Poetry

Poetry is imaginative literature, especially in forms that use medium of verse. The term poetry as applied to all imaginative literature originates from the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who applied the definition of "imitations of actions" to the term poems. Aristotle's definition separated poems from historical, philosophical, and scientific literature. In this definition poetry can include short stories and novels, but only excludes historical, philosophical, and scientific work when written in verse. The modern definition of poetry does not exclude these works of literature, and applies to all written verse.

The primary forms of poetry are as follows:
Narrative poetry which includes literature that tells a story through narration and description.
In narrative poetry the most dominant form is epic which includes extended poems telling a story of complete action. The other important form of narrative poem is the ballad which includes short narrative poems that are set to music and sung. Less dominant forms include prose forms as the novel, short story, and romance which are all derived from the ballad and epic forms.

Dramatic poetry which tells a story through the speech of the characters themselves.
The common forms of dramatic poems include comedy, tragedy, and tragic comedy.

Lyric poetry which applies mainly to brief poems, especially poems that contain a series of thoughts, sensations, or emotions without telling a story.
Lyric poems are often in the form of ode, hymn, elegy, canzone, or sonnet.

Didactic poetry which includes poems that serve only to teach, or contain some lesson.
Didactic poems are generally satirical, or contain extended description. In the modern term it includes historical, philosophical, and scientific poems written in verse.

Poetry must follow the form appropriate to the feelings expressed, and subject matter. Words are generally applied for their sound as well as their meaning. Many poems take careful consideration of the relationship of the sounds of the words to one another. The common considerations of the poet include rhyme, assonance, and alliteration. Many poems also apply words in a manner that creates a rise or fall to their rhythm, and are referred to as metrical verse or unmetrical verse, or free verse.

Common in poetry is the use of figurative language. The primary forms of figurative language found in poems include metaphors, simile, and allegory.