close
    How do poems illuminate the past for us?

    0  Views: 872 Answers: 2 Posted: 13 years ago

    2 Answers

    Sometimes they illuminate the past, by offering insight into the typical usage of certain words during the era the poem was wrote. I say this, as the common usage of words evolve as time goes on, and the meaning of words change over time.

    It also gives one perspective of the era 


    in which the poet/poetess lived. It may 


    help to give a "feeling" for the time in 


    which the poem was composed. 


    Here's an example, from one of my 


    favourite poems...


    http://www.potw.org/archive/potw85.html



    Top contributors in Poetry category

     
    Benthere
    Answers: 1 / Questions: 0
    Karma: 2025
     
    country bumpkin
    Answers: 23 / Questions: 0
    Karma: 1935
     
    ROMOS
    Answers: 18 / Questions: 0
    Karma: 1485
     
    FISH-O
    Answers: 13 / Questions: 0
    Karma: 1290
    > Top contributors chart

    Unanswered Questions

    66GBET
    Answers: 0 Views: 4 Rating: 0
    mv66buzz
    Answers: 0 Views: 3 Rating: 0
    mv66buzz
    Answers: 0 Views: 3 Rating: 0
    mv66buzz
    Answers: 0 Views: 3 Rating: 0
    mv66buzz
    Answers: 0 Views: 3 Rating: 0
    ruouvangcaocap ruouvn
    Answers: 0 Views: 3 Rating: 0
    ansanakitagroup
    Answers: 0 Views: 5 Rating: 0
    > More questions...
    524900
    questions
    758351
    answers
    871409
    users