Santa Susana High School

Senior Research Paper

Love Poetry Throughout History

Mary Buffaloe
AP English 12 Period 2
Ms. Bradley
October 21 2016

Mary Buffaloe
English 12 Ap
Bradley
Period 2
October 19 2016

Senior Research Paper

Ever since I was little I have love words and weaving them together to make my
own little world. Primarily, I like to create stories, but last year I got very into poetry as a
way to express my emotions. I chose to write a book of love poetry based on the works
of writers throughout history because I would like to be a writer, and there is no better
way to learn than by studying the greats. In the category of writing, I would prefer to be
a playwright or a poet, so this project gives me the opportunity to explore one of those
avenues. The physical outcome of this project will be an actual book, which will
hopefully be copyrighted to me. As for a background in poetry, I am somewhat of an
ameteur poet. Poetry is on one of my hobbies, so previous to this project I had already
looked into the history of poetry and the different styles of it. This project will be a
learning stretch because I will not be writing in my usual style. Generally my writing is
free verse or rhyme schemes I make up myself, but in this project, I will be using the
style of others in my own writing, people such as Sappho, Byron, and Maya Angelou.
Not only do I want to improve my poetry, I also would like to see what elements of
poetry remain the same throughout history. Love poetry is an essential form of

courtship in many cultures, and because of this, almost all love poetry holds some
similarities despite the time or place it was written.

Many historians believe that all poetry holds similar elements throughout all of
history. One of the first poems ever written down, The Epic of Gilgamesh, becomes the
template of the epic poem for many cultures. It tells us about a triad of human
experience: (1) our relationship with the cosmos, god or the gods; (2) our relationships
with each other and "Self"; (3) and our relationship with the natural world and the other
species that inhabit it.(Hughes). Many epics follow this particular ones style, which
makes it one of the foundations of poetry. Egyptian poetry on the other hand is
exceedingly sensual and bursts with symbolism. The authors are not known because of
the age of the poetry, but archeologists have found multiple scrolls of the poems, as
shown in a national Geographic article. Moving on from Egypt, there is Greek poetry,
but rather than focusing on epics again, one can look at the poetry of Sappho. Sappho
was a Greek woman who wrote under Anonymous, and because her poems were about
women, most assumed she was male. However, in a plot twist, she was a secret
lesbian and many terms for gay women are derived from Sapphic origins. For
example, she was born on Lesbos, which is where the term lesbian comes from.
Because The Library of Alexandria burned, one would almost think of classifying her,
along with a vast body of what has not come down from Greek times, with the 'lost
literature' of a vibrant culture which once had a quarter of a millions volumes in its great
libraries(Harris). Despite Rome being the cultural capital of the world, the poetry
generated was very little, excluding the epic. The Aeneid is the most well known

because it offers offers the readerly subject a national identity for the Roman Empire.
This information is derived from a textbook used at Princeton University by the
professor of ancient poetry. Moving across the globe and going to Medieval China, one
can see that the region is characterized by the poetry of Du Fu and Li Po. Their poetry
focuses on nature and its relationship to humanity. The two poets are very similar
because usually, the Chinese poem is fairly simple on the surface.(Wheeler) Medieval
India unfortunately does not have specific authors that come from the time partly
because the poetry comes from oral tradition and because the poets were women. To
fully understand the poetry, one looks at the definition: bhakti is defined as devotion,
or passionate love for the Divine. The Bhakti tradition focuses on human emotion,as
said before, and many of those who practiced this style of writing were women,
evidence being in the lesson plan at GMU. In Medieval Europe poetry with, passionate
love stories replace epic combat tales and women are exalted to almost god-like
status.(Brians) One definable name is Chaucer, who is mostly known for the
Canterbury Tales, but he also composed poems about medieval life. Troubadours were
men who traveled and performed at the courts of royalty. Many of these troubadours
were sponsored by Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was a French queen who believed in
spreading love and art, as stated by the AP world history textbook. Moving away from
Europe into Tribal Africa, there is a definite difference because most of their poetry was
orally composed by griots. Griots were people who told the stories of the trib and
passed them along through generations, like The Sundiata.

