What Is Poetry?

Fio had a great time participating in a poetry panel last night at her local writers' league. Of course, the eternal question came up--how to decide what is and is not poetry.

Originally all literature was poetry, one might say, because it was in a set form that people could remember easily, with rhythm predominant. After all, the printing press hadn't been invented yet and there weren't any paperbacks on the market. The Iliad, The Oddyssy, Snom's Edda, Beowulf, the Rg Veda--all are in set forms. In Shakespeare's play, the upper classes all spoke in iambic pentameter, even when contemplating their own immediate demises.

Enter free verse, which is defined by eschewing set patterns of rhythm and, usually, of rhyme, yet few people would say it shouldn't be labeled "poetry."

When Fio was in the classroom, she got desperate and defined poetry as anything with right hand ragged margins. Then came the prose poem, which is written in standard paragraphs.

Fio is throwing is the taxonomy towel. Call it whatever the heck you want.