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The Art of Poetry; Monday, First Period [01/10].
Monday, January 10th, 2022 03:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sake_shinigamiAs the students could probably expect each week, the classroom was set up with comfy cushions and a pot of tea on a small, low table at the center (this week, a nice, classic golden tippy Assam), along with a few copies of four different poems.
"Welcome back, ducklings ♥," Shunsui said, once the students were settled and he'd poured tea into each of the cups, then settled back with his own. "I hope your week has treated you well, and, if not, well...then I hope we can spend the next hour or so forgetting all of that, enjoying some tea, and talking about poetry ♥. Specifically, I'd like to go back today...way, way bad...before even my own time...and discuss the origins of poetry, at least in this world. Now, of course, there is no way of knowing what the very first beautiful poetic words uttered and shared by ancient humans truly were, unless I were to go dredging up some very old Souls in my own world to ask them, as poetry no doubt slipped through the lips of people well before they ever developed a form of writing that could be passed down in a way that we, today, could even understand it. So when humans finally manage to chisel out and scribble down marks that we now know as written language, written poetry was not far to follow, as another way remember these stories that had, previously, been recited by memory and habit.
"Epic poetry, in particular, became particularly sturdy in being remembered through the ages, of which we have many examples of today ♥. Before you, I have a few abridged copies of some of the biggest hitters: the Epic of Gilgamesh from ancient Mesopotamia is generally regarded as the oldest of the bunch, of an ancient king's search for immortality after the death of a friend. And of course, there is the Odyssey, an ancient Greek tale of a man's long and arduous journey home after a war, which had it's own poetic retelling in its companion piece, the Iliad. The Mahabharata comes to us from ancient India and just so happens to hold the title of the longest of these poems currently known, detailing the messy embroilments of two families and their struggles against each other for power. Beowulf comes in quite a bit later, but is in the spirit of the other two, detailing a man's attempt to seek out a monster plaguing the land, and is considered not only one of the best Old English poems, but also one of the first known European version of this type of poem, thus easily earning a spot on this list.
"A list that, truly, could go on, but I felt these four were a strong example of the types of poetry we're discussing today, from a variety of different origins. I do encourage you to have a closer look at them in your free time, if you wish, but we'll certainly not be doing an in-depth analysis here. Instead, I wanted us to focus a little bit on how they are structured and written and to what purpose. And, of course, I could spend all day telling you both about that, but I'd say it's much more fun to hear what you might have to say about the matter, neh ♥? You'll notice that, despite the different origins of languages, there are similar structures to the way these epic poems are constructed: many small clumps of stansas and sections, relatively short lines, and, the more you read, you might notice repetition throughout, frequently used phrases or similar structures in the way the lines are constructed. Why do you think that is? Do you see any other similiarities as you skim through the poems? What of the subject matter? What do you think was the purpose of these tales, and why do you suppose they resonated enough with the human psyche to be carried on through thousands of years, mmm?
"When we're finished, I'd like you to try taking a stab at crafting your own epic poems, but, before we get into all that...let's discuss ♥."
"Welcome back, ducklings ♥," Shunsui said, once the students were settled and he'd poured tea into each of the cups, then settled back with his own. "I hope your week has treated you well, and, if not, well...then I hope we can spend the next hour or so forgetting all of that, enjoying some tea, and talking about poetry ♥. Specifically, I'd like to go back today...way, way bad...before even my own time...and discuss the origins of poetry, at least in this world. Now, of course, there is no way of knowing what the very first beautiful poetic words uttered and shared by ancient humans truly were, unless I were to go dredging up some very old Souls in my own world to ask them, as poetry no doubt slipped through the lips of people well before they ever developed a form of writing that could be passed down in a way that we, today, could even understand it. So when humans finally manage to chisel out and scribble down marks that we now know as written language, written poetry was not far to follow, as another way remember these stories that had, previously, been recited by memory and habit.
"Epic poetry, in particular, became particularly sturdy in being remembered through the ages, of which we have many examples of today ♥. Before you, I have a few abridged copies of some of the biggest hitters: the Epic of Gilgamesh from ancient Mesopotamia is generally regarded as the oldest of the bunch, of an ancient king's search for immortality after the death of a friend. And of course, there is the Odyssey, an ancient Greek tale of a man's long and arduous journey home after a war, which had it's own poetic retelling in its companion piece, the Iliad. The Mahabharata comes to us from ancient India and just so happens to hold the title of the longest of these poems currently known, detailing the messy embroilments of two families and their struggles against each other for power. Beowulf comes in quite a bit later, but is in the spirit of the other two, detailing a man's attempt to seek out a monster plaguing the land, and is considered not only one of the best Old English poems, but also one of the first known European version of this type of poem, thus easily earning a spot on this list.
"A list that, truly, could go on, but I felt these four were a strong example of the types of poetry we're discussing today, from a variety of different origins. I do encourage you to have a closer look at them in your free time, if you wish, but we'll certainly not be doing an in-depth analysis here. Instead, I wanted us to focus a little bit on how they are structured and written and to what purpose. And, of course, I could spend all day telling you both about that, but I'd say it's much more fun to hear what you might have to say about the matter, neh ♥? You'll notice that, despite the different origins of languages, there are similar structures to the way these epic poems are constructed: many small clumps of stansas and sections, relatively short lines, and, the more you read, you might notice repetition throughout, frequently used phrases or similar structures in the way the lines are constructed. Why do you think that is? Do you see any other similiarities as you skim through the poems? What of the subject matter? What do you think was the purpose of these tales, and why do you suppose they resonated enough with the human psyche to be carried on through thousands of years, mmm?
"When we're finished, I'd like you to try taking a stab at crafting your own epic poems, but, before we get into all that...let's discuss ♥."