I am stupid pls educate me. Were they actually poems?

  • thethirdgracchi [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Yes, both are very clearly poems with set rhythms and rhymes. They're epic poems, very long, but at their core still works of poetry rather than prose.

    • RION [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Beowulf and Paradise Lost actually don't rhyme too much, instead favoring alliterative verse and blank verse respectively. I think part of the issue is that people generally learn strict conceptions of poetry due to how it's reproduced in schools and children's media. Basically "poetry=rhymes, everything else is prose", so when works outside that understanding (especially older ones) come up there's a bit of a disconnect

      • Florn [they/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Paradise Lost doesn't rhyme because Milton looked down on rhyme