The History Of Poetry From The First Works
Poetry is as old a part of human communication as any effort to express something defiant of literal description. Every world culture has developed some form of poetry, with or without music. They revered those skilled in its expression.
While written records of some of the most ancient poems exist, they all began as oral presentations. The authors of the Sumerian “Gilgamesh” epic, or “Innana, Queen of Heaven” – two of the world’s oldest poems – recited them from memory. Homer did the same with “The Odyssey” and “ The Illiad”. Audiences went to hear the poet as much as the story.
Most ancient poetry had its roots in religion. While Robert Graves’ book “The White Goddess” traces all European poetry back to pagan beliefs of a mystic lady, the ancient Anglo Saxon epic “Beowulf” still sets a pattern for many language techniques in English poetry. It does so while encompassing features of Western heroic traditions that persist in most movies today.
What we now consider poetry has changed greatly because of the printing press and the advance in literacy it created. Distribution of printed material kept Shakespeare’s work alive, and made Longfellow the all-time bestselling writer of his day. Even then, more people heard his poems read than could read them. Greater literacy turned poetry into the less communal and more personal, introspective, and quiet experience it has become today.More info here: Falling Upon Silence
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