'The displacement of poetry by the novel suggests that the novel more Essay

'The displacement of poetry by the novel suggests that the novel more successfully reflects the spirit of the age.' Do you agree Discuss, in relation to ONE po - Essay Example Poems today can mostly be heard in poetry readings; so few are its enthusiasts in bookstores. This is basically the question that this paper aims to answer. We begin by defining what a novel and a poem is (i.e. their form and structure) followed by a discussion on the Victorian Era which is agreed to be the period where the novel has displaced poetry. In this section, we will be delineating how this change was brought about. We then proceed to a discussion of one the more popular Victorian novel which is the Great Expectations and the major poems of Christina Rossetti. Then by contextually analyzing the works a decision on whether the novel reflects more successfully the spirit of the age will be arrived at. Borrowing Percy Lubbock’s definition, Dr. Agatha Taormina sets out the definition of the novel as â€Å"an imaginary work in prose of a considerable length, which presents as real certain characters living in a given environment and describes their attitudes, fate, and adventures†. It is a fiction in prose with over 50,000 words. (NVCC Onlie, 2007) Poetry is considered to be a form of art wherein language is creatively used for its aesthetic qualities. It uses particular forms and conventions to expand the literal meaning of the words and to invoke emotional or sensual responses. That is most words are chosen to denote an idea figuratively. This use of words often leads to ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other style which makes open to multiple interpretations. Although our general idea of a poem is that it is a rhyming and regularly metered composition, there are those forms such as Beowulf which makes use of rhythm and euphony. Poetry also uses devices such as assonance, alliteration and rhythm to achieve musical or incantatory effects. The structure is stanza-paragraph where each stanza may or may not have a defined meter length. Under