lyric [li-rik], in the modern sense, any fairly short poem expressing the personal mood, feeling, or meditation

of a single speaker (who may sometimes be an invented character, not the poet). In ancient reece, a lyric was a song for accompaniment on the lyre, and co!ld be a choral lyric s!ng by a gro!p (see chor!s), s!ch as a " #I$ % or "&'()* the modern sense, c!rrent since the "$%)+I,,+)-%, often s!ggests a song-like .!ality in the poems to which it refers. /yric poetry is the most extensive category of verse, especially after the decline0since the 12th cent!ry in the 3est0of the other principal kinds4 " )+$$+5I6% and dramatic verse. /yrics may be composed in almost any " (%5$% and on almost every s!b7ect, altho!gh the most !s!al emotions presented are those of love and grief. +mong the common lyric forms are the ",8))%5, "8#%, "%/% ', "&+I9:, and the more personal kinds of hymn. /yricism is the emotional or song-like .!ality, the lyrical property, of lyric poetry. + writer of lyric poems may be called a lyric poet, a lyricist, or a lyrist. In another sense, the lyrics of a pop!lar song or other m!sical composition are the words as opposed to the m!sic* these may not always be lyrical in the poetic sense (e.g. in a narrative song like a " ;+//+# hymn, a song (or " /'$I- poem set to m!sic) in praise of a divine or venerated being. 5he title is sometimes given to a poem on an elevated s!b7ect, like ,helley<s <&ymn to Intellect!al ;ea!ty< (1=1>), or praising a historical hero, like (ac#iarmid<s <?irst &ymn to /enin< (12@1). 5he term hymnody is !sed to refer either to a partic!lar body of hymns or to the art of hymn-writing, while a composer of hymns is called a hymnodist or hymnist. ,ee also antiphon, ode, psalm ode, an elaborately formal " /'$I- poem, often in the form of a lengthy ceremonio!s address to a person or abstract entity, always serio!s and elevated in tone. 5here are two different classical models4 Aindar<s reek choral odes devoted to p!blic praise of athletes (Bth cent!ry ;-%), and &orace<s more privately reflective odes in /atin (c.C@-1@ ;-%). Aindar composed his odes for performance by a " -&8$:,, !sing lines of varying length in a complex three-part str!ct!re of ",5$8A&%, "+)5I,5$8A&%, and "%A8#% corresponding to the chor!s<s dancing movements (see Aindaric), whereas &orace wrote literary odes in reg!lar " ,5+)D+,. -lose %nglish imitations of Aindar, s!ch as 5homas ray<s 5he Arogress of Aoesy< (1EBF), are rare, b!t a looser irreg!lar ode with varying lengths of strophes was introd!ced by +braham -owley<s <Aindari.!e 8des< (1>B>) and followed by Gohn #ryden, 3illiam -ollins, 3illiam 3ordsworth (in <8de4 Intimations of Immortality< (1=HE)), and ,. 5. -oleridge, among others* this irreg!lar form of ode is sometimes called the -owleyan ode. 8des in which the same form of stanIa is repeated reg!larly (see homostrophic) are called &oratian odes4 in %nglish, these incl!de the celebrated odes of Gohn 9eats, notably <8de on a recian :rn< and <8de to a )ightingale< (both 1=CH). +d7ective4 odic. elegy, an elaborately formal "/'$I- poem lamenting the death of a friend or p!blic fig!re, or reflecting serio!sly on a solemn s!b7ect. In

