Conventions of the Epic Poem with speci
Conventions of the Epic Poem with special reference to
Mahabharata:In origin both ballad and epic have the same sources. Ballad is the simplest form of narrative poetry and epic is sophisticated and more complicated. R.J.Rees comments on this difference, “The difference between them is like the difference between two sisters both born in the same quiet, country place. One of them has stayed there and kept all the charm of her natural simplicity while the other has gone to the big city to find sophistication and money for expensive clothes” (English Literature: An Introduction for
Foreign Readers, Macmillan India, 1982, p. 25)
More than a thousand years ago there existed in world literature, a great mass of stories, part history and part legend, about Gods and heroes. As the separate nations began to appear, each nation began to attach importance to its own stories and these were sometimes put together by unknown men – poets or bards. This was called ‘Heroic
Poems’.
Heroic poems differed from ballads in being longer, in having more characters and in having a nationalistic or tribal feelings. Ballads had a typical ballad metre, heroic poems had the line rather than stanza as their metrical unit.
Classical epic grew from the heroic poems. Simply defined an Epic is a long poem about the doings of one or more characters from history or legend. These doings are usually war-like, and involve a large number of secondary characters, as well as a background of gods and spirits who join in the action from time to time. Because the epic is long, the poet has plenty of time for digressions and descriptions.
Another characteristic of the epic is its ‘choric’ nature. Epic poetry is in a sense, public poetry – generally nationalistic or tribal. The poet is not only writing to express his own thoughts and feelings but the thoughts and feelings of some large group or community.
Dr. Nigam Dave, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University
Page 1
Having thus, discussed the nature and
Mahabharata:In origin both ballad and epic have the same sources. Ballad is the simplest form of narrative poetry and epic is sophisticated and more complicated. R.J.Rees comments on this difference, “The difference between them is like the difference between two sisters both born in the same quiet, country place. One of them has stayed there and kept all the charm of her natural simplicity while the other has gone to the big city to find sophistication and money for expensive clothes” (English Literature: An Introduction for
Foreign Readers, Macmillan India, 1982, p. 25)
More than a thousand years ago there existed in world literature, a great mass of stories, part history and part legend, about Gods and heroes. As the separate nations began to appear, each nation began to attach importance to its own stories and these were sometimes put together by unknown men – poets or bards. This was called ‘Heroic
Poems’.
Heroic poems differed from ballads in being longer, in having more characters and in having a nationalistic or tribal feelings. Ballads had a typical ballad metre, heroic poems had the line rather than stanza as their metrical unit.
Classical epic grew from the heroic poems. Simply defined an Epic is a long poem about the doings of one or more characters from history or legend. These doings are usually war-like, and involve a large number of secondary characters, as well as a background of gods and spirits who join in the action from time to time. Because the epic is long, the poet has plenty of time for digressions and descriptions.
Another characteristic of the epic is its ‘choric’ nature. Epic poetry is in a sense, public poetry – generally nationalistic or tribal. The poet is not only writing to express his own thoughts and feelings but the thoughts and feelings of some large group or community.
Dr. Nigam Dave, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University
Page 1
Having thus, discussed the nature and