Oral poetry is a form of poetry that is composed and transmitted without the aid of writing but is instead transmitted by word of mouth.
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Introduction to Forms of Oral Poetry
What is oral poetry? Oral poetry is a form of poetry that is composed and transmitted without the aid of writing but is instead transmitted from generation to generation by word of mouth. Oral poems include the art of performance thus they overlap with, or are identical with songs. It is important to note that despite being oral, modern forms of oral poetry are recorded as audio-visual or written down for reference. Forms of oral poetry are referred to as ‘oral’ which means ‘ to do by mouth ’ thus means that oral poems are memorized and performed by word of mouth. This, therefore, makes these poems change from one performer to another. Even though, memorized oral poems can come to be written down for the sake of learning and storing leading to a situation in which written versions influence the memorized versions. Oral poems are therefore basically oral songs/ folklore/ folk poetry picked from communities. These poems contain a part of their oral traditions. These songs are verbal expressions…
