Essay on "Lyric"_Literary Forms and Criticism

Literary Forms and Criticism

Unit-I: POETRY

“Lyric”

INTRODUCTION

Definition:

A type of poetry marked by emotion, melody, imagination and a unified effect. Lyric is any fairly short poem, uttered by a single speaker, who expresses a state of mind or a process of perception, thought, and feeling. Many lyric speakers are represented as musing in solitude. In dramatic lyrics, however, the lyric speaker is represented as addressing another person in a specific situation; instances are John Donne’s “Canonization” and William Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey.”

In fact the word is also used in music to denote “lines of a song”. The term “lyric” includes any types of poems with the very general qualities of being personal and emotional in expression, being meditative, and being musical: so sonnets, elegies and metaphysical poems, romantic poems and even ballads and odes may be ‘lyrical’. The word ‘lyric’ is related to expression and not form. Most lyrics are meditation on loneliness by the poet, but lyric can also be dramatic if it is addressed to a specific person. For example, John Donne’s “Canonization” is also a lyric in expression, though it is also dramatic due to its use of ‘monologue’. And though the lyric is spoken by an “I”, it need not be the poet himself: we should understand the lyric in terms of an imaginary speaker or character. Love is a common topic for poems with the lyrical manner of expression, but death and other emotionally engaging subjects can also be the subjects of a lyrical poem. And romantic poems which are personal poems with the spontaneous kind of expression are also usually lyrics. The poem “Break Break Break” is also a typical lyric because it is the personal and emotional expression of the poet’s feelings in the form of a meditation. It is partly dramatic due to its direct address to the cliffs and it is also musical. There are many lyrics like: My Mistress’s Eyes are Nothing..., Canonization, Tyger, I Wonder Lonely as a Cloud.

The Chief qualities of a good Lyric:

The lyric genre comprehends a great variety of utterances. Some, like Ben Jonson’s “To the Memory of … William Shakespeare” and Walt Whitman’s ode on the death of Abraham Lincoln, “O Captain, My Captain,” are ceremonial poems uttered in a public voice on a public occasion.

• It is a short poem, characterized by simplicity in language and treatment
• It deals with single emotion which generally stated in the opening lines. Then the poet gives us the thoughts suggested by that particular emotion.
•  The last and concluding part is in the nature of a summary or conclusions reached by the poet.
•  It is musical. Verbal-music is an important element in its appeal and charm.
•  A lyric is always an expression of the moods and emotions of a poet.
•  A lyric is characterised by intensity and poignancy. It is at its best pathetic and intense.
•   Spontaneity is another important quality of a lyric.

Origin of Lyric:

The word ‘lyric’ is a Greek origin which means a piece of poetic composition, meant to be sung to the accompaniment of an instrument called lyre. Greek song was divided into two classes- melic or lyric song which was sung by a single voice to the accompaniment of a lyre, a musical instrument.

Poetry of Self-expression:

The lyric is the commonest kind of poetry of self-expression. Lyric is more specifically personal poems in which the poet is occupied with his own self. Man has always liked to express his intense self-felt feelings and emotion, and hence the lyric is among the earliest forms of poetry.  The thoughts of the poet are the thoughts of mankind too. Subjects for lyrical expression include Love, Joy, unhappiness, patriotism, spirituality and so on.

Expression of Single emotion:

A lyric normally expresses a single emotion, chooses the right type of diction and employs appropriate images. True to its origin, it is musical. The psalms in the bible and the major poetry of the romantic poets, words worth, Keats, Byron, shelly, and many poems of Tennyson can be classified a Lyric Poetry.

The Elizabethan Lyric:

The Elizabethan lyric is sweet and musical. It is characterised by artificiality. The characteristics of Elizabethan lyrics are:

• There is a fine blend of genius and artistic sense awakened by humanism.
•  Lyric is penetrated by graceful refinements of vocabulary and pliability of versification
•  It has perfection as well as degeneration into mere artifice and pedantry.
•  It sings of love and nature
• The Elizabethan lyric backs intensity and passion.
• It is impersonal in character rather than subjective as the lower is commonly represented as a shepherd and the poet is in love with itself and not with any real woman.
• It is musical; alliteration and other verbal devices are used to make it musical.
•  It lacks originality.

Lyric in the 17^th Century:

With the exception of Milton’s epics, the poetry of the early 17^th century comprises of lyrics which may be divided into three categories:

·         The Metaphysical Lyric

·         The religious lyric

·         The Caroline or cavalier lyric

The metaphysical Lyric is more elaborate than an ordinary lyric, and hard. John Donne, is the founder of the metaphysical school of poetry. He also has the credit of writing some of the finest love-lyrics in the English language. His “Canonization” is a love lyric.

The religious lyric The Hymn for example, is a lyric on a religious subject that is interested to be sung.

The Caroline lyric is characterized by sweetness, music and melody. In its diction it almost touches perfection. But it is artificial, the result of art rather than of an inner urge for self-expression. Its worst fault is its extremely licentious and immoral nature. The Caroline lyrics, like the Elizabethan lyrics were published in miscellaneous and anthologies, as Wits Recreation (1641), Wit Restored (1658), etc. the lyrics mirror the mood and temper of the age.

The Romantic Lyric:

The Romantic lyric is perceived in a high degree. Music is latent in words and by means of happy combinations of words and rhythms. Keats and Tennyson were musical artists. Shelley’s lyrics are marked with spontaneity and effortlessness. The romantic lyricists maintained a fine balance between subject and form. They had the ability to perceive both the musical possibilities of words and the suitable relationship of matter to form. Great lyric poetry continued to be written in the Victorian era. Tennyson and Browning wrote dramatic lyrics.

Lyrics in the Victorian Era:

Great lyric poetry continued to be written throughout the 19^th century. In the Victorian age, there were a number of lyric poets to note. Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning being the greatest of them. Tennyson is a great artist with words and so his lyrics are characterised by verbal felicity of a high order. Moreover, he is matchless in his gift of making music with words. But his artistry introduces an element of artificiality in his lyrics. His artistic, philosophic and dramatic interests inhibit and retard his lyrical impulse. Browning, on the other hand, is a great writer of dramatic lyrics, lyrics in which he does not pour his own soul, but that of some imagined character.

The Modern Lyrics:

20^th century poetry is a curious mixture if the traditional and the experimental, of the old and new. It is complex and many sided. It is a poetry of revolt, resulting largely from the impact of science. Humanitarianism is a leading characteristic of modern poetry. It is realistic. As a result of science and the spirit of rationalism, the poetry is sceptical about god. Impressionism, imaginism and surrealism are some other innovations in the 20^th century poetry. Mention mat only be made of John Drinkwater, Walter De La Mare, W.H. Davies, John Masefield and W.B Yeats. Lyrics of nature, Lyrics of place, patriotic lyrics, love lyrics, solider lyrics, and lyrics for children are some of the categories of modern lyric.