Poetrylive.co.nz https://poetrylive.co.nz Poetry - Types of poetry that tell a story Fri, 24 Dec 2021 06:03:00 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.7.11 https://poetrylive.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/sites/141/2021/10/cropped-icon-32x32.png Poetrylive.co.nz https://poetrylive.co.nz 32 32 Why Poets Love To Cycle https://poetrylive.co.nz/why-poets-love-to-cycle/ Fri, 24 Dec 2021 06:03:00 +0000 http://poetrylive.co.nz/?p=87 People who regularly write poetry will need to get out of the house from time to time. They may wish to engage in a hobby that encourages them to take breaks from their work. If so then cycling will likely be very appealing to them. The website AIM’N can supply these people with high quality bike shorts.

Staying Active

Sitting down to write poetry for long periods of time can lead to a number of health issues. Obesity is a very common one. If the person remains inactive then they will not be able to burn off excess calories. Cycling provides an ideal form of cardio. The poet could seek out AIM’N bike shorts because they offer plenty of comfort whilst looking stylish. The health of numerous people has been improved by simply going on a daily bicycle ride.

Being Amongst Nature

Occasionally the poet might end up in a creative rut. When this happens they can no longer think of what to write about. The natural landscape can provide an endless amount of inspiration. The iconic Romantic poets regularly wrote about the flowers and tress around them. Numerous cycle routes take riders through rural areas. It is a good idea for poets to check if there are any close to their own homes.

Meeting Other Poets

For some people cycling is a solitary activity. It allows them to clear their head. However, this hobby can also be social in nature. Poets can meet up and go out on rides together. Doing so allows them to catch up and give useful literary advice. They might even set each other challenges to write about their experience.

Competing

Many poets have a competitive personality. They may have enjoyed winning poetry writing contests in their youth. If these people need to take a break they can engage in cycling competitions. These events are designed to test the skills and endurance of riders. They can often be intense. However, there are also slower paced ones to enjoy. Many of them are used to raise money for worthy charitable causes.

A Cheap Hobby

It is very rare for people to earn a living from writing poetry. It is done more for recreational purposes. Therefore these people may not have a lot of money. Cycling has such universal appeal because it is a relatively cheap hobby. The high quality bike shorts from AIM’N are also very affordable. Poetry and cycling fans can save even more when they purchase these items during sale events.

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Storytelling in Epic Poems https://poetrylive.co.nz/storytelling-in-epic-poems/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 22:10:56 +0000 http://poetrylive.co.nz/?p=7

Epic is a literary genre that is comprised of long narrative poems that recount legendary stories centered around brave heroes and glorious deeds. The subject of these epics can be anything such as myths and fantasies, supernatural, religious writing, philosophical or moral tales. Epic poetry has been popular since ancient times and transcends borders or generations. They are passed down from generation to generation as a way of solidifying a nation’s history and principles. They can also have other central themes involving philosophy or moral lessons such as The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.

Epic poems can be both oral and written in nature. They have been sung in royal courts as entertainment for kings, used by generals before battle to instill patriotism and vigour in their soldiers, and have been sung by poets as past-time for the common people in theatres or public stalls. Fiction is important and enriching for the human soul, so it comes as no surprise why epic poems were popular even in ancient times. They had the ability to be eloquent, long, and detailed stories covering a wide range of topics.

These long poems were constructed with elaborate technical language with a large vocabulary that could put forth recurring ideas and themes. The primary purpose of these poems was to educate and entertain rather than record, hence the characters in them were often transformed into archetypes that confronted ideological patterns and fought dangerous mythological creatures. These central themes were either universal or specific to one nation or culture depending on where the poem originated from. Almost all ancient cultures had their own local version of epic stories was an important part of their folklore and cultural identity.

Some Examples

The European Epic tradition began with Iliad’s Homer and The Odyssey in Ancient Greece. They are an important read nowadays for aspiring poets as they served as one of the first epic storytelling techniques and carved a path for future poets to tell their own story in a similar form. The epic by Iliad recounts major historical events such as the building of Rome, the fall of Troy, etc. Its heroes and characters are very notable and well known all around the globe. Although epic poems are thought to mostly have historical settings, there are many epics that have contemporary settings and even science fiction that have become common now. Poetry novels can also be thought of as epic, with specific styles and techniques that are sustained over the entire writing.

