasses Form: The Epigram, s.v. Epigram
  • Encompasses Form: The Sestina, s.v. Sestina
  • Encompasses Form: The Villanelle, s.v. Villanelle
  • Encompasses Form: The Ghazal, s.v. Ghazal
  • Encompasses Form: The Tanka, s.v. Tanka
  • Encompasses Form: Free Verse, s.v. Free Verse
  • Encompasses Form: The Ballad
  • Features Author: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
  • Features Author: Kubla Khan
  • Features Author: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • Features Author: William Wordsworth
  • Associated With: The Limerick, Fourth Edition, s.v. Limerick
  • Encompasses Form: The Rondeau, Fourth Edition, s.v. Rondeau
  • Associated With: Renga, Fourth Edition, s.v. Renga
  • Encompasses Form: Sijo, Fourth Edition, s.v. Sijo
  • Encompasses Form: The Rubaiyat, Fourth Edition, s.v. Ruba'i
  • Encompasses Form: The Spenserian Sonnet
  • Encompasses Form: The Curtal Sonnet
  • Encompasses Form: The Ballade
  • Encompasses Form: The Virelai
  • Encompasses Form: The Chant Royal
  • Encompasses Form: The Kyrielle
  • Encompasses Form: The Lai
  • Encompasses Form: The Villancico
  • Encompasses Form: The Decima
  • Encompasses Form: The Canzone
  • Encompasses Form: Choka
  • Encompasses Form: Sedoka
  • Encompasses Form: Qit'a
  • Encompasses Form: The Muwashshah
  • Encompasses Form: The Zajal
  • Encompasses Form: The Marsiya
  • Encompasses Form: Skaldic Verse
  • Encompasses Form: The Doha
  • Encompasses Form: The Subhashita
  • Encompasses Form: The Englyn
  • Encompasses Form: The Tanaga
  • Encompasses Form: The Found Poem
  • Encompasses Form: The Erasure Poem
  • Encompasses Form: The Cut-up
2. Lyric poetry (Wikipedia)
  • Lead paragraph, defining sentence
    Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry that expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in a first-person narrative.
  • In Group: Broad Poetic Kinds and Classical Modes, Lead
    Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry that expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in a first-person narrative.
View the Source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
  • Features Author: Lyrical Ballads
  • Encompasses Form: Shi (Chinese Classical Poetry)
  • Encompasses Form: Ci (Chinese Lyric Meter)
  • Encompasses Form: Hyangga
  • Encompasses Form: Gasa
  • Encompasses Form: The Corrido
  • Encompasses Form: The Praise Poem
  • Encompasses Form: Waiata
View the Source
Qasida (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Encompasses Form: The Qasida, s.v. Qasida, StructureView the Source
Ariel (poetry collection) (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Features Author: Ariel, Lead, opening
Quote, Features Author: Ariel, Lead, opening
It was first released in 1965, two years after her death by suicide.
View the Source
Pantoum (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Encompasses Form: The PantoumView the Source
Concrete Poetry (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationEncompasses Form: Concrete Poetry
Quote, Encompasses Form: Concrete Poetry
Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance.
View the Source
Prose Poetry (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationEncompasses Form: Prose Poetry
Quote, Encompasses Form: Prose Poetry
Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form while otherwise deferring to poetic devices to make meaning.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Il Canzoniere
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Canzoniere, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: Canzoniere, Lead section
Of its 366 poems, the vast majority are in sonnet form (317)
View the Source
Wikipedia: Petrarch
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Features Author: Petrarch, Introductory section, model for lyrical poetry
Quote, Features Author: Petrarch, Introductory section, model for lyrical poetry
Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry.
View the Source
Gitanjali (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Gitanjali, Lead section, genre
Quote, Features Author: Gitanjali, Lead section, genre
is a collection of poems by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore
View the Source
Because I Could Not Stop for Death (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Lead section, genre
Quote, Features Author: Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Lead section, genre
is a lyrical poem by Emily Dickinson
View the Source
Duino Elegies (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Duino Elegies, Infobox, Genre field
Quote, Features Author: Duino Elegies, Infobox, Genre field
Elegy
View the Source
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, Lead section, genre
Quote, Features Author: Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, Lead section, genre
poetry collection by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda
View the Source
Buch der Lieder (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Buch der Lieder, Content section, thematic focus
Quote, Features Author: Buch der Lieder, Content section, thematic focus
142 of the 237 poems deal with unrequited love
View the Source
Holy Sonnets (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Holy Sonnets, Lead section, form
Quote, Features Author: Holy Sonnets, Lead section, form
written predominantly in the style and form prescribed by Renaissance Italian poet Petrarch
View the Source
Howl (poem) (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Howl, Infobox, Genre field
Quote, Features Author: Howl, Infobox, Genre field
Beat poetry, LGBTQ poetry
View the Source
Leaves of Grass (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Leaves of Grass, Infobox, Genre field
Quote, Features Author: Leaves of Grass, Infobox, Genre field
Poetry
View the Source
Les Fleurs du mal (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Les Fleurs du mal, Infobox, Genre field
Quote, Features Author: Les Fleurs du mal, Infobox, Genre field
Lyric poetry
View the Source
Notebook of a Return to the Native Land (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Notebook of a Return to My Native Land, Lead section, genre
Quote, Features Author: Notebook of a Return to My Native Land, Lead section, genre
a book-length poem
View the Source
Leon Damas (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Pigments, Biography section, genre
Quote, Features Author: Pigments, Biography section, genre
In 1937, Damas published his first volume of poetry, Pigments.