reek and /atin verse, the term referred to the "(%5$% of a poem (alternating dactylic "&%J+(%5%$, and " A%)5+(%5%$, in co!plets known as elegiac "#I,5I-&,), not to its mood or content4 love poems were often incl!ded. /ikewise, Gohn #onne applied the term to his amoro!s and satirical poems in "&%$8I- -8:A/%5,. ;!t since (ilton<s </ycidas< (1>@E), the term in %nglish has !s!ally denoted a "/+(%)5 (altho!gh (ilton called his poem a <monody<), while the ad7ective <elegiac< has come to refer to the mo!rnf!l mood of s!ch poems. 5wo important %nglish elegies that follow (ilton in !sing "A+,58$+/ conventions are ,helley<s <+donais< (1=C1) on the death of 9eats, and +rnold<s 5hyrsis< (1=>E). 5his tradition of the pastoral elegy, derived from reek poems by 5heocrit!s and other ,icilian poets in the @rd and Cnd cent!ries ;-%, evolved a very elaborate series of " -8)6%)5I8), by which the dead friend is represented as a shepherd mo!rned by the nat!ral world* pastoral elegies !s!ally incl!de many mythological fig!res s!ch as the nymphs who are s!pposed to have g!arded the dead shepherd, and the " (:,%, invoked by the elegist. 5ennyson<s In (Kmoriam +. &. &. (1=BH) is a long series of elegiac verses (in the modern sense) on his friend +rth!r &allam, while 3hitman<s <3hen /ilacs /ast in the #ooryard ;loom<d< (1=>B) commemorates a p!blic fig!re0 +braham /incoln0rather than a friend* +!den<s <In (emory of 3. ;. 'eats< (12@2) does the same. In a broader sense, an elegy may be a poem of melancholy reflection !pon life<s transience or its sorrows, as in ray<s <%legy 3ritten in a -o!ntry -h!rchyard< (1EB1), orin$ilke<s#!ino %legies (121C-CC). 5he elegiac stanIa is a " L:+5$+I) of iambic pentameters rhyming abab, named after its !se in ray<s %legy. In an extended sense, a prose work dealing with a vanished way of life or with the passing of yo!th may sometimes be called an elegy. ,ee also dirge, graveyard poetry, monody, threnody. !nities, the, principles of dramatic str!ct!re proposed by critics and dramatists of the 1>th and 1Eth cent!ries, claiming the a!thority of +ristotle<s Aoetics (Fth cent!ry ;-%). 5he three !nities were the !nity of time, the !nity of place, and the !nity of action. In fact +ristotle in his disc!ssion of "5$+ %#' insists only on !nity of action, mentioning !nity of time in passing, and says nothing abo!t place. Italian and ?rench critics of the 1>th cent!ry attempted to codify his views into r!les, b!t with little effect on dramatic practice !ntil Gean (airet<s ,ophonisbe (1>@F), the first ?rench tragedy to observe the !nities. +s form!lated by (airet and later by ;oilea! in /<+rt poeti.!e (1>EF), the !nities re.!ired !niversity wits C>= that any serio!s play sho!ld have a !nified action, witho!t the distractions of a ",:;A/85, representing events of a single day (CF ho!rs, or 1C, or ideally the same time as the d!ration of the performance itself) within a single setting0which co!ld incl!de different parts of the same city. 5he tragedies of Aierre -orneille0apart from his controversial play /e -id (1>@E)0and those of Gean $acine were the o!tstanding examples of this mode of dramatic composition. In %ngland, however the ?rench r!les never established themselves in dramatic practice, altho!gh they

were m!ch debated by critics. 5he infl!ence of ,hakespeare is !s!ally believed to be the reason for this resistance4 apart from 5he 5empest and 5he 5wo entlemen of 6erona, all of his plays violate the !nities. 5he rise of "$8(+)5I-I,( involved a rebellion against ")%8-/+,,I-I,( and its r!les, incl!ding the !nities* the example of ,hakespeare was again invoked to s!pport freely str!ct!red drama. epic, a long ")+$$+5I6% poem celebrating the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes, in a grand ceremonio!s style. 5he hero, !s!ally protected by or even descended from gods, performs s!perh!man exploits in battle or in marvello!s voyages, often saving or fo!nding a epic simile =C nation0as in 6irgil<s +eneid (@H-CH ;-%)0or the h!man race itself, in (ilton<s Aaradise /ost (1>>E). 6irgil and (ilton wrote what are called <secondary< or literary epics in imitation of the earlier <primary< or traditional epics of &omer, whose Iliad and 8dyssey (c.,th cent!ry ;-%) are derived from an oral tradition of recitation. 5hey adopted many of the "-8)6%)5I8), of &omer<s work, incl!ding the "I)68-+5I8) of a m!se, the !se of "%AI5&%5,, the listing of heroes and combatants, and the beginning "I) (%#I+, $%, (for other epic conventions, see epic simile, form!laic, machinery). 5he +nglo-,axon poem ;eow!lf (=th cent!ry -%) is a primary epic, as is the oldest s!rviving epic poem, the ;abylonian ilgamesh (c.@HHH ;-%). In the "$%)+I,,+)-%, epic poetry (also known as <heroic poetry<) was regarded as the highest form of literat!re, and was attempted in Italian by 5asso in er!salemme /iberata (1BEB), and in Aort!g!ese by -amoens in 8s /!siadas (1BEC). 8ther important national epics are the Indian (ahabharata (@rd or Fth cent!ry -%) and the erman )ibel!ngenlied (c.1CHH). 5he action of epics takes place on a grand scale, and in this sense the term has sometimes been extendeded to long "$8(+)-%,, to ambitio!s "&I,58$I-+/ )86%/, like 5olstoy<s 3ar and Aeace (1=>@-2), and to some large-scale film prod!ctions on heroic or historical s!b7ects. ?or a f!ller acco!nt, cons!lt Aa!l (erchant, 5he %pic (12E1). fiction, the general term for invented stories, now !s!ally applied to novels, short stories, novellas, romances, fables, and other " )+$$+5I6% works in prose, even tho!gh most plays and narrative poems are also fictional. 5he ad7ective fictitio!s tends to carry the !nfavo!rable sense of falsehood, whereas <fictional< is more ne!tral, and the archaic ad7ective flctive, revived by the poet 3allace ,tevens and others, has a 2E first-person narrative more positive sense closer to <imaginative< or <inventive<. 6erb4 fictionaliIe. ,ee also metafiction. novel, nearly always an extended fictional prose " )+$$+5I6%, altho!gh some novels are very short, some are non-fictional, some have been written in verse, and some do not even tell a story. ,!ch exceptions help to indicate that the novel as a literary " %)$% is itself exceptional4 it disregards the constraints that govern other literary forms, and