There many other popular epics such as The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri and the Indian Mahabharata, the latter being the longest-running epic in the world with over 200,000 verse lines and is almost ten times the size of both Homer and The Odyssey combined.

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Epic of Gilgamesh https://poetrylive.co.nz/epic-of-gilgamesh/ Sat, 25 Sep 2021 23:56:00 +0000 http://poetrylive.co.nz/epic-of-gilgamesh/

The Epic of Gilgamesh is not just an epic poem but is also one of the first surviving notable literatures and religious texts being almost four thousand years old. This epic tale recounts the story and life of King Gilgamesh, Ruler of Uruk, and it begins from the Third Dynasty of Ur which is set around 2100 B.C. The full text of the epic is on 12 incomplete tablets found in the 19th century by a Turkish archeologist Hormuzd Rassam. Many versions of Gilgamesh’s tale use both Sumerian and Akkadian names for gods, which can tell how the story might have spread orally in ancient generations. It is also an interesting study of how two religious traditions combine over time.

The central theme of the story is focused on being a hero’s journey. At the start of the story, Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, is both a bad person and a bad king. His subjects are unhappy, he disrespects the gods and is generally unkind towards others. But Gilgamesh, like many protagonists, has divine parentage – a goddess mother and a human king father. Unfortunately for him, Gilgamesh remains a mortal and that is hard for him to accept adding more frustration to his personality.

Eventually, Gilgamesh has a number of crazy adventures. He chops down famous trees and meets his best friend Enkidu who helps him become a better man and a better king. Having grown close to his friend, when Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh travels to the underworld to try to bring him back. He fails, however, and must admit to himself that’s a human after all and has to come to terms with that fact. In the end, Gilgamesh is considered a hero, not just for his incredible deeds, but also for coming to understand and accept his true nature. This kind of introspection and self-growth over time has become an important part of a hero’s journey. Characters like Gilgamesh can serve as a symbol for an aspect of the human condition, the ability to move past mistakes and accept one’s limitations. And that’s what makes him a “hero” in the truest sense of the word, even if he wasn’t one at the beginning of the story. Not all heroes are born, some of them are made.

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The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer https://poetrylive.co.nz/the-iliad-and-the-odyssey-by-homer/ Mon, 02 Aug 2021 04:01:09 +0000 http://poetrylive.co.nz/the-iliad-and-the-odyssey-by-homer/

Since the beginning of Greek literature, two works have stood tall as the most widely recognised and revered piece of literature in the western world. They are The Illiad and The Odyssey by ancient Greek poet, Homer. Their estimated date is believed to be around the 8th century. They are primary examples of epic scale narratives that capture key historical events, spanning a long amount of time and countless characters.

The Illiad tells the story of hero Achilles. Having lived a short but brave and eventful life, Achilles embodies all Greek ideals that make men admirable. He was the strongest and most courageous warrior of Agamemnon’s army in the Trojan War that involved the fall of Troy. Achilles was firm but fair, and kind to those he deemed worthy of living but brutal to his enemies. Ultimately, The Illiad is a tragedy about Achilles’s life and the nature of war. It tells of how war crumbles majestic cities, brings about destruction, and sways the opinions of kings.

While The Illiad concerns itself with warrior Achilles, The Odyssey recounts the epic tale of another legendary Greek hero, Odysseus. He has been portrayed as a man of outstanding wit and eloquence, both resourceful and courageous. He is equipped with all the qualities that can make for a great story of reconciliation and recovery in the hero’s journey. His wanderings are the central theme of The Odyssey, which also tells of how he helped to capture the legendary city of Troy with the help of a wooden horse. When Agamemnon’s army was nearly defeated, they had the brilliant idea of sneaking into the city with the help of a massive wooden horse given as a gift to the people of Troy. This led to the famous fall of Troy which is recounted to this day.

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Ballad: Lyrical Poems https://poetrylive.co.nz/ballad-lyrical-poems/ Thu, 08 Jul 2021 09:26:02 +0000 http://poetrylive.co.nz/ballad-lyrical-poems/

Ballads used to be a major part of oral tradition as a way of entertainment and to recount fascinating stories. It was later on in medieval times that ballads started to become a written literary tradition. Ballads were mostly written like poems with a rhyming scheme and central theme that went along with the music. They can be thought of as lyrical poems or plot-driven songs. These types of poems worked best with a sense of emotional urgency and tragedy that ended with a dramatic conclusion. Ballads typically infused themes of romance, tragedy, or any other spectrum of emotions that have the ability to add a dramatic flair.