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Infobox, Genre field
Quote, Features Author: Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Infobox, Genre field
Poetry
View the Source
The Weary Blues (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: The Weary Blues, Infobox, Genre field
Quote, Features Author: The Weary Blues, Infobox, Genre field
African-American poetry, Jazz poetry
View the Source
They Flee from Me (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationFeatures Author: They Flee from Me, Infobox, Genre field
Quote, Features Author: They Flee from Me, Infobox, Genre field
Poem by Thomas Wyatt
View the Source
Horace (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Horace, Lead, first sentence
Quote, Features Author: Horace, Lead, first sentence
the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus
View the Source
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Lead
Quote, Features Author: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Lead
Tennyson also focused on short lyrics
View the Source
Lord Byron (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Lord Byron, Lead, second sentence [in-genre 2]
Quote, Features Author: Lord Byron, Lead, second sentence [in-genre 2]
many of his shorter lyrics in Hebrew Melodies also became popular
View the Source
William IX of Aquitaine (Wikipedia)
Features Author: William IX of Aquitaine, Lead paragraph 2
Quote, Features Author: William IX of Aquitaine, Lead paragraph 2
he is best known as the earliest troubadour-a vernacular lyric poet in the Occitan language-by whom some work survives
View the Source
Bertran de Born (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Bertran de Born, Lead paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Bertran de Born, Lead paragraph
He composed love songs (cansos) but was better known for his political songs (sirventes)
View the Source
Jaufre Rudel (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Jaufre Rudel, Lead, final paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Jaufre Rudel, Lead, final paragraph
Seven of Rudel's poems have survived to the present day, four of them with music.
View the Source
Adam de la Halle (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Adam de la Halle, Wikipedia, Lead
Quote, Features Author: Adam de la Halle, Wikipedia, Lead
chansons and jeux-partis (poetic debates) in the style of the trouvères
View the Source
Diego de San Pedro (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Diego de San Pedro, English Wikipedia article text
Quote, Features Author: Diego de San Pedro, English Wikipedia article text
cancionero verse, a type of lyric poetry
View the Source
France Prešeren (Wikipedia)
Features Author: France Prešeren, Lead, fourth paragraph
Quote, Features Author: France Prešeren, Lead, fourth paragraph
His lyric poetry dealt with the love towards his homeland
View the Source
Georges Brassens (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Georges Brassens, Lead, second paragraph
Quote, Features Author: Georges Brassens, Lead, second paragraph
He achieved fame through his elegant songs, characterised by harmonically complex music for voice and guitar, as well as articulate and diverse lyrics.
View the Source
Viadera - Wikipedia
Subgenres: Viadera, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Viadera, Lead paragraph
was a lyric genre of Catalan and Occitan literature
View the Source
Alba (poetry) (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationSubgenres: Alba, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Alba, Lead paragraph
is a genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry
View the Source
Wikipedia: Arlabecca
Subgenres: Arlabecca, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Arlabecca, Lead paragraph
was a genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry
View the Source
Wikipedia: Descort
Subgenres: Descort, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Descort, Lead paragraph
was a form and genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry
View the Source
Wikipedia: Devinalh
Subgenres: Devinalh, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Devinalh, Lead paragraph
was a genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry
View the Source
Wikipedia: Enuig
Subgenres: Enuig, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Enuig, Lead paragraph
is a genre of lyric poetry practised by the troubadours
View the Source
Sirventes - Wikipedia
Subgenres: Sirventes, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Sirventes, Lead paragraph
was a genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry
View the Source
Torneyamen - Wikipedia
Subgenres: Torneyamen, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Torneyamen, Lead paragraph
was a lyric genre of the troubadours
View the Source
Dansa - Wikipedia
Subgenres: Dansa, Lead paragraph
Quote, Subgenres: Dansa, Lead paragraph
was an Old Occitan form of lyric poetry
View the Source
Wikipedia: Partimen
Subgenres: Partimen, Lead paragraph, sentence naming the parent genre
Quote, Subgenres: Partimen, Lead paragraph, sentence naming the parent genre
It is a genre of Occitan lyric poetry composed between two troubadours, a subgenre of the tenso or cobla exchange in which one poet presents a dilemma in the form of a question and the two debate the answer, each taking up a different side.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Pastorela
Subgenres: Pastorela, Lead paragraph, sentence naming the parent genre
Quote, Subgenres: Pastorela, Lead paragraph, sentence naming the parent genre
The pastorela (Old Occitan: [pastuˈɾɛla], "little/young shepherdess") was an Occitan lyric genre used by the troubadours.
View the Source
Serena (genre) - Wikipedia
Subgenres: Serena, Lead paragraph, sentence naming the parent genre
Quote, Subgenres: Serena, Lead paragraph, sentence naming the parent genre
The serena (evening song) is a minor Old Occitan lyric genre.
View the Source
Sergei Yesenin (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Sergei Yesenin, Lead, lyric poet
Quote, Features Author: Sergei Yesenin, Lead, lyric poet
was a Russian lyric poet
View the Source
Alexander Blok (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Alexander Blok, Lead, lyrical poet
Quote, Features Author: Alexander Blok, Lead, lyrical poet
was the best-known lyrical poet during the Silver Age of Russian Poetry
View the Source
Wikidata: Divan-e Hafez
Features Author: Divan-e Hafez, Infobox, genre field
Quote, Features Author: Divan-e Hafez, Infobox, genre field
Genre: Lyric literature
View the Source
Tristan Tzara (Wikipedia)
Features Author: Tristan Tzara, Infobox, genre field
Quote, Features Author: Tristan Tzara, Infobox, genre field
Genre: Lyric poetry, epic poetry, free verse, prose poetry, parody, satire, utopian fiction
View the Source
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