ancient poetry
Old literary forms
Poetry from civilizations long past—Greek epics, Chinese verse, Sanskrit hymns, Old English alliterative works.
The term typically covers poetry written before the medieval period in Western contexts, though boundaries vary by culture.
Ancient poetry often served religious, historical, or oral storytelling functions: Homer's ancient poetry was performed, not read.
The phrase can also describe verse that simply feels very old: His references to ancient poetry impressed no one at the party.
- NorseAncient Scandinavian civilization
- ChineseOf that Asian nation
- epicImpressively grand in scope
- epic simileElaborate extended comparison in verse
- heroic coupletRhymed pentameter pair
lyric · sung verse · Mesopotamian · mythology · Egyptian · oral tradition · metaphor · hymn · sacred texts · Sappho · parallelism · alliteration · heroism · kenning · Homer · Indian · Mayan · golden age
- poetrypoem, poems, verse, verses, rhyme
- classicsHomer, Iliad, the Iliad, Odyssey, the Odyssey
- Homer excerpts
- ancient languagesLatin, Greek, Sanskrit, Aramaic, Sumerian
- Egyptian textshieroglyphics, hieroglyphs, Book of the Dead, royal decrees, inscriptions
- Man'yoshuwaka, tanka, anthology, love poems, nature poems
ancient poetrymodern poetry
Recent literary verse forms
contemporary poetry · Instagram poetry · experimental poetry · spoken word · slam poetry