Elements of Poetry

POETRY ASSUMPTIONS

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.

There are no easy ways to dispel these biases. Poetry is difficult because very
often its language is indirect. But so is experience - those things we think, feel,
and do. The lazy reader wants to be told things and usually avoids poetry
because it demands commitment and energy. Moreover, much of what poetry
has to offer is not in the form of hidden meanings. Many poets like to "play"
with the sound of language or offer an emotional insight by describing what
they see in highly descriptive language. In fact, there can many different ways
to enjoy poetry; this reflects the many different styles and objectives of poets
themselves. For an overview of the many ways to read a poem, click here.
Finally, if you are the type to give up when something is unclear, just relax!
Like we just said, there can be many different approaches to examining
poetry; often these approaches (like looking for certain poetic devices or
examining the meaning of a specific phrase) do not require a complete and
exhaustive analysis of a poem. So, enjoy what you do understand!

 
FIRST APPROACHES

Read the poem (many students neglect this step). Identify the speaker and
the situation. Feel free to read it more than once! Read the sentences literally.
Use your prose reading skills to clarify what the poem is about.Read each line
separately, noting unusual words and associations. Look up words you are
unsure of and struggle with word associations that may not seem logical to
you.Note any changes in the form of the poem that might signal a shift in point
of view. Study the structure of the poem, including its rhyme and rhythm (if
any). Re-read the poem slowly, thinking about what message and emotion the
poem communicates to you.

STRUCTURE and POETRY

An important method of analyzing a poem is to look at the stanza structure or
style of a poem. Generally speaking, structure has to do with the overall
organization of lines and/or the conventional patterns of sound. Again, many
modern poems may not have any identifiable structure (i.e. they are free
verse), so don't panic if you can't find it!

STANZAS: Stanzas are a series of lines grouped together and separated by

an empty line from other stanzas. 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: A poem may or may not have a specific number of lines, rhyme

scheme and/or metrical pattern, but it can still be labeled according to its form
or style. Here are the three most common types of poemsaccording to
form:

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,
climax and 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. 

In a sense, almost all poems, whether they have consistent patterns of

sound and/or structure, or are free verse, are in one of the three categories
above. Or, of course, they may be a combination of 2 or 3 of the above styles!
Here are some more types of poems that are subtypes of the three styles
above:

Ode: It is usually a lyric poem of moderate length, with a serious subject, an

elevated style, and an elaborate stanza pattern.

Elegy: It is a lyric poem that mourns the dead. [It's not to be confused with
a eulogy.]It has no set metric or stanzaic pattern, but it usually begins by
reminiscing about the dead person, then laments the reason for the death,
and then resolves the grief by concluding that death leads to immortality. It
often uses "apostrophe" (calling out to the dead person) as a literary
technique. It can have a fairly formal style, and sound similar to an ode.

Sonnet: It is a lyric poem consisting of 14 lines and, in the English version, is

usually written in iambic pentameter. There are two basic kinds of sonnets:
the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet and the Shakespearean (or
Elizabethan/English) sonnet. The Italian/Petrarchan sonnet is named after
Petrarch, an Italian Renaissance poet. The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an
octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). The Shakespearean sonnet
consists of three quatrains (four lines each) and a concluding couplet (two
lines). The Petrarchan sonnet tends to divide the thought into two parts
(argument and conclusion); the Shakespearean, into four (the final couplet is
the summary).

Ballad: It is a narrative poem that has a musical rhythm and can be sung. A

ballad is usually organized into quatrains or cinquains, has a simple rhythm
structure, and tells the tales of ordinary people.

Epic: It is a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a

legendary or historical hero.    

Qualities of an Epic Poem:

 narrative poem of great scope; dealing with the founding of

a nation or some other heroic theme requires a dignified
 theme requires an organic unity requires orderly progress of
the action always has a heroic figure or figures involves
supernatural forces
 written in deliberately ceremonial style
  

Other types of poems include:

Haiku: It has an unrhymed verse form having three lines (a tercet) and

usually 5,7,5 syllables, respectively. It's usually considered a lyric poem.

