Over the centuries, poetry has been the genre of literature with the least audience. One can commonly see people reading through novels and drama/plays but not always the poems. It is like a bullet which though small in size but is mighty indeed. Among all genres of literature, it is the most subjective; perhaps, this is one among the various reasons students and many readers lose interest in its reading.
The lack of interest could be traced in its qualities as could be found in what Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature says, that is:
Writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through its meanings, sound, and rhythm (893).
From the above definition, it is now obvious that piece of poetry says much in a little because of its use of “concentrated imaginative” and carefully chosen language in creating “a specific emotional response while at the same time, deploying “sounds and rhythm.” Another salient point in the definition is the poet’s “experience in language chosen. This simply testifies that there is no specific language(s) for writing poetry, as some had argued, but the poet must possess a level of competence and perhaps, performance in the language he chooses which may range from English, Latin, French, to mention but a few.
The term poetry, according to the Encyclopedia, is derived from the Greek word ¯ poietes ¯ meaning maker, composer. It sees a poet as “one (such as a writer) having great imaginative and expressive capabilities and possessing a special sensitivity to the medium” (892).
The term satire, according to Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature and The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World edited by John Roberts agree is derived from the Latin word “Satura” meaning “dish of mixed ingredients. According to John Roberts, “Satire soon acquired its specific character as a humorous or malicious expose of hypocrisy and pretension, however, it continued to be a hold-all for mismatched subjects, written in an uneven style and overlapping with other genres” (678). He sees the author (Satirist) as performing the role of “civic watchdog, sneering cynic, mocking or indignant observer and social outcast” (678). Michael Meyer in The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature opines that: “Satire casts a critical eye on vices and follies by holding them up to ridicule-usually to point out an absurdity so that it can be avoided or corrected” (1033). He makes it clear that the object of satire are “people, institutions, ideas, and things” (616-617).
However, Robert Granner .C. and Malcolm stern .E. in McDougal, Littell Literature opines that “satire is a literary technique used both in poetry and prose that combines a critical attitude with wit and humor for the purpose of improving society” (960). Then, in his work Satirical Drama and Social Criticism” A Study of Soyinka’s Beatification of Area Boy and Death and the King’s Horsemen, Nweze Chukwujama Mathew States that. “Whenever Satire is mentioned, lay minds would think one is being rude or one is just making jest of somebody else” (1). To clarify this misconception and put the uninformed in the right path, X.J. Kenedy and Dana Gioia in Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama state that:
In a satiric poem, the poet ridicules some person or persons (or perhaps some kind of human behaviour), examining the victim by the light of certain principles and implying that the reader, too, ought to feel contempt for the victim (450-1).
In the same vein, Michael Meyer stresses that “satire evokes attitudes of amusement, contempt, scorn, or indignation toward its faulty subject in the hope of somehow improving it” (1608).
Nonetheless, The New Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language defines Satire with its other remarkable techniques and qualities as “a literary genre in which ridicule is thrown upon something by stressing its worst features, often by the use of irony, thus assuming or affirming a norm by which alterations are judged” (888). From its own perspectives, the Encyclopedia defined Satire as:
A usually topical literacy composition holding up human or individual vices, folly, abuses, or shortcomings to ensure by means of ridicule derision, burlesque, irony or other methods, sometimes with intent to bring about improvement (995).
But shifting a little, Anderson, Robert et al, in Elements of Literature: Sixth Course sees Satire as being thought provoking as they write: “any piece of writing designed to make its readers feel critical – of themselves, of their fellow human beings, of their society” (516). According to the authors, some Satires are intended to make us angry and indignant at human vices and crimes.
The word “Satirist” is derived from the literary genre Satire which The New Webster’s Dictionary of English Language defines as “a writer of Satires” (888). Anderson Robert et al further states that characteristic features of Satirists and their works as well as making a clear cut between satirists and other writers or artist. They wrote:
Satirists are dissatisfied with things as they are, and they want to make them better. Satirists differ from other people who want to do good, such as moralists, preachers, missionaries, crusaders, and the like, because instead of giving constructive advice they emphasize what is wrong with the world and its inhabitants. They don’t say “Be good!” “Obey the Golden Rule!” “Put others before yourself!” Rather, they make fun of vicious, selfish, mean-spirited people in the hope that we the readers- will see ourselves in such people and amend our ways (516).
As a result of the style and nature of Satire, satirists are being misunderstood, especially by people who cannot think and who are otherwise, mentally inert, the book further stresses. For instance, Swift as a Satirist “earned a reputation for being scandalous, irresponsible, and even irreligious. Yet he claimed he never wrote anything “without a moral view” (517). In view of this, Ujowundu Cornel in his book, Understanding Comedy: Essays and Critical Perspectives opines:
The Satirist is seen as being a destructive individual. He destroys what seems to be working fine as harmony…. The Satirist refuses, and cannot tolerate nonsense or evil taking place in his presence, and thus, therefore, urges him to expose what he sees…. By doing this he makes use of literary devices, which act as weapons to arm him with the unspeakable. Such weapons are parody, wit, irony, exaggeration and bathos (9).
Although, Satirists are embittered by their subject of attack, the genre is more often seen to be comic. This simply implies that it shares with comedy, certain attributes. On account of this, Nweze Chukwujama writes:
So the comic pleasure and the Satirical abuse are employed just as a bait, to attract attention or excite the audience and the message is delivered, just the same way comedy (which in most cases is synonymous….) does it (21).
Satire is as old as poetry. Though there are examples of satire in Greek Literature notably the works of Aristophanes, the great Roman poet Horace and Juvenal established the genre known as the formal verse satire, and in so doing exerted pervasive, often indirect influence on all subsequent literary Satire. According to Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature,” the character of the satirist as projected by Horace is that of an urbane man of the World, concerned about folly, which he sees everywhere, but moved to laughter rather than rage” (1995). Tracking down the origin of satiric types or genres, the book stresses thus:
Juvenal conceives the Satirist role differently. This is characterized by an upright man who looks with horror on the corruptions of his time, his heart consumed with anger and frustration (995).
. “Having studied the satirical traditions of Horace and Juvenal, John Dryden was convinced to sub-divide the genre into what he called Comic Satire and Tragic Satire”, the Encyclopedia further emphasizes. Till date, these subgenres of Dryden have become the boundary marker of Satire whether in the form of poetry, drama, novel, essay, or whatever.
WORKS CITED
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Mill, John Staurt. What Is Poetry?” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Eds. Abrams, M.H and Green Blatt Stephen. New York London. W.W. Norton & Company Inc; 2000. 1140-1143.
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Ujowundu, C.O. Understanding Comedy: Essay & Critical Perspective. Onitsha-Nigeria. Eagleman Books, 2005.
