1) Definition (CUET-ready)
Poetry is a literary genre characterised by:
- patterned language (rhythm, meter, sound),
- heightened imagery and figurative expression,
- compression and intensity of meaning,
- attention to lineation (line breaks) and form.
Poetry is not defined only by rhyme; modern poetry can be unrhymed or free verse.
2) Core features of poetry (high-yield)
A) Sound patterning
- rhyme (optional),
- meter (optional but important historically),
- alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia.
B) Line and stanza
Line breaks can:
- create emphasis,
- shape rhythm,
- produce ambiguity (enjambment).
C) Figurative language
Metaphor, simile, personification, paradox, irony.