Limerick: It has a very structured poem, usually humorous & composed of five
lines (a cinquain), in an aabba rhyming pattern; beat must
be anapestic (weak, weak, strong) with 3 feet in lines 1, 2, & 5 and 2 feet in
lines 3 & 4. It's usually a narrative poem based upon a short and often ribald
anecdote.

SOUND PATTERNS
Three other elements of poetry are rhyme scheme, meter (ie. regular
rhythm) and word sounds (like alliteration). These are sometimes collectively
called sound play because they take advantage of the performative, spoken
nature of poetry.
 

RHYME
 

Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds. 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
:
 

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.

.

Internal rhyme occurs in the middle of a line, as in these lines from

Coleridge, "In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud" or "Whiles all the
night through fog-smoke white" ("The Ancient Mariner"). Remember that most
modern poems do not have rhyme.

NOTE: Rhyme (above) and rhythm (below) 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.

1. Poetic Foot: The traditional line of metered poetry contains a number of rhythmical

units, which are called feet. The feet in a line are distinguished as a recurring pattern
of two or three syllables("apple" has 2 syllables, "banana" has 3 syllables, etc.). The
pattern, or foot, is designated according to the number of syllables contained, and
the relationship in each foot between the strong and weak syllables.Thus:

__ = a stressed (or strong, or LOUD) syllable

U = an unstressed (or weak, or quiet) syllable
 

In other words, any line of poetry with a systematic rhythm has a certain number of feet,
and each foot has two or three syllables with a constant beat pattern .

a.     Iamb (Iambic) - weak syllable followed by strong syllable. [Note that the pattern is
sometimes fairly hard to maintain, as in the third foot.]

b.     Trochee (Trochaic): strong syllable followed by a weak syllable.

c.     Anapest (Anapestic): two weak syllables followed by a strong syllable.

e.g.
In her room at the prow of the house
Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed... 

From "The Writer", by Richard Wilbur

d.     Dactyl (Dactylic): a strong syllable followed by two weak syllables.

DD

Here's another (silly) example of dactylic rhythm.

DDDA was an / archer, who / shot at a / frog
DDDB was a / butcher, and / had a great / dog
DDDC was a / captain, all / covered with / lace
DDDD was a / drunkard, and / had a red / face.

e.     Spondee (Spondaic): two strong syllables (not common as lines, but
appears as a foot). A spondee usually appears at the end of a line. 

2. The Number of Feet: The second part of meter is the number of feet
contained in a line.

Thus:
one foot=monometer
two feet=dimeter
three feet=trimeter
four feet=tetrameter
five feet=pentameter
six feet=hexameter (when hexameter is in iambic rhythm, it is called an
alexandrine)

Poems with an identifiable meter are therefore identified by the type of feet
(e.g. iambic) and the number of feet in a line (e.g. pentameter). The following
line is iambic pentameter because it (1) has five feet [pentameter], and (2) each foot
has two syllables with the stress on the second syllable [iambic].

That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold

Thus, you will hear meter identified as iambic pentameter, trochaic tetrameter,
and so on.
  

3. Irregularity: Many metered poems in English avoid perfectly regular

rhythm because it is monotonous. Irregularities in rhythm add interest and
emphasis to the lines. In this line:

The first foot substitutes a trochee for an iamb. Thus, the basic iambic
pentameter is varied with the opening trochee.

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: Most modern poetry no longer follows strict rules of

meter or rhyme, especially throughout an entire poem. Free verse, frankly,
has no rules about meter or rhyme whatsoever! [In other words, blank
verse has rhythm, but no rhyme, while free verse
has neither rhythm norrhyme.] So, you may find it difficult to find regular
iambic pentameter in a modern poem, though you might find it in particular
lines. Modern poets do like to throw in the occasional line or phrase of
metered poetry, particularly if they’re trying to create a certain effect. Free
verse can also apply to a lack of a formal verse structure.

