Etymology and Meanings of Literary Device of Dramatic Poetry
The literary device dramatic poetry comprises two different words. The first one is related to drama, while the second is related to poetry. Interestingly, in the pre-Elizabethan, Elizabethan, and even the Restoration period, the playwrights used blank verses or poetic diction for plays. Therefore, this type of poetry was called dramatic poetry.
In literary terms, dramatic poetry is also called verse drama or dramatic verse. Such a poetic work also tells a story. Most of the folk tales of almost every other culture use dramatic poetry to relate the folk stories specifically associated with that culture. Such poetic works stay alive through oral singing. Today, Opera is the form of the same cultural tradition.
Definition of Literary Device of Dramatic Poetry
In literary terms, a poetic form that presents a character, a story or an event in verse form is a type of dramatic poetry.
Types of Dramatic Poetry
Generally, dramatic poems or dramatic poetry comprises four forms;
- Soliloquy
- Dramatic Monologue
- Character
- Dialogue
Literary Examples of Dramatic Poetry
Example # 1
From Macbeth by William Shakespeare
“Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it,….” ( Act-I, Scene-V)
This passage occurs in Macbeth, a popular play by William Shakespeare. It is an example of soliloquy, a type of dramatic poetry. It shows that although it is not properly rhymed, it has a proper metrical pattern, a hallmark of such blank verse poetry.
Example # 2
From “My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning
That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now; Fra Pandolf’s hands
Worked busily a day, and there she stands.
Will’t please you sit and look at her? I said
“Fra Pandolf” by design, for never read
Strangers like you that pictured countenance,
The depth and passion of its earnest glance,
But to myself they turned (since none puts by
The curtain I have drawn for you, but I)
These lines occur in the popular poem of Robert Browning “My Last Duchess.” It has all the ingredients of dramatic poetry as it is a monologue, has a character who speaks to his audience, and has a purpose to speak in such a way.
Example # 3
From “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point” by Elizabeth Barrent Browning
I stand on the mark beside the shore
Of the first white pilgrim’s bended knee,
Where exile turned to ancestor,
And God was thanked for liberty.
I have run through the night, my skin is dark,
I bend my knee down on this mark:
I look on the sky and the sea.
This first-person account of a slave in dramatic form presents a beautiful example of dramatic poetry used in the poem. It presents him speaking about his pilgrim, his family, and the gratitude he expresses for God. However, it has not the dramatic quality such as in “My Duchess” by Robert Browning.
Example # 4
From “Hawk Roosting” by Ted Hughes
I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed.
Inaction, no falsifying dream
Between my hooked head and hooked feet:
Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.
The convenience of the high trees!
The air’s buoyancy and the sun’s ray
Are of advantage to me;
And the earth’s face upward for my inspection.
This metaphorical poem presents the hawk speaking to his unknown interlocutors. These two stanzas not only present a character but also show his inner intentions and his would-be actions toward his audiences. This is a good example of dramatic poetry in poetic form.
Example # 5
From Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Heaven and earth,
Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on, and yet, within a month—
Let me not think on’t—Frailty, thy name is woman!—
These comments by Hamlet in Hamlet, a play by William Shakespeare, present a beautiful example of dramatic poetry and how rhetorical strategies could be applied to it. Shakespeare has not only used a rhetorical question but also generalized a common perception about women.
How to Create Dramatic Poetry
When creating a type of dramatic poetry, think about these steps.
- Type or form: What is the type of writing you are going to start? What is the shape and genre of this piece? Is it literary or scientic?
- Think about the character, situation, audiences, and readers.
- Decide whether your presentation in poetic or blank verse format.
- Complete what you have written and read it to evaluate its impacts.
Benefits of Using Dramatic Poetry
- It helps understand characters, situations, language, and audiences.
- Dramatic poetry makes it easy to arouse emotions, passions, and excitement.
- It makes writings effective and impactful.
- Dramatic poetry helps writers and poets to achieve their objectives easily.
Dramatic Poetry in Literary Theory
- Although dramatic poetry is not of any relevance in any literary theory, it helps in critiquing from a formalist perspective in formalism literary theory. It helps evaluate conflict and tension in poems or dramatic stories.
- In other literary theories, it helps understand characters and their psychologies, identities, and intentions. Therefore, it could be applied to literary pieces when critiquing from the psychoanalytic approach, Marxist theoretical perspective, or even the indigenous critical theory.
- Furthermore, dramatic poetry, as is related to drama, has relevance in simple critiques as Eliot and Dryden have stressed upon its significance.
Suggesting Readings
Abrams, Meyer Howard, and Geoffrey Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Cengage Learning, 2014.
Césaire, Aimé. Lyric and Dramatic Poetry, 1946-82. University of Virginia Press, 1990. Trowbridge, Hoyt. “Dryden’s Essay on the Dramatic Poetry of the Last Age.” Philological Quarterly 22 (1943): 240.
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