3. The Tale is a simple form of narrative poetry telling a complete story. Examples: Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; Tennyson’s Enoch Arden.
4. The Ballad is a direct, rapid, and condensed story, having peculiarities of phrase and poetic accent. Examples: Chevy Chase; Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner.
5. Pastorals and Idylls have a great deal of description, often of simple country scenes, mingled with the narrative. Examples: Goldsmith’s Deserted Village; Tennyson’s Idylls of the King.
Dramatic poetry tells a story by means of characters speaking and acting in such a way as to develop a plot. The drama is divided into acts, often five, the fifth act showing the results of the plot which has been developing.
The classes of dramatic poetry are tragedy and comedy.
Tragedy deals with the grave situations and problems of life and engenders in the spectator noble emotions.
Comedy deals with the pleasanter and more trivial side of life and chooses its subjects from everyday follies, accidents, or humors.
Lyric poetry expresses the deepest emotions of sentiment of the poet. The lyric, as the word suggests, was originally designed to be sung to the music of the lyre.
Lyric poetry includes five classes, as follows:
Song may be either sacred or secular.