THE ART OF POETRY--THE POET IN THE THEATER ~ Literary Hunt

The poet in the theater

A lot of poets wrote their poems in a dramatic way, like plays. The lure of the theater for the poet can be demonstrated by the fact that he can clearly portray the human experience in a play. His poetry (backed by all the stage's visual trappings) will, therefore, have a strong and immediate effect on his audience— an influence very different from that offered by poetry that has been made to be read in private

Poetic drama flourished in Europe during the

Renaissance, particularly in the works of

Spain's Lope de Vega

The poetic drama was first written by poets such as Aeschylus* in Ancient Greece. During and after the Renaissance in Europe, the form was widely used by such great poet dramatists as Lope de Vega* from Spain; English dramatists from the 16th century, in particular, William Shakespeare; French writers from the 17th century, Pierre Corneille* and Jean Racine*; and German poet Wolfgang von Goethe*.

The speaker of the prologue, from a 1597 edition

of L'Amfiparnasso, a "commedia harmonica" written

by the Italian poet and musician Orazio Vecchi

(about 1550-1605). Such compositions consist of a

series of madrigals arranged in dramatic form.

But many of the past romantic dramas planned for the stage are not suitable for a complete dramatic performance. This may not be because they are badly written; for instance, Manfred's of Lord Byron is generally considered great poetry. But it is better to read than done, and works like it because all of the impact and value is in the words. (That is why these works are often referred to as "closet drama"-that is, plays to be read in private.) In the theater, words are only one of the different ways in which a play can achieve influence.


Among 19th-century poets who experimented with verse-drama was England's Lord Byron

Among 19th-century poets who experimented with verse-drama was France's Victor Hugo

Words can't be overlooked though. The poet writing for the theater is not constrained by the need to compose in the manner people really say. He should employ vibrant, foreign words (and images) that contribute to his play's atmosphere and context. For example, in Macbeth (which is a tale of suicidal greed, terror, and evil) by William Shakespeare, the dialog is packed with images of obscurity:

Light thickens, and the crow
Makes wing to th' rooky wood.

But in the last act of another play by Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, the mood is one of happiness and peace, as conveyed in these lines:

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears:

It is partly by means of just such poetic effects that play hundreds of years old can still come alive on a 20th-century stage.

Sketch by Wolfgang von Goethe for his drama Faust

Though some modern writers have written poetic dramas (for example, Christopher Fry from England, or Federico García Lorca from Spain), most contemporary plays are in prose. But even new prose dramatists, including Germany's Bertolt Brecht* or America's Eugene O'Neill*, have not lost the importance of descriptive expression. This passage from The Great God Brown by O'Neill shows the kind of results that have been produced only in a prose play:

"She was stainless and imperishable ... so I shrank away,
back into life, with naked nerves jumping like fleas, and in
due course of nature another girl called me her boy in the moon and married me...."

This kind of language is obviously not just a transcription of ordinary speech. I t is far more expressive and colourful --- in a word, more poetic.

THE ART OF POETRY--THE POET IN THE THEATER

Related Post