How do I know if a poem has meter? How do I determine the meter?

To maintain a consistent meter, a poet has to choose words that fit. For

example, if a poet wants to write iambic poetry, s/he has to choose words that
have a naturally iambic rhythm. Words like betray and persuade will work in
an iambic poem because they are naturally iambic. They sound silly any other
way. However, candle and muscle will work best in a trochaic poem, because
their natural emphasis is on the first syllable. (However, a poet can use
trochaic words if s/he places a one syllable word in front of them. This often
leads to poetic feet ending in the middle of words - after one syllable - rather
than the end.) It's not surprising that most modern poetry is not metered,
because it is very restrictive and demanding.

Determining meter is usually a process of elimination. Start reading everything

in iambic by emphasizing every second syllable. 80 to 90% of metered poetry
is iambic. If it sounds silly or strange, because many of the poem's words do
not sound natural, then try trochaic, anapestic or dactylic rhythms. If none of
these sounds natural, then you probably do not have metered poetry at all (ie.
it's free verse).

If there are some lines that sound metered, but some that don't, the poem has
an irregular rhythm.

For more help, try this review of metered poetry.

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

- Big bad Bob bounced bravely.
Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds (anywhere in the middle or end of a line or
stanza) - Tilting at windmills
Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds (anywhere in the middle or end of a
line or stanza) - 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".

MEANING and POETRY

I said earlier that poetry is not always about hidden or indirect meanings
(sometimes called meaning play). Nevertheless, if often is a major part of
poetry, so here some of the important things to remember: 

CONCRETENESS and PARTICULARITY

In general, poetry deals with particular things in concrete language, since our
emotions most readily respond to these things. From the poem's particular
situation, the reader may then generalize; the generalities arise by implication
from the particular. In other words, a poem is most often concrete and
particular; the "message," if there is any, is general and abstract; it's implied
by the images.

Images, in turn, suggest meanings beyond the mere identity of the specific
object. Poetry "plays" with meaning when it identifies resemblances or makes
comparisons between things; common examples of this "figurative"
comparison include:

 ticking of clock = mortality

 hardness of steel = determination 
 white = peace or purity

Such terms as connotation, simile, metaphor, allegory, and symbol are

aspects of this comparison. Such expressions are generally
called figurative or metaphorical language.

DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

Word meanings are not only restricted to dictionary meanings. The full
meaning of a word includes both the dictionary definition and the special
meanings and associations a word takes in a given phrase or expression. For
example, a tiger is a carnivorous animal of the cat family. This is the literal
or denotative meaning. But we have certain associations with the word:
sinuous movement, jungle violence, and aggression. These are the
suggestive, figurative or connotative meanings.

 
FIGURATIVE/CONNOTATIVE DEVICES

1. Simile is the rhetorical term used to designate the most elementary

form of resemblances: most similes are introduced by "like" or "as."
These comparisons are usually between dissimilar situations or objects
that have something in common, such as "My love is like a red, red
rose."
2. A metaphor leaves out "like" or "as" and implies a direct comparison
between objects or situations. "All flesh is grass." For more
on metaphor, click here.
3. Synecdoche is a form of metaphor, which in mentioning an important
(and attached) part signifies the whole (e.g. "hands" for labour).
4. Metonymy is similar to synecdoche; it's a form of metaphor allowing an
object closely associated (but unattached) with a object or situation to
stand for the thing itself (e.g. the crown or throne for a king or the bench
for the judicial system).
5. A symbol is like a simile or metaphor with the first term left out. "My
love is like a red, red rose" is a simile. If, through persistent identification
of the rose with the beloved woman, we may come to associate the rose
with her and her particular virtues. At this point, the rose would become
a symbol.
6. Allegory can be defined as a one to one correspondence between a
series of abstract ideas and a series of images or pictures presented in
the form of a story or a narrative. For example, George Orwell's Animal
Farm is an extended allegory that represents the Russian Revolution
through a fable of a farm and its rebellious animals.
7. Personification occurs when you treat abstractions or inanimate
objects as human, that is, giving them human attributes, powers, or
feelings (e.g., "nature wept" or "the wind whispered many truths to me").
 8. Irony takes many forms. Most basically, irony is a figure of speech in
which actual intent is expressed through words that carry the opposite
meaning.

