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Do you consider Shakespeare's work to be poetry? Is Romeo & Juliet poetry?

What do you think of Shakespeare as a poet?

Well his sonnets are, no question, poetry, and yes- I consider his plays to be poetry. There is rhthym, rhyme, and meter. Most of it is in iambic pentameter- try writing a short poem in it, let alone a whole play. I can't- I find it extremely difficult. When you read them aloud- they way his plays are to be enjoyed, you can hear the poetry in them. I'd say they are a mix- yes it is poetry, but that does not mean they should be discounted as great plays and literary works as well.

is sonnets are poetry as of his plays within the plays are not.

What is iambic pentameter?

I think Shakespeare is poetry.

Iambic pentameter is the way the words form when you say them out loud.

You generally have a line made up of 5 pairs of one week sound and one strong sound.

de-DAH, de-DAH, de-DAH, de DAH, de-DAH

but SOFT what LIGHT through YONder WINdow BREAKS

At least, that's what I remember from my high school English classes! I may be a little rusty by now, and someone will probably be able to give you a more detailed description.

As someone said before, it is enormously difficult to sustain that kind of pattern for the length of a poem, let alone an entire play!

saracen77 wrote:
de-DAH, de-DAH, de-DAH, de DAH, de-DAH

but SOFT what LIGHT through YONder WINdow BREAKS

lol funny how that's always the line used to describe iambic pentameter.

Personally I think Shakespeare plays are poetry - there's far more less poetic stuff out there that does get called poetry, that's for sure.

I know, it's cheesy, but it fits! It was the only one I could rattle off the top of my head and be sure it fitted!

He maintains iambic pentameter throughout his plays, save the long speeches that are written in prose style. So yes, no only is it poetry but it written in a poetic structure.. an incredible feat.

knightss wrote:He maintains iambic pentameter throughout his plays, save the long speeches that are written in prose style.

Sort of. Shakespeare often uses verse and prose to distinguish between classes. Royalty and noblemen, for example, will usually speak in "blank verse"-- unrhymed iambic pentameter, while lower class characters will speak in prose. (The exceptions to this rule are really fun to discuss). So actually, many of the long speeches are written in verse.

As an answer to the original question: Shakespeare's plays are not poems, but they are poetry.

I consider that as poetry diverted into plays.

The Bedford Introduction to Literature, 5th Ed., edited by Michael Meyer, states the following:

• The iambic rhythm of this line* falls into five feet; hence it is called iambic pentameter. Iambic is the most common pattern in English poetry because its rhythm appears so naturally in English speech and writing. Unrhymed iambic pentameter is called blank verse; Shakespeare's plays are built on such lines.
  
  *The line referred to is "I didn't want the boy to hit the dog."

A line of iambic pentameter would go something like this:

What kept | his eyes | from giv | ing back | the gaze

Bold denotes a stressed syllable. The "|" are meant to separate what are called "feet." An example of a "foot," taken from the above line, would be "What kept," the next one being "his eyes." Iambs are comprised of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (hence the bold).

Does this make any sense?

(Also: If you've ever read any of Robert Frost's poetry, it's composed in blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter.)

yes, all of Shakespeare's writings are in the form of poetry, including his plays

Just because it's in verse, doesn't mean it's poetry. And vice versa.
At least that's what i think. IIRC there's a nice passage in Stephen Fry's book The Ode Less Travelled where he explains the difference.

Though, certainly, many passages from Shakespeare's plays come close to poetry, with language being condensed and meaning multi-layered and what not. If we can have Browning's poems in forms of dramatic monologues, why not agree that Shakespeare's dramatic monlogues are basically poetry?

Yes! I think it's a poetry in modern understanding.

Its not a poetry it's a sonnet.