This was also stated in

the AP world history textbook. Therefore, to look at the genre, one can use people who

use the styles of then and compose poetry for the present. Moving back into Europe for
the Renaissance, one can see a definite difference between the poetry of before and
after. The poetry of Italy and Spain after this time period focuses more on human
thought rather than faith. Some, like Dante, are exceptions, but others like Cervantes
are perfect examples. This information comes from a book of collective works from this
era. Though Shakespeare was writing about this time, his writing is an entirely different
beast altogether. He created his own type of sonnets, as well as wrote some about
people who seem to be men. Some historian believe Shakespeare was bisexual, and
his sonnets are some of the strongest evidence they have. This information comes
from a website created by Folger University. A renaissance in Meiji Japan was
occurring about this time, but in its own way. The haiku came out of this era, and
consequently became one of the most identifiable poems in history. These poems
generally focus on nature and love, as mentioned in a Meiji Japan database. In the
Americas, there is the same problem of most poetry being oral and differing by tribe
drastically. The Romantic Era is one of the most recognizable eras of poetry with
writers such as Lord Byron and Victor Hugo. Byrons poetry is very emotional, and
some would say, overdramatic. Byron is another poet that is speculated to be bisexual
due to his many affairs with people of all genders. Victor Hugo is a French poet who is
known for his novels in America, but for his poetry in France. His poetry is centered
around his emotions, for example he wrote many poems about the death of his
daughter, this comes from Mtholyoke University. Transcendentalist poetry also thrived
at this time, and the transcendentalists believed the soul of each individual is identical

with the soul of the world and contains what the world contains(Campbell)
Transcendentalism is almost the American to the Romantic movement because of its
dark nature and focus on emotion. Emily Dickinson, one of the most famous American
poets, is very well known for this genre because of her unique style. Edgar Allen Poe
doesnt really fit this genre, but because he is so essential to American poetry he had to
be included. His poetry focuses on the vices of humanity and the darker sides of life as
mentioned by WSU. Poetry in Latin America at this time was very revolutionary and
used as a form of protest. People like Pablo Neruda used their words to spark the
population, causing this era to be full of conflict. The Harlem Renaissance was an
artistic and political movement of the black community in the 1920s. Political figures
like Booker T. Washington were prominent, but in the art world, Langston Hughes and
Paul Dunbar ruled the stage. Their poetry was used to celebrate their culture as well
as discuss complex human emotions. The early 1900s in America also featured a host
of authors known as the lost generation, like Hemingway and Faulkner. These writers
came after WW1 and before WW2, and it seems that most of their writing focuses on
existentialism and the point of life and love.

The later 1900s includes many poets, but

a pivotal one is Maya Angelou. Her writing is not only moving, but it also focuses on
multiple societal issues such as racism and feminism. Lastly for the modern era, the
writer of this essay chose to include her own writing because it perfectly describes the
writing of the modern era. Modern poetry is looser with rhyme scheme, but it still
focuses on the themes of old, such as love and loss. This shows that poetry focuses on
similar topics generally because they stay the same throughout millenia.

To apply the research to my physical project, there most likely will be little blurbs
about why each poet chosen in comparison to others in that genre. For example, I
chose Maya Angelou because she is a wonderful writer as well as an inspirational
woman. The information researched also gives insight to the poetry so that the poems
done in my style can be completed with maximum accuracy. Without the research, one
would not be able to distinguish difference between some of the ers, which is essential
for this project. In the information gathering process, I am also, as a poet, seeing new
techniques I can apply to my writing. However, all the research in the world cannot
prepare you to write because that requires inspiration. It may be a cliche, but even if a
writer knows exactly what to write, they generally need to want to write it so that it will
be decent. This means time management skills will be essential because I will have to
accomplish as much work I can when Im inspired to make up for the time I am not
inspired. Information that will also be relevant is things such as rhyme scheme and
meter. These things were already known by me, so I didnt need to really research
them, but when writing things such as sonnets one must keep them in mind. For
example, Shakespearean sonnets are written in Iambic Pentameter, so the writer must
understand what that is, and be able to make use of it. Many forms of poetry are
different because of their structure, so messing up the structure is a death sentence for
many poems. I also researched things like the history behind the poets because that
helps me to understand what Im writing from in their style. If I wrote from the same
perspective for each poem, there would be no difference between the works. This
forces me to go outside my own head when writing, and not write straight from

