NCERT Book Class 12 English (kaleidoscope) Poetry 1 A Lecture Upon the Shadow

90/KALEIDOSCOPE

Poetry
INTRODUCTION

A poem is a composition in verse, usually
characterised by concentrated and
heightened language in which words are
chosen for their sound and suggestive power
as well as for their meaning, and using
techniques such as rhythm and metre. To
read and hear good poetry is to appreciate the
subtleties of cadence and rhythm, the variety
of pace and pattern and all that goes to make
up the music of poetry.
Every poem that we read adds to, in some
degree, our total conception of poetry.
Of the eight poets in this selection, four are
from the classical tradition: Donne, Milton,
Blake and Coleridge. The other four are
closer to contemporary times: Yeats,
A.K.Ramanujan, Emily Dickinson and
Kamala Das.