Erithi poetry
Erithi poetry is an Official GemStone IV Document, and it is protected from editing.
Individual Erithi
It's not outside the realm of possibility for some erithi to not be drawn to this traditional poetry style and to write, read, and enjoy other kinds of poetry. Any claims that this non-traditional way is "all the rage in the erithi lands now" or any such claptrap is just that. The erithi style of poetry is alive and well and shows no signs of dying or being supplanted.
Purpose
A social or political dialogue in a format that will not offend any listener
Key Elements
Symbolism, assonance, alliteration, imagery, and consonance. Rhyme schemes are unimportant.
Poetry never refers to a living erithi by name. Typically, only elders are poetry masters, and not all erithi will "get" poetry or learn its language. Poets never write down their own poetry. They speak it and others write it down.
It could almost be considered a code or a riddle.
What it is not:
- It is not a haiku, a song, or a rhyme-driven poem. It is not like other poetry that might wax rhapsodic about a woman's smile. If it is doing that, it is doing it for another reason.
Teaching the Poetry
Kavrajjuri stated that the poetry was not actually taught, nor are there classes in understanding it. The poetry unfolds as you learn and study more of it. This, however, is a bias, per Chief Scholar Isienaka. There is a small group that feels you "lose" something if you teach it formally and adhere strictly to Kavrajjuri's statement. It can be assumed Kavrajjuri was learning poetry within a group of this bias. There is some truth to the statement, of course, as the best learning comes in time with effort, understanding, and wisdom. There are mostly informal studies on the poetry, and a few formal studies, on the poetry and its meaning.
Known Symbols
Note that not only is this list not comprehensive, but that each of these symbols might have different meanings depending on context and other elements.
| Term | Symbolic Meaning |
|---|---|
| Back | outcasting, refusal, denial |
| Butterfly | Yichan Dai, beauty, art, playfulness |
| Dragonfly | Judgment, justice (can be divinely inspired) |
| Ears | perception of the world, words heard |
| Eyes | telepathy, soul, emotion, communication of emotion |
| Hawk | a happening of swift and sudden precision, typically modifies another symbol |
| Kiss | important to look at direction of the kiss (i.e. who kissed whom) |
| Lips | love, affection |
| Owl | Eloth Dai, dangerous knowledge, Fash'lo'nae |
| Salmon | Tichan Dai, faithfulness, journey, desire to return home |
| Shoulders | compassion, comfort |
| Vulture | cycles of life, redemption through transformation, the inevitable |
| Hands | act of creation |
| Wrists | guidance, instruction |
| Throat | one of the most important body symbols. Speech and words |
| Wolf | prophecy, fate, predetermination, Jastev, something Jastev sees |
| Raven | always represents an elder erithi, often someone with social or political power or the poet. Significant symbol because it helps provide context for the poems understanding |
| Yak | willingness to shoulder burdens |
| Fireflies | messages, news traveling |
| Harp | Elf (used to mean something else, changed in last century, previous meaning not released) |
| Tree branch or bough | often refers to a leader |
| Leaves | Peoples lives |
| Liabo | healing, compassion, blessings, honesty, or some combination thereof |
| Lornon | mystery, chaos, malice, revealed secrets |
| Tilaok | energy, physical motion, elemental magic |
| Makiri | (also known as the poets moon) creativity, inspiration, secret guidance |
| Mountain | tradition, honor, heritage, duty |
| Valley | sanctuary, peace |
| Ocean | danger, outsiders, intruders, or when a Nathala speaks might mean bounty and/or guidance |
| Drinking something | accept it fully, embrace it and make it part of you |
| Eating something | benefits from it while destroying it utterly |
| Colors | Colors in poetry are not a 1:1 correlation with colors in regular life, so wearing white doesnt have to have the same symbolism white in a poem would have |
| White | death, grief, funeral ritual (if person is alone) |
| White jade | receptiveness, youth, innocence |
| Jewels | Indicated that various jewels have meanings, so open for expansion here |
| Agates | soul, Lumnis (mother of agates), probably more |
| Agate, Beetle | industriousness (positive), bitter habit or lack of imagination (negative) |
| Agate, Nathala | bounty of the ocean |
| Fire | fear, hunger of soul, hunger of body |
| Mist | wisdom |
| West | continent of Elanith |
| Katana | masterwork, driving purpose |
| Sword (non-katana) | regret, honor, or both |
| Falcon | Valaka Dai, someone on a quest, a quest, freedom |
| Ram | Surath Dai, meaningless stubbornness (negative), determination, leadership of a small group |
| Silver | memory, the past, nostalgia, reminder of something lost |
| Aishan | loyalty beyond ethics, referencing aishan eyes always means inspiring fear |