emotional conflict. However, many of the poems included do have undertones of my life
through the lens of the poet. I wrote as if I were Sappho, but the person in mind was
from me. Using Sappho as a prime example, I included the sexualities of some of the
poets because for me, that is very important. Most of these poems are written for
woman, and as a lesbian, I thought Id just keep that the same. Basically, this research
was included because it pertains to me, and is very interesting. My poetry holds a lot of
queer themes, and to understand that one must see who my poetry influences are. I
will also be using the information of time period to set the perspective and set of the
poems. For example, i wouldnt set an Edgar Allen poe style poem in Mesopotamia.
Setting and time period is essential to genre because the people of a time dictate the
art. Meiji japan was a society that focused on simplicity, so it makes sense that the
poetry that comes out of it is the haiku. Shakespeare was an elaborate person, so the
fact that he made his own sonnet is somewhat justified. Other information like the way
poetry was transmitted from person to person. In societies where it was orally, it is
important to know that the poetry we find now may be severely altered from the original.
Other poetry that was built from fragments, like Sappho and Ancient Egyptian poetry, is
also important to research because it makes the breaks easier to understand. The most
important reason to research this is so that ne can understand the cultures. Not just the
time period but the way the characters in the poems would act as compared to people in
modern day. It wildly differs even from the same country at a later time. For example,
the Medieval era is far more conservative than the Romantic era, even though they take
place in the same country. This affects every little action of characters, if any, in the

poems. One poem I wrote was in Edgar Allen Poes style so there are many objects
that are present characteristic of Victorian Society. In addition, the main character
shows a common vice in that time period, which furthers the cultural awareness. Love
poetry is essential to all cultures because of the way it can put into word what a person
feels. Writing itself is humanitys way of letting the world know how you feel in a way
that endures throughout generations.

Works Cited
Hughes, C. "Gilgamesh_questions." Gilgamesh_questions. WSU, 2013. Web. 23 Sept.
2016.
Harris, William. "SAPPHO: Text." Sappho Griechisch Und Deutsch (n.d.): n. pag.
Sappho. Middlebury University, 2014. Web. 2016.
Barcheisi. "Virgil's Gaze: Nation and Poetry in the Aeneid." Choice Reviews Online
44.11 (2007): n. pag. Poetry in the Aeneid. Princeton University, 2007. Web. 2016.
Felhaus, Anne. "Women in World History : MODULE 1." Women in World History :
MODULE GMU, 2009. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
Brians. "Study Guide for Medieval Love Songs." Medieval Love Songs. WSU, 2010.
Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
Campbell, D. "American Transcendentalism." American Transcendentalism. WSU,
2012. Web. 24 Sept. 2016

Bibliography
Hughes, C. "Gilgamesh_questions." Gilgamesh_questions. WSU, 2013. Web. 23 Sept.
2016.
Harris, William. "SAPPHO: Text." Sappho Griechisch Und Deutsch (n.d.): n. pag.
Sappho. Middlebury University, 2014. Web. 2016.
Barcheisi. "Virgil's Gaze: Nation and Poetry in the Aeneid." Choice Reviews Online
44.11 (2007): n. pag. Poetry in the Aeneid. Princeton University, 2007. Web. 2016.
Felhaus, Anne. "Women in World History : MODULE 1." Women in World History :
MODULE GMU, 2009. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
Brians. "Study Guide for Medieval Love Songs." Medieval Love Songs. WSU, 2010.
Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
Marfat, Barbara. "Sonnets." Folger Shakespeare Library. Folger University, 05 Aug.
2015. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
Schwart, R. "Untitled Document." Untitled Document. Mtholyoke University, 2011. Web.
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Campbell, D. "American Transcendentalism." American Transcendentalism. WSU,

2012. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
Hudley, Anne H. Charity. "The Language of Maya Angelou." Slate Magazine. Lexicon
Valley, 29 May 2014. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.