ELEMENTS OF POETRY
POETIC DEVICE - A technique or tool used in poetry
1. Speaker/Persona - The voice that communicates with the
reader of a poem (like a narrator)
Structure of Poetry
Structure has to do with the overall organization of lines and/or the
conventional patterns of sound.
Many modern poems may not have any identifiable structure
(i.e. they are free verse)
2. Line - The basic unit of poetry. The line is a word or a
row of words.
Poets write in lines instead of sentences.
- They may or may not be complete sentences.
The number of lines in a poem may vary.
3. Stanzas - are a series of lines grouped together and separated by
an empty line from other stanzas. Stanzas are lines separated into groups.
They form unit in a poem or a song.
They are the equivalent of a paragraph in an essay. One way to identify
a stanza is to count the number of lines. Thus:
couplet (2 lines)
tercet (3 lines)
quatrain (4 lines)
cinquain (5 lines)
sestet (6 lines) (sometimes it's called a sexain)
septet (7 lines)
octave (8 lines)
Form of Poetry
4. Form - Form is the way a poem looks.
Types of poems according to form or style
(1).Lyric Poetry: It is any poem with one speaker
(not necessarily the poet)
who expresses strong thoughts and feelings. Most poems, especially modern ones,
are lyric poems.
(2). Narrative Poem: It is a poem that tells a story; its structure resembles
the plot line of a story [i.e. the introduction of conflict and characters,
rising action, climaxand the denouement].
(3). Descriptive Poem: It is a poem that describes the world
that surrounds
the speaker. It uses elaborate imagery and adjectives. While emotional,
it is more "outward-focused" than lyric poetry, which is more personal
and introspective.
(4). Blank Verse: Any poetry that does have a set metrical pattern (usually iambic pentameter), but does not have rhyme, is blank verse. Shakespeare
frequently used unrhymed iambic pentameter in his plays;
his works are an early example of blank verse
(5). Free Verse: Poetry that has no fixed pattern of meter, rhyme, line length, or stanza arrangement.Most modern poetry no longer follows strict rules of
meter or rhyme. It, has no rules about meter or rhyme whatsoever!
[In other words, blank verse has rhythm, but no rhyme,
while free verse has neither rhythm nor rhyme.]
Sound of Poetry
5. Sound patterns-are sometimes collectively called sound play
because they take advantage of the performative, spoken nature of poetry.
(1). Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds.
a. End Rhyme.In poetry, the most common kind of rhyme is the end rhyme,
which occurs at the end of two or more lines. It is usually identified with lower case letters, and a new letter is used to identify each new end sound.
Take a look at the rhyme scheme for the following poem
a. End Rhyme: The rhyming of words at the end of a line.
Example: They could not excuse the sin.
That was committed by his kin.
b. Internal Rhyme: Rhyme that occurs within a single line of poetry.
Example: No, baby, no, you may not go.”
(c). Slant Rhyme: Two words sound similar,
but do not have a perfect rhyme.
Example: The words jackal and buckle.
Not all poetry rhymes…it is just one of the poetic elements
(2). Rhyme Scheme: The pattern that end rhymes form in a stanza or poem.
Rhyme scheme is designated by the assignment of a different letter of the alphabet to
each new rhyme.
Roses are red A
Violets are blue B
You stole my heart C
Then were untrue B
The rhyme scheme of the poem is abcb.
I saw a fairy in the wood,
He was dressed all in green.
He drew his sword while I just stood,
And realized I'd been seen.
The rhyme scheme of the poem is abab.
(3). Repetition: The recurrence of sounds, words, phrases, lines or stanzas in
a poem.
Writers use repetition to emphasize an important point,
to expand on an idea, to create rhythm, and to increase the unity of the work.
Example:
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer,
Chirping robin, budding rose.
Here comes summer,
Here comes summer,
Gentle showers, summer clothes.
The repeated chorus of a song emphasizes the message of that song.
(4). Rhythm - is the beat of the poem.
Rhythm is the pattern of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and
unstressed syllables in a line. Rhythm can be regular or irregular.
Example:
I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree.
NOTE: Rhyme and rhythm are two totally different concepts!
