LITERATURE

Terminology
What is Poetry?

• A type of literature that expresses

ideas, feelings, or tells a story in a
specific form (usually using lines
and stanzas)
Point of View in Poetry
Poet
The poet is the writer of the poem.

Speaker/Persona
The speaker of the poem is the narrator. When the poet
creates a character to be the speaker, that character is
called the persona. The poet imagines what it is like to
enter someone else's personality.
Example: Robert Browning's My Last Duchess, the
persona is the Duke of Ferrara.
Poetry Form

Form
The appearance of the words on the page
Line
A group of words together on one line of the
poem
Stanza
A group of lines arranged together
Kinds of Stanzas

Couplet = a two line stanza

Triplet (Tercet)= a three line stanza
Quatrain = a four line stanza
Quintet = a five line stanza
Sestet (Sextet) = a six line stanza
Septet = a seven line stanza
Octave = an eight line stanza
Poetry Form
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of verse that form a unit.
Most couplets rhyme aa, but this is not a requirement.
aa bb cc dd ee ff... etc.
Example:
I THINK that I shall never see a
A poem as lovely as a tree. a
Poetry Form
Sonnet
The term sonnet is derived from the Provençal word
sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning little
song.
By the thirteenth century, it had come to signify a
poem of fourteen lines following a strict rhyme
scheme and logical structure.
Poetry Form
Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet
In its original form, the Italian sonnet was divided into
an octave followed by a sestet.
The octave stated a proposition and the sestet stated its
solution with a clear break between the two.
Poetry Form
Petrarchan/Italian Sonnet
The octave rhymes a-b-b-a, a-b-b-a. For the sestet there
were two different possibilities, c-d-e-c-d-e and c-d-c-c-
d-c.
In time, other variants on this rhyming scheme were
introduced.
Typically, the ninth line created a "turn" or volta, which
signaled the change in the topic or tone of the sonnet.
Example: On His Blindness by John Milton
Poetry Form
Shakespearean Sonnet
The form consists of three quatrains and a couplet. The
couplet generally introduced an unexpected sharp
thematic or imagistic "turn".
The usual rhyme scheme was a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f,
g-g.
Example: Sonnet 116
Poetry Form
Villanelle
• It is 19 lines long, but only uses two rhymes, while
also repeating two lines throughout the poem.
• The first five stanzas are triplets, and the last stanza
is a quatrain such that the rhyme scheme is as
follows: "aba aba aba aba aba abaa."
Poetry Form
Villanelle
• The tricky part is that the 1st and 3rd lines from the
first stanza are alternately repeated such that the 1st
line becomes the last line in the second stanza, and
the 3rd line becomes the last line in the third stanza.
• The last two lines of the poem are lines 1 and 3
respectively, making a rhymed couplet.
Example: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
Poetry Form
Ballad
A poem that tells a story similar to a folk tale or legend
and often has a repeated refrain.
Cinquain
A cinquain has five lines.
Elegy
A sad and thoughtful poem lamenting the death of a
person.
Poetry Form
Epic
A long, serious poem that tells the story of a heroic
figure.
Lyric
A short poem usually written in first person point of
view
expresses an emotion or an idea or describes a scene.
Does not tell a story.
Poetry Form
Pastoral
A poem that depicts rural life in a peaceful, idealized
way for example of shepherds or country life.

Ode
A lyric poem, typically addressed to a particular
person or a thing, usually of a serious or meditative
nature and having an elevated style and formal
stanzaic structure.
About Poetry
Poetry utilizes a broad range of figurative language,
imagery, and symbolism—all devices requiring that
the reader infer an unstated meaning.

We talk of the language as being "poetic" when it

draws heavily on either indirect expression of ideas
through imagery, symbolism, or figurative language
or it draws heavily on the sound (whether rhythm or
rhyme) of words. Both of these devices are more
evocative than direct in their expression, catering
more to the senses than to reason and intelligence.
Rhyme Scheme
Couplet
A couplet is a pair of lines of verse that form a unit.
Most couplets rhyme aa, but this is not a requirement.
aa bb cc dd ee ff... etc.
Example:
I THINK that I shall never see a
A poem as lovely as a tree. a
Poetic Devices
• Rhyme • Similes
• Rhyme Schemes • Metaphors
• Rhythm • Hyperbole
• Meter • Litotes
• Line Length • Idioms
• Onomatopoeia • Personification
• Alliteration • Allusions
• Consonance • Symbolism
• Assonance • Imagery
• Refrain • Diction
Sounds in Poetry

