Narrative verse: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 10:36, 25 February 2006

Cuddon states that a narrative poem tells a story (566). There are three types of narrative poems: epic, romance, and ballad. Early examples of narrative poems are Gilgamesh, the Aeneid by Virgil, and Metamorphoses by Ovid. More recent examples are The Code by Robert Frost, Kazantzakis' The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, and Stephen Vincent Benet's John Brown's Body (Cuddon 569).

Epic

Abrams states that to be an epic, a work must meet at least these criteria: it is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in a formal style, and centered on heroic figure whose actions depends the fate of many people (81). Examples of great epics are Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

Romance

This form of narrative is principally a source of entertainment (Cuddon 758). These stories were written with elements of love, fantasy, adventure, and extravagance. Some popular works of romantic verse are Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory, Don Quixote by Cervantes, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Harmon and Holman believe this to be the most popular of the three narrative verses (444).

Ballad

This form of narrative verse tells a story and was a musical accompianment to a dance (Cuddon 71). There are certain characteristics to every ballad. They are:

the beginning is often abrupt
the language is simple
the story is told through dialogue and action
the theme is often tragic (though there are a number of comic ballads)
there is often a refrain (Cuddon 71)

There are two types of ballads: the folk or traditional and the literary.

Folk

This ballad is transmitted from singer to singer and is annonymous.

Literary

This type of ballad is not annonymous and is written down by the author as he writes it.

Literary Terms

Works Cited

Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.
Cuddon, J.A. The Pengiun Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. London: Penguin Books, 1999.
Harmon, William and Hugh Holman. Handbook To Literature. 7th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Books, 1996.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-==Narrative Verse==
+Cuddon states that a narrative poem tells a story (566). There are three types of narrative poems:  [[Epic Poetry|epic]], [[romance]], and [[ballad]]. Early examples of narrative poems are <i>[[Gilgamesh]]</i>, the <i>[[Aeneid]]</i> by [[Virgil]], and <i>[[Metamorphoses]]</i> by [[Ovid]].  More recent examples are ''The Code'' by Robert Frost, Kazantzakis' ''The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel'', and Stephen Vincent Benet's ''John Brown's Body'' (Cuddon 569).
-Cuddon states that narrative poem  tells a story (566).There are three types of narrative poems. They are epic, romance, and ballad. Early examples of narrative poems are Gilgamesh, the ''Aeneid'' by Virgil, and ''Metamorphoses'' by Ovid.  More recent examples are ''The Code'' by Robert Frost, Kazantzakis's ''The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel'', and Stephen Vincent Benet's ''John Brown's Body'' (569).
-===Epic===
+==Epic==
-Hornblower and Spawforth say that an epic is a long narrative poem. These tell the stories of heroes and warriors (1027). These often embody national pride in a lofty or grandiose manner(Cuddon 265).  Abrams says that to be an epic, an appilied work must meet at least these criteria: it is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in a formal style, and centered on heroic figure whose actions depends the fate of many people (81). Examples of great epics are Homer's ''Illiad'' and ''Odyssey''.
+Abrams states that to be an [[Epic Poetry|epic]], a work must meet at least these criteria: it is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in a formal style, and centered on heroic figure whose actions depends the fate of many people (81). Examples of great epics are [[Homer]]'s <i>[[Iliad]]</i> and <i>[[Odyssey]]</i>.
-===Romance===
+==Romance==
-This form of narrative is principally a source of entertainment (Cuddon 758). These stories were written with elements of love, fantasy, adventure and extravagance. Some popular works of romantic verse are ''Le Morte D'Arthur'' by Sir Thomas Mallory, ''Don Quixote'' by  Cervantes, and Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''. Harmon and Holman believe this to be the most popular of the three narrative verses (444).
+This form of narrative is principally a source of entertainment (Cuddon 758). These stories were written with elements of love, fantasy, adventure, and extravagance. Some popular works of romantic verse are ''Le Morte D'Arthur'' by Sir Thomas Mallory, ''Don Quixote'' by  Cervantes, and Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''. Harmon and Holman believe this to be the most popular of the three narrative verses (444).
-===Ballad===
+==Ballad==
-This form of narrative verse tells a story and was a musical accompianment to a dance (Cuddon 71). There are certain characteristics to every ballad. They are:(a) the beginning is often abrupt,(b) the language is simple,(c) the story is told through dialogue and action,(d) the theme is often tragic(though there are a number of comic ballads), and (e) there is often a refrain (Cuddon 71). There are two types of ballads. They are folk or traditional ballad and the literary ballad.
+This form of narrative verse tells a story and was a musical accompianment to a dance (Cuddon 71). There are certain characteristics to every ballad. They are:
-====folk====
-This type is transmitted from singer to singer and is annonymous.
+#the beginning is often abrupt
-====literary====
+#the language is simple
+#the story is told through dialogue and action
+#the theme is often tragic (though there are a number of comic ballads)
+#there is often a refrain (Cuddon 71)
+There are two types of ballads: the folk or traditional and the literary.
+===Folk===
+This ballad is transmitted from singer to singer and is annonymous.
+===Literary===
 This type of ballad is not annonymous and is written down by the author as he writes it.
+----
+[[Literary Terms]]
 ==Works Cited==
+*Abrams, M.H. ''A Glossary of Literary Terms''. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.
+*Cuddon, J.A. ''The Pengiun Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory''. London: Penguin Books, 1999.
+*Harmon, William and Hugh Holman. ''Handbook To Literature''. 7th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Books, 1996.
-Abrams, M.H. <u>A Glossary of Literary Terms</u>. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.
-Cuddon, J.A. <u>The Pengiun Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory</u>. London: Penguin Books, 1999.
-Harmon, William and Holman, Hugh. <u>Handbook To Literature</u>. 7th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Books, 1996.
+[[Category:Literary Terms]]