“In the most common use of the term, a lyric is any fairly short poem, consisting of the utterance by a single speaker, who expresses a state of mind or a process of perception, thought and feeling. Many lyric speakers are represented as musing in solitude.” (Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms 146)
the LYRIC GENRE encompasses:
the lyric poem [a speaker expresses a state of mind or a process of perception, thought and feeling]
the personal lyric: a lyric poem in which the persona of the speaker is identified with the poet
the sonnet: a lyric poem that consists of a single stanza of 14 iambic pentameter lines; the type of sonnet is differentiated by the rhyme scheme used, most commonly English/Shakespearean and Italian/Petrarchan
the dramatic lyric: a poem in which a lyric speaker addresses an auditor in a specific situation
the dramatic monologue: a lyric poem that fulfills the following “rules”
1. a single speaker, not the author, who utters the entire poem in a specific situation at a critical moment
2. the speaker addresses an auditor who never speaks but is manifestly present
3. the intent of the poem is to reveal the speaker’s underlying motivation, temperament, and character
the elegy [ a specific type of lyric poem: “a formal and sustained lament in verse for the death of a particular person, usually ending in a consolation” (Abrams 72)]
the ode [a long lyric poem – in either regular or irregular stanzas – in which the speaker “expresses a sustained process of observation and meditation in an attempt to resolve on emotional problem” (Abrams 147)]. Be aware of the differences between the Classical Regular Ode, the Classical Irregular Ode and the Romantic Meditative Ode (which can be either regular or irregular)