Major forms
Poetry
A calligram by Guillaume Apollinaire. These are a type of
poem in which the written words are arranged in such a way to produce a visual
image.
Poetry is a form of
literary art which uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities
of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, prosaic ostensible
meaning.[12] Poetry
has traditionally been distinguished from prose by its
being set in verse;[a] prose
is cast in sentences, poetry in lines;
the syntax of
prose is dictated by meaning, whereas that of poetry is held across meter or
the visual aspects of the poem.[17] Prior
to the 19th century, poetry was commonly understood to be something set in
metrical lines; accordingly, in 1658 a definition of poetry is "any kind
of subject consisting of Rhythm or Verses".[12] Possibly
as a result of Aristotle's influence (his Poetics), "poetry" before the
19th century was usually less a technical designation for verse than a
normative category of fictive or rhetorical art.[18] As
a form it may pre-date literacy, with the earliest works being composed within and
sustained by an oral tradition;[19][20] hence
it constitutes the earliest example of literature.