acknowledges no obligatory str!ct!re, style, or s!b7ect-matter. 5hriving on this openness and flexibility, the novel has become the most important literary genre of the modern age, s!perseding the "%AI-, the " $8(+)-%, and other narrative forms. )ovels can be disting!ished from ",&8$5 ,58$I%, and ")86%//+, by their greater length, which permits f!ller, s!btler development of characters and themes. (-onf!singly, it is a shorter form of tale, the Italian novella, that gives the novel its name in %nglish.) 5here is no established minim!m length for a novel, b!t it is normally at least long eno!gh to 7!stify its p!blication in an independent vol!me, !nlike the short story. 5he novel differs from the prose romance in that a greater degree of "$%+/I,( is expected of it, and that it tends to describe a recogniIable sec!lar social world, often in a sceptical and prosaic manner inappropriate to the marvels of romance. 5he novel has fre.!ently incorporated the str!ct!res and lang!ages of non-fictional prose forms (history, a!tobiography, 7o!rnalism, travel writing), even to the point where the non-fictional element o!tweighs the fictional. It is normally expected of a novel that it sho!ld have at least one character, and preferably several characters shown in processes of change and social relationship* a "A/85, or some arrangement of narrated events, is another normal re.!irement. ,pecial ",:; %)$%, of the novel have grown !p aro!nd partic!lar kinds of character (the "9M:),5/%$$8(+), the spynovel), setting(the "&I,58$I-+/ )86%/, the "-+(A:, )86%/), and plot (the detective novel)* while other kinds of novel are disting!ished either by their str!ct!re (the "%AI,58/+$' )86%/, the "AI-+$%,L:% )86%/) or by special emphases on character (the ";I/#:) ,$8(+)) or ideas (the " $8(+) + 5&%,%). +ltho!gh some ancient prose narratives like Aetroni!s< ,atyricon (1st cent!ry -%) can be called novels, and altho!gh some significant forer!nners of the novel0incl!ding ?rancois $abelais<s argant!a (1B@F)0appeared in the 1>th cent!ry, it is the p!blication in ,pain of the first part of (ig!el de -ervantes<s #on L!ixote de la (ancha in 1>HB that is most widely accepted as anno!ncing the arrival of the tr!e novel. In ?rance the ina!g!ral landmark was (adame de /afayette<s /a Arincesse de -leves (1>E=), while in %ngland #aniel #efoe is regarded as the fo!nder of the %nglish novel with his $obinson -r!soe (1E12) and (oll ?landers (1ECC). 5he novel achieved its predominance in the 12th cent!ry, when -harles #ickens and other writers fo!nd a h!ge a!dience thro!gh serial p!blication, and when the conventions of realism were consolidated. In the CHth cent!ry a division became more prono!nced between the pop!lar forms of novel and the vario!s experiments 8f " (8#%$)I,( and "A8,5(8#%$)I,(0from the ",5$%+( 8? -8),-I8:,)%,, to the "+)5I-)86%/* b!t repeated reports of the <death of the novel< have been greatly exaggerated. +d7ective4 novelistic. ,ee also fiction. criticism, the reasoned disc!ssion of literary works, an activity which may incl!de some or all of the following proced!res, in varying proportions4 the defence of " /I5%$+5:$% against moralists and censors, classification of a work according to its " %)$%, interpretation of its meaning, analysis of its str!ct!re and style, 7!dgement of its worth by

comparison with other works, estimation of its likely effect on readers, and the establishment of general principles by which literary works (individ!ally, in categories, or as a whole) can be eval!ated and !nderstood. -ontrary to the everyday sense of criticism as <fa!lt-finding<, m!ch modern criticism (partic!larly of the academic kind) ass!mes that the works it disc!sses are val!able* the f!nctions of 7!dgement and analysis having to some extent become divided between the market (where reviewers ask <Is this worth b!yingN<) and the ed!cational world (where academics ask <3hy is this so goodN<). 5he vario!s kinds of criticism fall into several overlapping categories4 theoretical, practical, "I(A$%,,I8)I,5I-, "+??%-5I6%, "A$%,-$IA5I6%, or descriptive. -riticism concerned with revealing the a!thor<s tr!e motive or intention (sometimes called <expressive< criticism) emerged from "$8(+)5I-I,( to dominate m!ch 12th- and CHth-cent!ry critical writing, b!t has tended to give way to <ob7ective< criticism, foc!sing on the work itself (as in ")%3 -$I5I-I,( and " ,5$:-5:$+/I,(), and to a shift of attention to the reader in "$%+#%$-$%,A8),% -$I5I-I,(. Aartic!lar schools of criticism also seek to !nderstand literat!re in terms of its relations to BB c!lt!ral materialism history, politics, gender, social class, mythology, ling!istic theory, or psychology. ,ee also exegesis, hermene!tics, metacriticism, poetics