'What is poetry, how many kinds of it are there, and what are their specific eff
ects?' Aristotle's Poetics is the most influential book on poetry ever written.
A founding text of European aesthetics and literary criticism, from it stems muc
h of our modern understanding of the creation and impact of imaginative writing,
including poetry, drama, and fiction. For Aristotle, the art of representation
conveys universal truths which we can appreciate more easily than the lessons of
history or philosophy.
In his short treatise Aristotle discusses the origins of
poetry and its early development, the nature of tragedy and plot, and offers pr
actical advice to playwrights.