• Rhyme • Alliteration
• Rhyme Scheme • Consonance
• Rhythm • Assonance
• Meter • Refrain
• Free Verse • Euphony
• Blank Verse • Cacophony
• Onomatopoeia
Rhyme

• A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two

or more words.
• Rhyme helps to unify a poem; it also repeats a
sound that links one concept to another, thus
helping to determine the structure of a poem.
• When two subsequent lines rhyme, it is likely
that they are thematically linked, or that the next
set of rhymed lines signifies a slight departure.
Rhyme

• A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two

or more words.
• Rhyme helps to unify a poem; it also repeats a
sound that links one concept to another, thus
helping to determine the structure of a poem.
• When two subsequent lines rhyme, it is likely
that they are thematically linked, or that the next
set of rhymed lines signifies a slight departure.
Rhyme: Types

End Rhymes
A word at the end of one line rhymes with a
word at the end of another line
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
Rhyme: Types

Perfect Rhymes
A perfect rhyme — also called a full rhyme or
true rhyme — is when the later part of the word
or phrase is identical sounding to another.
– The vowel sound in both words are identical. —
e.g. "sky" and high“
– Both words must have the same stresses.
Rhyme: Types

Perfect Rhymes
Perfect rhymes can be classified according to
the number of syllables included in the rhyme.
•masculine: a rhyme in which the stress is on
the final syllable of the words. (rhyme, sublime)
•feminine: a rhyme in which the stress is on the
penultimate (second from last) syllable of the
words. (picky, tricky)
Rhyme: Types

Internal Rhymes
Internal rhyme, or middle rhyme, is rhyme which
occurs within a single line of verse.
The grains beyond age, the dark veins of her mother
- Dylan Thomas
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak
and weary.
-Edgar Allan Poe
Rhyme: Types

Imperfect/Half Rhymes
Occurs when words sound very similar but do
not correspond in sound exactly.
The final consonants of stressed syllables agree
but the vowel sounds do not match; thus a form
of consonance.
frowned and friend, hall and hell.
Rhyme: Uses

• Half-rhymes allow a poet a more subtle range

of rhyming effects, especially when combined
with other rhyming schemes, and help to
avoid the sing-song chiming of full rhymes.
• Moreover, half-rhymes can introduce a slight
note of discord (a lack of complete harmony),
an effect that has been subtly exploited by
many 20th-century poets
Rhyme Scheme

• A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme.

• Usually referred to by using letters to indicate
which lines rhyme.
• For example "A,B,A,B," indicates a four-line
stanza in which the first and third lines rhyme,
as do the second and fourth.
Rhyme Scheme

• Here is an example of this rhyme scheme

from To Anthea, Who May Command Him
Any Thing by Robert Herrick:
Bid me to weep, and I will weep
A
While I have eyes to see; B
And having none, and yet I will keep
A
A heart to weep for thee. B
Rhythm

• Rhythm is a musical quality produced by the

repetition of stressed and unstressed
syllables.
• The beat created by the sounds of the words
in a poem.
• Rhythm can be created by meter, rhyme,
alliteration, line length and refrain/repetition.
Rhythm: Example
O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is
won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and
daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
Meter

• A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.

• Meter occurs when the stressed and
unstressed syllables of the words in a poem
are arranged in a repeating pattern.
• When poets write in meter, they count out the
number of stressed (strong) syllables and
unstressed (weak) syllables for each line.
They repeat the pattern throughout the poem.
Meter: Example

The unstressed syllables are in blue and

the stressed syllables in red. 

Shall I comPARE thee TO a SUMmer’s

DAY?

A pair of unstressed and stressed syllables

makes up a unit called a foot.  
Meter

• Some feet in verse and poetry have different

stress patterns.
For example, one type of foot consists of two
unstressed syllables followed by a stressed
one.
Another type consists of a stressed one
followed by an unstressed one.
Meter

In all, there are five types of feet.

