LYRIC
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What is lyric?
A lyric is the commonest kind of the poetry of self-expression. Whenever a person is moved because of intense emotion, love, hatred, joy, sorrow, wonder, admiration etc. A lyric is born. In ordinary use a Iyric is a song intended for music. In the ancient days Greek poems were sung with the accompaniment of the musical instrument known as “lyre”, The term now refers to any relatively short, non-narrative poem featuring a single speaker who conveys a state of mind or a progression of thoughts and emotions.
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DEFINITION
As defined by the Oxford Dictionary, a lyric is a short poem, usually organized into stanzas, that directly conveys the poet’s own thoughts or emotions. For James Reeves lyric is a short poem in no fixed form expressing a single thought, mood or feeling. It is uttered in first person, however “i” cannot be identified with the poet himself. Some well known lyrics of English language are: “To Night” by Shelley, “O my love’s like a red, red rose” by Robert Burn or Ben Jonson’s “Drink to me only with thine eyes“, Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” and Wordsworth’s “Intimation Ode” to name few. The famous lyricists of the modern era are John Drinkwater, Walter De La Mare, W H Davies, John Masefield and WB Yeats.
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Following are the qualities of a good lyric:
1. It is a short poem, characterized by simplicity in language and treatment.
2. lt deals with single emotion which is stated in the first few lines.
3. It is musical.
4. It is always an expression of the moods and emotions of a poet.
5. Tye emotions are intensely felt by the poet.
