Section I Summary and Analysis

Like any art, poetry is a kind of imitation. Arts are differentiated from one another in three ways: medium (the manner in which the art is produced), the objects (what the art imitates), and the manner of imitation. The medium specific to poetry is one which uses language alone, like prose, but, unlike prose, it uses rhythm in the form of a meter. The object which poetry portrays is men in action and, therefore, poets may differ in how they represent these men—some represent them worse than they are, some better, and some attempt to represent them how they actually are. Further, the method of imitation differs: Some poets may present the poem in the voice of one of the characters or simply straightforwardly describe the events as they happen, as if the reader were experiencing them...