Some short notes about poetry

By Cvijeta Miljak — 

about poetry, from Wikipedia 16.1.2008

Poetry (from the Greek "???????", poiesis, a "making" or "creating") is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning.

Poetry often uses particular forms and conventions to expand the literal meaning of the words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses.

Poetry’s use of stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations and creates a resonance between otherwise disparate images—a layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived.

Some forms of poetry are specific to particular cultures and genres, responding to the characteristics of the language in which the poet writes.

Archibald MacLeish concludes his paradoxical poem, "Ars Poetica," with the lines: "A poem should not mean / but be."

Postmodernism goes beyond modernism’s emphasis on the creative role of the poet, to emphasize the role of the reader of a text, and to highlight the complex cultural web within which a poem is read.