Poetry is the most complex literature genre because of his use of micro-language, a specific language. Indeed there are few lines and words but full of meaning.

Poetry uses symbols (a symbol is something that stand for something else, it rapresents a word or an idea) and figures of speech.

FIGUERES OF SPEECH (function):

<!--[if !supportLists]-->-          <!--[endif]-->Simile – to better describe something, to give a description.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->-          <!--[endif]-->Personification (poet gives human attributes to something that isn’t human) – to make actions and ideas more concrete.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->-          <!--[endif]-->Irony (poet means something by saying the exact opposite) – to emphasize a concept.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->-          <!--[endif]-->Allusion – to make an indirect reference.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->-          <!--[endif]-->Alliteration (poet uses words with the same sound or letter) and Assonance (poet uses words with the same vowel sound, ex: green/stream) – to make the poem easier to learn by heart

The language of a poet is based on IMAGERY (the use of word or pictures to describe ideas or actions, it is the collection of images that the poet use).

Analyzing a poem is scannering this language that the poet uses because it is suitable to the massage he wants to give.

Literature started as an oral form, it wasn’t written. Poets composed poem in a way people could remember them: this is why poets used a language similar to today’s songs (they used alliterations, assonances, incremental repetitions – repeat something changing only a part of it-), indeed the majority of people was illiterate, people can neither read nor write so they had to learn prayers and poems by heart.

Prayers was one of the earliest kind of poem, illiterate Christins knew and sang prayers in latin (language of religion) even if they didn’t understand the meaning.. so what gave meaning to their praying? Their faith did, that gave them also a reason to make an effort to learn prayers. In addiction literature entred in germany with Christianinty’s entry and in Irland with San Agostino.