What makes a poem a poem?

ThirdMan · 2014-04-10 13:44:05

I'm reading Heaney's translation of Beowulf at the moment, and if it was written in normal paragraphs it would be all the same to me. I have a 'prose poetry' of the The Illiad at home somewhere, but to me it reads the exact same as any of the 'verse' translations that I've read. I suppose in the grand scheme of things it…

10-04-2014 01:44PM

#1

ThirdMan

Closed Accounts Posts: 1,700 ✭✭✭

Join Date: June 2010

Posts: 1486

I'm reading Heaney's translation of Beowulf at the moment, and if it was written in normal paragraphs it would be all the same to me. I have a 'prose poetry' of the The Illiad at home somewhere, but to me it reads the exact same as any of the 'verse' translations that I've read. I suppose in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. The important thing is to enjoy them, but I'm just curious as to what exactly is going on.

0

Comments

#2 14-04-2014 01:49PM

Niall Keane

Closed Accounts Posts: 1,154 ✭✭✭

Join Date: November 2005

Posts: 1073

What differentiates the poetic from the prosaic!

0
#3 22-04-2014 06:44PM

SamAK

Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,094 ✭✭✭

Join Date: August 2013

Posts: 1088

For me, a poem is a poem when the writer strives to say as much as possible in as few words as possible.

0
#4 22-04-2014 07:02PM

Rory Gallagher

Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 292 ✭✭

Join Date: April 2013

Posts: 280

SamAK wrote: »

For me, a poem is a poem when the writer strives to say as much as possible in as few words as possible.

That's actually a good definition.

0