Meter: the systematic regularity in rhythm; this systematic rhythm (or sound pattern)
is usually identified by examining the type of "foot" and the number of feet.
Language of Poetry
6. Imagery - Descriptive language that appeals to the five senses.
– sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell.
Some images appeal to more than one sense.
FIVE TYPES OF IMAGERY
(1).Visual Imagery-Imagery that deals with picturing something.
Example: The dark, black cloud began to block the azure, blue sky as we sat and
watched on the beach.
(2). Auditory Imagery-Imagery that deals with sound and hearing.
Example: The doorbell rang and Rayna screamed, “I’ll get it!”
(3). Olfactory Imagery-Imagery that represents a smell.
Example: The garbage can released an odor of rancid, three-week-old milk.
(4). Gustatory Imagery- Imagery that represents a taste.
Example: Mark tasted the briny, bitter salt water for the first time.
(5). Tactile Imagery-Imagery that represents touch.
Example: She dug her toes in the wet sand, but she was still sweating from the hot sun.
7. Figurative Language or Figures of Speech- helps us picture ordinary things in a new way.
Ex: Simile,
Metaphor,
Hyperbole,
Alliteration,
Assonance,
Consonance etc
8. Idiom - is a phrase or expression that has a different meaning from what it actually says.
Ex. It’s raining cats and dogs.
9. a. Denotation: The literal, dictionary meaning of a word.
Example: The word “home” means, “the physical structure within which one lives, such as a house.”
b. Connotation: The suggested or implied meanings associated with a word beyond its dictionary definition.
Example: Words can have positive or negative connotations. The word “home” might suggest positive thoughts of comfort, family,
protection, etc.
10. Diction: A writer’s choice of words; an important element in the writer’s voice or style.
11. Mood - The emotional quality of a literary work.
Mood is determined by setting, subject matter, and tone.
SAMPLE MOOD WORDS: Cheerful, gloomy, bleak, eerie, tense, calm, ominous, uncertain, miserable
BASIC CONSIDERATIONS IN APPRECIATING POETRY
Readers of poetry often bring with them many related assumptions:
That a poem is to be read for its "message,"
That this message is "hidden" in the poem,
The message is to be found by treating the words as symbols which naturally do not mean what they say but stand for something
else,
You have to decipher every single word to appreciate and enjoy the poem.
12. Tone – The attitude of the writer towards the subject.
WORD SOUNDS
Another type of sound play is the emphasis on individual sounds and words:
Alliteration: the repetition of initial sounds on the same line
or stanza –
Ex: Big bad Bob bounced bravely.
Assonance: the repetition of vowel (A, E, I, O U) sounds
(anywhere in the middle or end of a line or stanza) –
Ex. : Tilting at windmills
Consonance: the repetition of consonant (B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L ETC.)sounds
(anywhere in the middle or end of a line or stanza) –
Ex.And all the air a solemn stillness holds. (T. Gray)
Onomatopoeia: words that sound like that which they describe –
Boom! Crash! Pow! Quack! Moo! Caress...
Repetition: the repetition of entire lines or phrases to emphasize key thematic ideas.
Parallel Stucture: a form of repetition where the order of verbs and nouns is repeated; it may involve exact words, but it more importantly
repeats sentence structure - "I came, I saw, I conquered".
Assessment
Read the poem, then do the tasks that follow.
The Road Not Taken
By Robert L. Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Task 1. Answer the following questions. Writer the letter which represents your answer .
1. Which intersection point the poet stood?
a. crossroads
b. Two roads
c. Three roads
2.The poet felt sorry because?
a. He could not see the road well
b. He could not travel on both the roads
c. He did not know the direction
3. The poet took the road.
a. To the right
b. To the left
c. The one less traveled on
4. In poem, the speaker describes___
a. Conflicts in life
b. Problems we face in life
c. Choices we make in life
5. What did the poet see in the yellow wood?
a. Two paths diverging in different directions
b. Trees in the forest c. Green grass
Task 2. Go over the poem again. Then, look for the different poetic devices used in the poem “The Road
Not Taken.” Write your answers on your answer sheet.
1. End Rhyme-
2. Internal Rhyme-
3. Onomatopoeia-
4. Alliteration-
5. Consonance-
6. Assonance-
7. Imagery