o Paradox: usually a literal contradiction of terms or situations

o Situational Irony: an unmailed letter
o Dramatic Irony: audience has more information or greater
perspective than the characters
o Verbal Irony: saying one thing but meaning another
 Overstatement (hyperbole)
 Understatement (meiosis)
 Sarcasm

Irony may be a positive or negative force. It is most valuable as a mode of

perception that assists the poet to see around and behind opposed attitudes,
and to see the often conflicting interpretations that come from our examination
of life. 

For more on irony, read the FVDES Notes on Irony.

POETRY AS A LANGUAGE OF INDIRECTION

Thus, if we recognize that much of the essential quality of our experience is

more complex than a simple denotative statement can describe, then we must
recognize the value of the poet's need to search for a language agile enough
to capture the complexity of that experience. Consider this four-line stanza:

O Western wind, when wilt thou blow

That the small rain down can rain?
Christ, that my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again!

The center of the poem is the lover's desire to be reunited with his beloved
(lines 3 and 4). But the full meaning of the poem depends on the first two lines
also. Obviously, the lover associates his grief with the wind and rain, but the
poet leaves to implication, to indirection, just how the lover's situation and the
wind and rain are related. We note that they are related in several ways: the
need for experiencing and manifesting love is an inherent need, like nature's
need for rain; in a word, love, like the wind and rain, is natural. Secondly, the
lover is living in a kind of drought or arid state that can only be slaked by the
soothing presence of the beloved. Thirdly, the rising of the wind and the
 coming of the rain can neither be controlled nor foretold exactly, and human
affairs, like the lover's predicament, are subject to the same sort of chance.

Undoubtedly, too, there are associations with specific words, like "Western" or
"small rain" that the reader is only half aware of but which nonetheless
contribute to meaning. These associations or connotations afford a few
indirections that enrich the entire poem. For example, "small rain" at once
describes the kind of rain that the lover wants to fall and suggests the joy and
peace of lover's tears, and "small" alone might suggest the daintiness or
femininity of the beloved.

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Elements of Poetry
POETRY- has an overall central theme or idea within each poem

Images - the mental pictures the poet creates through language

Diction - the selection of specific words 

Form - the arrangement of words, lines, verses, rhymes, and other features.

Cadence - A rhythmic change in the inflection of sounds from words being spoken. Sometimes
referred to the flow of words.

Couplet - two lines of verse that rhyme at the end and are thought as one unit

Meter - A rhythm that continuously repeats a single basic pattern.

Rhyme - Words that end with similar sounds. Usually at the end of a line of the poem.

Rhyming - Two lines of a poem together with the same rhythm

Rhythm - A pattern created with sounds: hard - soft, long - short, bouncy, quiet - loud, weak -
strong .

Stanza - A part of a poem with similar rhythm and rhyme that will usually repeat later in the poem.

Verse - A line of a poem, or a group of lines within a long poem.

Quality Characterisics

 Imaginative
 Creative
 Descriptive and vivid language that often has an economical or condensed use of words
chosen for their sound and meaning
 Meaning is enhanced by recalling memories of related experiences in the reader or
listener
 Provokes thought
 Causes an emotional response: laughter, happy, sad …
 Uses figurative language (personification, similies, methaphors...)
 Imagery where the reader/listener creates vivid mental images
 Often has rhythm and rhyme
 Often includes words and phrases that have a pattern made with rhythm and rhyme.
 Story in verse
 Can have physical and grammatical arrangement of words usually enhance the reader's
overall experience

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