There is a second great thread in literature that has existed almost as long as the public stories of heroes and great events. This second thread is the LYRIC. Lyric poetry has been written ever since the first prayer was inscribed on the first clay tablet. Prayer and song are the oldest of the types of lyrics, but what we’ll read here are the more sophisticated poetic lyrics of three great civilizations of antiquity – the Egyptian love poems from the time of the pharaohs, the Greek lyrics of Sappho of Lesbos, and the delightful poems of China's greatest poet, Li Bo (or Li Po). First I want you to discuss the differences between the public poetry of heroism and the personal or private poetry of the lyric. Tell me several significant ways they differ from one another. Then compare the three groups of lyric poems (Egyptian, Greek, and Chinese) we’ve read – what do these poets have in common? And then, how do they differ from one another? And finally, which of them comes closest to your own private (poetical / emotional) sense of dealing with the world?

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Public poetry of heroism vs personal or private poetry of the lyric Public poetry of heroism is normally long and the length is longer than the privat... View the full answer