Ballads first started around the 12-13th century in Europe. They comprise four-line stanzas called quatrains. Ballads can be written in any number of ways and can be incredibly diverse with different rhyme schemes. They showed a rapid rise in popularity in the medieval Europe due to their ability to move hearts and sway emotions across a large audience. In fact, one of the most popular and longest poems is a lyrical ballad known as The Rime of the Ancient Marine, which tells the experience of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage.

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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner https://poetrylive.co.nz/the-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner/ Mon, 07 Jun 2021 08:11:08 +0000 http://poetrylive.co.nz/the-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner/

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a classic ballad that signified the move of British literature and poetry towards romance. It is the longest major poem in English and was written by the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798. The poem tells the story of a mariner who has returned from a very eventful and long drawn voyage. On his way to a wedding, the sailor stops a random man and starts to recount his experience from the beginning to the man. The wedding guest is reluctant at first but once the sailor’s story proves to be captivating, the wedding guest listens intently.

The sailor’s story concerns an albatross. While on their voyage, the sailor and his crew are helped by an albatross that guides them to safety through the dangerous path of the sea. The mariner then kills the helpless bird and his crewmates become furious, hanging the dead albatross around his neck as a sign of shame. They believe that this deed of the mariner has brought about a curse on the vessel. What follows is an unfortunate set of events that results in everyone but the mariner dying. The mariner is then rescued and is bound to wander forever recounting his unpleasant experience to others.

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Haiku: Short Poems https://poetrylive.co.nz/haiku-short-poems/ Tue, 18 May 2021 18:35:24 +0000 http://poetrylive.co.nz/haiku-short-poems/

Haiku is a very short poem that emphasizes conciseness and simplicity that first emerged in Japan in the 17th century. It is composed of three lines, with seventeen syllables written in 5/7/5 format. Although haiku emerged in the Japanese language, poems written in Haiku format in other languages are known as Haiku as well. Haikus were first used as opening phrases for stories in the 13th century but were eventually broken off into their own thing by Matsuo Basho.

The brevity of this type of poem helped poets quickly draw an image in the reader’s mind and also to get their points across. It has been used to write sudden words of enlightenment, draw provocative images and focus on short bursts of time to evoke emotional responses. Haiku has this unique ability because of its incredibly short length making it perfect to capture the attention of readers immediately. Haiku grew popular in other parts of the world after World War 2 and is written in a wide variety of languages today. Perhaps the oldest and most well-known haiku is “Basho’s old pond”:

old pond

frog leaps in

water’s sound

Basho helped evolve the art of haiku by breaking it off from the longer form Japanese poems known as renga. Haiku is derived from the word hokku, which is simply the initial stanza of a renga. The hokku was used to set the tone, time, or setting of the poem. Haiku’s broad appeal and easy readability helped popularise it not just in Japan but worldwide.

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How to Write a Haiku Poem https://poetrylive.co.nz/how-to-write-a-haiku-poem/ Fri, 02 Apr 2021 09:08:16 +0000 http://poetrylive.co.nz/how-to-write-a-haiku-poem/

Haiku is easy to read and write, and that’s what makes it so perfect to quickly put one’s thoughts or ideas on paper. Anybody can learn to write as the composition of Haiku is pretty simple. They can help hone a person’s creative writing skills as they don’t require a big-time investment like other writing ventures such as short stories or longer poems. Things to keep in mind while writing a Haiku include:

Decide the Format of the Haiku

Haikus can be the traditional 5/7/5 syllable or can be more experimental in nature with a different number of syllables. It would depend on what the Haiku is meant to convey or illicit. If the Haiku is written in English, then it will be broken up into three lines.

Choose the Subject Matter

One of the best methods to choose a haiku topic is by paying attention to the smallest of things in one’s environment. The most common theme in Haiku is nature, so it can be something as simple as leaves falling or birds chirping. Haikus tend to be about simple elements in everyday life.

Short Phrases to Set the Mood

Using short, powerful phrases that symbolise something can work wonders and evoke strong images.

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