Definition of Poem THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
own couplets that can be realized through the certain message and atmosphere, even internal or external.
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Poetry is the most compressed form of literature. Books may describe thousands of objects with thousand of words, but poetries describe thousand of
objects with few words only. It is written in lines whereas other forms of literature, such as prose and drama, are written in sentence. Therefore, the way to
understand poetry may be more complicated than that to understand a book. Poetry is composed by different ways and of different elements like
figurative language, imagery, rhythm, tone, sound and sense. Robert Frost said, Poetry provides the one permissible way of saying one
thing and meaning another.
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It also can be said as a product of deliberate, artful construction in language, designed to stand in permanent form, with the capacity
to bring pleasure to those who hear or read it.
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Pleasure doesnt deal with beauty only. To some extent, hardship, violence, and fear are other forms of pleasure.
People takes pleasure not only from beauty and happiness but also from badness and sadness.
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They like reading crime cases of Agatha Christy or Sherlock Holmes as well as love and friendship stories of Habiburrahman Al-Shirazy or
Andrea Hirata. Moreover, to some poets, using beautiful words often sacrifices the true sense of poetry. Hence Horace Walpole 1717-1797, an English poet
says: A poet who makes use of a worse word instead of a better, because the
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Aminuddin, Pengantar Apresiasi Karya Sastra Bandung: Penerbit Angkasa, 1987 p.134
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Sylvan Barnet, et.al, Literature for Composition: Essays, Fiction, Poetry, and Drama New York: Longman, 2003 p.481
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Edward W. Rosenheim, What Happens in Literature: A Guide to Poetry, Drama, and Fiction Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1960 p.2
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Perrine, op.cit. p.8
former fits the rhyme or the measure, though it weakens the sense, is like a jeweler, who cuts a diamond into a brilliant, and diminishes the weight to make it
shine more.
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