lyric

lyric
lyrically, adv.lyricalness, n.
/lir"ik/, adj. Also, lyrical.
1. (of poetry) having the form and musical quality of a song, and esp. the character of a songlike outpouring of the poet's own thoughts and feelings, as distinguished from epic and dramatic poetry.
2. pertaining to or writing lyric poetry: a lyric poet.
3. characterized by or expressing spontaneous, direct feeling: a lyric song; lyric writing.
4. pertaining to, rendered by, or employing singing.
5. (of a voice) relatively light of volume and modest in range: a lyric soprano.
6. pertaining, adapted, or sung to the lyre, or composing poems to be sung to the lyre: ancient Greek lyric odes.
n.
7. a lyric poem.
8. Often, lyrics. the words of a song.
[1575-85; < L lyricus < Gk lyrikós. See LYRE, -IC]

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Verse or poem that can, or supposedly can, be sung to musical accompaniment (in ancient times, usually a lyre) or that expresses intense personal emotion in a manner suggestive of a song.

Lyric poetry expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet and is sometimes contrasted with narrative poetry and verse drama, which relate events in the form of a story. The elegy, ode, and sonnet are important forms of lyric poetry.

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poetry
      a verse or poem that is, or supposedly is, susceptible of being sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument (in ancient times, usually a lyre) or that expresses intense personal emotion in a manner suggestive of a song. Lyric poetry expresses the thoughts and feelings of the poet and is sometimes contrasted with narrative poetry and verse drama, which relate events in the form of a story. Elegies, odes, and sonnets are all important kinds of lyric poetry.

      In ancient Greece an early distinction was made between the poetry chanted by a choir of singers (choral lyrics) and the song that expressed the sentiments of a single poet. The latter, the melos, or song proper, had reached a height of technical perfection in “the Isles of Greece, where burning Sappho loved and sung,” as early as the 7th century BC. That poetess, together with her contemporary Alcaeus, were the chief Doric poets of the pure Greek song. By their side, and later, flourished the great poets who set words to music for choirs, Alcman, Arion, Stesichorus, Simonides, and Ibycus, who were followed at the close of the 5th century by Bacchylides and Pindar, in whom the tradition of the dithyrambic odes reached its highest development.

      Latin lyrics were written by Catullus and Horace in the 1st century BC; and in medieval Europe the lyric form can be found in the songs of the troubadours, in Christian hymns, and in various ballads. In the Renaissance the most finished form of lyric, the sonnet, was brilliantly developed by Petrarch, Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and John Milton. Especially identified with the lyrical forms of poetry in the late 18th and 19th centuries were the Romantic poets, including such diverse figures as Robert Burns, William Blake, William Wordsworth, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lamartine, Victor Hugo, Goethe, and Heinrich Heine. With the exception of some dramatic verse, most Western poetry in the late 19th and the 20th century may be classified as lyrical.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Lyric — may refer to:* Lyric poetry is a form of poetry that expresses a subjective, personal point of view * Lyric, from the Greek language, a song sung with a lyre * Lyrics, the composition in verse which is sung to a melody to constitute a song *… …   Wikipedia

  • lyric — lyric, lyrical Lyric is the adjective to use when referring to a type of poetry that expresses the poet s feelings in set forms such as an ode or sonnet (lyric poet / lyric verses). A lyric is a poem of this kind, and in modern use lyrics… …   Modern English usage

  • lyric — [lir′ik] adj. [< Fr or L: Fr lyrique < L lyricus < Gr lyrikos] 1. of a lyre 2. suitable for singing, as to the accompaniment of a lyre; songlike; specif., designating poetry or a poem mainly expressing the poet s emotions and feelings:… …   English World dictionary

  • Lyric Hi-Fi — Lyric Hi Fi, founded in 1959 by Michael Kay, is one of New York City s original and most respected retail music stores. Lyric Hi Fi has become synonymous with New York s high end audio industry.Kay began his career as an electronic engineer in… …   Wikipedia

  • Lyric — Lyr ic, n. 1. A lyric poem; a lyrical composition. [1913 Webster] 2. A composer of lyric poems. [R.] Addison. [1913 Webster] 3. A verse of the kind usually employed in lyric poetry; used chiefly in the plural. [1913 Webster] 4. pl. The words of a …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • lyric — [ lirik ] n. m. • 1923; mot angl. ♦ Anglic. Couplet de music hall. Des lyrics. ⊗ HOM. Lyrique. ⇒LYRIC, subst. masc. Gén. au plur. Texte chanté (dans une comédie musicale, un film ou un spectacle) (d apr. GILB. 1971). Le roman de Graham Greene… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Lyric — Lyr ic, Lyrical Lyr ic*al, a. [L. lyricus, Gr. ?: cf. F. lyrique. See {Lyre}.] 1. Of or pertaining to a lyre or harp. [1913 Webster] 2. Fitted to be sung to the lyre; hence, also, appropriate for song; suitable for or suggestive of singing; of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • lyric — (n.) a lyric poem, 1580s, from M.Fr. lyrique short poem expressing personal emotion, from L. lyricus of or for the lyre, from Gk. lyrikos singing to the lyre, from lyra (see LYRE (Cf. lyre)). Meaning words of a popular song is first recorded 1876 …   Etymology dictionary

  • lyric — ► NOUN 1) (also lyrics) the words of a song. 2) a lyric poem or verse. ► ADJECTIVE 1) (of poetry) expressing the writer s emotions, usually briefly and in stanzas or recognized forms. 2) (of a singing voice) using a light register. ORIGIN …   English terms dictionary

  • lyric — англ. [ли/рик] lyrique фр. [лири/к] lyrisch нем. [ли/риш] 1) лирический 2) музыкальный …   Словарь иностранных музыкальных терминов

  • lyric — [adj] musical choral, coloratura, mellifluous, melodic, melodious, poetic, songful, songlike, tuneful; concept 594 …   New thesaurus

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