NeoClassical Poetry The distinguishing features of neoclassicism are

Neo-Classical Poetry • The distinguishing features of neoclassicism are: society is more important than individual, reason is more important than emotion and form is more important than content. In this period, emotion is considered to be inferior.

A neoclassical poet couldn’t write about his personal problems. The subject matter must be general, universal, true for all mankind. As a result, in neoclassical poetry, the reader comes across very generalized ideas and experiences. The aim of neoclassical poet is to reflect nature as it is. Mirror metaphor is used to describe the function of the poet. When you hold a mirror up to the sunlight, it reflects the sunlight as it is. Similarly, the poet reflects nature without adding his feelings.

The poet must reflect nature in the manner of the ancient poets. So before writing his poems, a good poet must be trained in the rules of writing poetry, no matter what a great genius he is. For the neoclassical writers, a poet is not a prophet but a craftsman.

Didacticism is the most important quality of neoclassicism. A poet writes to teach. The poet must teach permanent elements in the moral and intellectual experiences of man.

An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope This work has been assigned to the students at the first week of this term So the students must read the work and participate in class discussion.