Lyric Poetry
Poems, Poets, and how it relates to Beyonce
What is a lyric?
From the Greek word, lyra, meaning
lyre, lyric poetry, refers to a short song
accompanied by a musical
instrument, almost always the lyre
Yep, you read that right.
Some of the LYRIC POETRY (either
spoken or sung) was considered
“mood music” for…um, well…you
know.
Types of poetry
The lyric poets can be divided
into two groups. There are those
best known for
and
those best known for
.
Monody
A style of composition
dominated by a single
melodic line.
A poem recited by one
person or created for one
voice.
Epithalamium, [Happy
Bridegroom]
by Sappho
Happy bridegroom,
Hesper brings
All desired and
timely things.
All whom morning
sends to roam,
Hesper loves to lead
them home.
Hesper: the evening star
Home return who
him behold,
Child to mother,
sheep to fold,
Bird to nest from
wandering wide:
Happy bridegroom,
seek your bride.
Choral Composition
o Archaic choral lyric poetry was
performed by choruses of both sexes
at public religious festivals or major
family functions
Lyric Genres
Hymn
Sung to the accompaniment of a lyre
by a chorus standing around the altar.
As the ode to Apollo and dithyramb to
Dionysus were developed, the hymn
became limited to worship of other
gods.
Hyporcheme
The Hyporcheme was both a song and a dance. At
least two forms of it are known. In one, a single
person played and sang while the others danced.
In the other, more usual form, "one or more
musicians played, a selected number of the best
dancers gave full plastic expression to the theme,
while the larger body, which sang, accompanied
the music with a sedate orchestic movement….
The dance was performed about the altar during
the sacrifice of the victims.”
Paean
The paean was choral, accompanied by the lyre or
flute. The term at first meant a song devoted to the
worship of Apollo, then came to be used in other
contexts. "It is as a song of thanksgiving and
praise...that the paean is best attested in ancient
literature. It was pre-eminently a song of joy....Apollo
enjoined that the paean should be sung in the
springtime at Delphi."
Enkomion
A praise poem in honor of men, as
opposed to the hymn which was for
the gods.
Epinikion
A praise poem sung by a chorus in
honor of a victor in an athletic
contest.
The common form of
accompaniment seems to have been
a combination of wind and stringed
instruments
Erotikon
Love poetry--sacred, profane,
or both.
Threnos
Threnoi were funeral laments; examples of
from the Homeric age can be found in the
Iliad. The chorus wore black, and "a stately
dance augmented the somberness of the
occasion.”
Partheneion
Song sung by a chorus of maidens,
with the accompaniment of flute
music and dance.