Audiobook The Beginnings of Poetry

The author investigates poetry not through the lens of aesthetic theory or critical praise, but as a vital social institution rooted in human activity. The central problem concerns the origin of rhythm, which is established not as an intellectual invention or a derivative of prose, but as an organic product of communal consent, primitive dance, and coordinated physical labor. The argument develops by systematically dismantling the claims of prose-poetry and oratorical origins, demonstrating through rigorous ethnological and comparative evidence that strict rhythm is the primary and essential condition of early verse. Moving forward through literary history, the text charts the bifurcation of poetry into two distinct streams: the communal and the artistic. The rise of the individual poet, the birth of literary property, the evolution of subjective sentiment, and the retreat from the open-air choral throng into the solitary study are analyzed in detail. Ultimately, the work concludes that while modern poetry is largely intellectual and individual, it retains an inalienable connection to its communal origins through rhythm, which remains the eternal expression of human sympathy and social union.