CHAPTER ONE

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Poetry is often associated not only with specialised language but with a very dense use of such specialised language. Poems usually try to express their meaning in much less space than, say, a novel or even a short story. Alexander Pope once explained that he preferred to write poetry even when he wrote about philosophy because it enabled him to express himself more briefly (Pope, Preface to An Essay on Man, 1734).

As a result of its relative brevity, poetry tends to make more concentrated use of formal elements, it displays a tendency for structural, phonological, morphological and syntactic overstructuring, a concept which originated in formalist and structuralist criticism.

It means that poetry uses elements such as sound patterns, verse and metre, rhetorical devices, style, stanza form or imagery more frequently than other types of text. Obviously, not all poems use all these elements and not all verse is poetry, as John Hollander remarks (Hollander 2001). Especially modern poets deliberately flaunt reader expectations about poetic language.

Nonetheless, most poetry depends on the aesthetic effects of a formalised use of language. Some people associate poetry with subjectivity and the expression of intense personal experience. While this is true for some poetry, especially lyrical poetry, there are a great number of poems this does not apply to; for example narrative poems like Scott’s Marmion or didactic and philosophical poems like Pope’s Essay on Man or John Philips’ Cyder.

Just as it is often misleading to identify the author of a novel with its narrator, one should not assume that the author of a poem is identical with its speaker and thus even lyrical poems cannot be treated as subjective expressions of the author. The two levels of author and speaker should always be kept separate. Peter B. High considers Poe as "another writer interested in psychology and the darker side of human nature. His fiction belongs to the Southern, rather than the New England, writing tradition. It is lar more romantic in language and imagery" (1986).

However, and paradoxically, within Romanticism itself we witness a powerful intellectualist movement that rejects the birth of the poem as an outpouring of feelings and sets out to identify the poetic act with mental clarity, rigour and a critical spirit. In this respect, Poe exercised a great influence on modern lyrical poetry "which conceives of poetic creation as closely tied to the intellectual faculties and set apart from any spiritual state that identifies with or approaches ecstatic experiences" (Aguiar e Silva, 1975). And thus we find in Poe a critical and lucid writer who watchfully attends the gestation of the poem itself, since every genuine poet has also to be a critic, able to judge, accept or reject the constituent elements of the poem.

Several of the ideas expounded in The Poetic Principle appear, repeated or extended, in other of the writer's essays, but we will go on to highlight for commentary those that Poe considered the essential elements of poetic style: brevity, the value of the poem "per se"; the main purpose of the poem; the creation of supernatural beauty; the themes and tone of poetic style and poetic structure: the rhythmical creation of beauty.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

        Poetry is a piece of writing in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by particular attention to diction sometimes involving rhyme, rhythm, and imagery; this tend to be an avenue to which the poets expresses what they feel about something but sometimes it’s really challenging in that most poets may not even know how to express themselves through poetry such that the reader even in their absent can feel the expression of the poet and it could also be that most poet cannot even write their poems correctly such that it is sensible to the reader. Finally, several research has been carried out on the influence of poetry on literature students in tertiary institutions but not even a single research has been carried out on poetry as a visionary medium: a study of Khabyr Fasasi’s tongues of warning.

1.3   AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

        The main aim of the study is to examine poetry as a visionary medium. Other specific objectives of the study include;

1. to examine poetry as a visionary medium as used in Khabyr Fasasi’s tongues of warning.
2. to determine audience perception of poetry as a visionary medium in Khabyr Fasasi’s tongue of warning.
3. to examine poet’s perception of poetry as a visionary medium as seen in Khabyr Fasasi’s tongues of warning.
4. to proffer possible solutions to the problems.
   1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS               

1      What is poetry as a visionary medium as used in Khabyr Fasasi’s tongues of warning?

2      What is audience perception of poetry as a visionary medium in Khabyr Fasasi’s tongue of warning?

3      What is poet’s perception of poetry as a visionary medium as seen in Khabyr Fasasi’s tongues of warning?

4      What are the possible solutions to the problems?

1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

        The study on poetry as a medium: a study of Khabyr Fasasi’s tongues of warning will be of immense benefit in the sense that it will allow people to utilize poetry as a medium to which they can express themselves rhythmically. It also enables the poets through the beauty of language of poetry, to project their emotions, thoughts, and ideas to their readers. If one is familiar with some form of proper means to both perceive poetry, and project it, one can clearly establish that poetry is defined through this rhythmic articulation of a story, thoughts, or feelings. Finally, the study will contribute to the body of existing literature and knowledge to this field of study and basis for further research.

1.6   SCOPE OF STUDY

        The study on poetry as a visionary medium is limited to Khabyr Fasasi’s tongues of warning.

1.7   LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.8   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Poetry     Literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm; poems collectively or as a genre of literature.

Visionary                Thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom.

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