Lyric poetry

Lyric Poetry (1896) Henry Oliver Walker, in the Library of Congress's Thomas Jefferson Building.

Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.[1] The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, the Greek lyric, which was defined by its musical accompaniment, usually on an instrument known as a kithara, a seven-stringed lyre (hence "lyric"). These three are not equivalent, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode and Ancient Greek lyric poetry was principally chanted verse.[a][2]

The term owes its importance in literary theory to the division developed by Aristotle among three broad categories of poetry: lyrical, dramatic, and epic. Lyric poetry is one of the earliest forms of literature.

  1. ^ Scott, Clive (1990). Vers Libre: The emergence of free verse in France, 1886–1914. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780198151593.
  2. ^ Miller, Andrew (1996). Greek Lyric: An anthology in translation. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing. pp. xii ff. ISBN 978-087220291-7. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2015.


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