Iamb (Iambic) Unstressed + Stressed 2
Syllables
Trochee (Trochaic) Stressed + Unstressed 2 Syllables
Spondee (Spondaic) Stressed + Stressed 2
Syllables
Anapest (Anapestic) Unstressed + Unstressed + Stressed 3
Syllables
Dactyl (Dactylic) Stressed + Unstressed + Unstressed 3 Syllables
Meter & Symbols

• stressed syllables are signified by /

• unstressed by u
iambic: u / Eg: Hello
trochaic: / u Eg: Under
spondiac: // Eg: Baseball
anapestic: u u / Eg: Understand
dactylic: / u u Eg: Canopy
Meter & Line Length

The length of lines–and thus the meter–can also

vary. Following are the types of meter and the
line length:
• Monometer 1 Foot • Pentameter 5 Feet
• Dimeter 2 Feet • Hexameter 6 Feet
• Trimeter 3 Feet • Heptameter 7 Feet
• Tetrameter 4 Feet • Octameter 8 Feet
Meter & Line Length

The line contains five feet in all, as shown below.

    1         2              3         4            5
ShallI..|..comPARE..|..theeTO..|..aSUM..|..mer’s DAY?

A foot containing an unstressed syllable followed

by a stressed syllable (as above) is called an iamb.
Because there are five feet in the line, all iambic,
the meter of the line is iambic pentameter.
Free Verse Poetry

• Unlike metered poetry, free verse poetry does

NOT have any repeating patterns of stressed
and unstressed syllables.
• Does NOT have rhyme.
• Free verse poetry is very conversational -
sounds like someone talking with you.
• A more modern type of poetry.
Blank Verse Poetry

• Is any verse comprised of unrhymed lines all in

the same meter, usually iambic pentameter.
You stars that reign'd at my nativity,
Whose influence hath allotted death and hell,
Now draw up Faustus like a foggy mist
Into entrails of yon labouring clouds,
That when they vomit forth into the air,
My limbs may issue from their smoky mouths,
So that my soul may but ascend to Heaven.
- (Doctor Faustus)
Onomatopoeia

• Is a word that imitates or suggests the source

of the sound that it describes.
Example: Onomatopoeia by Eve Merriam
Alliteration
• Consonant sounds repeated at the beginnings of words

Tyger, tyger burning bright,

In the forest of the night;
What immortal hand or eye
Could name thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
Consonance
• Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds
within words.
• Consonance is very similar to alliteration, but the
distinction between the two lies in the placement of
the sounds.
• If the repeated sound is at the start of the words, it is
alliteration. If it is anywhere else, it is consonance.
In most cases, consonance refers to the end sound
Example
Assonance
• Repeated VOWEL sounds in a line or lines of poetry.
• Like alliteration, it is the sound rather than the letter
used that is important.
• (Often creates near rhyme.)
Lake Fate Base Fade
(All share the long “a” sound.)
Example
“Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep.”
- William Shakespeare
Refrain
• A refrain is a repeated part of a poem, particularly
when it comes either at the end of a stanza or
between two stanzas.
There lived a lady by the North Sea shore,
Lay the bent to the bonny broom
Two daughters were the babes she bore.
Fa la la la la la la la la.

As one grew bright as is the sun,

Lay the bent to the bonny broom
So coal black grew the other one.
Fa la la la la la la la.
Euphony
• When the sounds of words in a line create an effect
that is pleasing to the ear.
• Euphony is refers to pleasant spoken sound that is
created by smooth consonants such as "ripple'.
Example: To Autumn - by John Keats
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
Cacophony
• A cacophony is a mix of harsh, displeasing, hissing
or clashing sounds. Sometimes cacophony is
accidental, and sometimes it is used intentionally for
artistic effect.
Example: Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the
wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Figurative Language
• When language is used this way, it is not intended to
be interpreted literally or directly as the meaning is
not equivalent to that of its component words.
• In our daily life, we use phrases such as “once in a
blue moon” and “15 minutes of fame” which are not
to be understood literally, although the actual
meanings are derived from what is described.
Figurative Language
• Similes
• Metaphors
• Extended Metaphors
• Hyperbole
• Litotes
• Idioms
• Personification
Simile
Implied similarity between two things or people being
compared, using ‘like’ or ‘as’.

A Red, Red Rose

- Robert Burns

O My Luve's like a red, red rose,

That's newly sprung in June;
O My Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.
Metaphors
The thing that is described is referred to as the thing to
which it is being compared.

“All the world’s a stage, and we are merely players.”

- William Shakespeare
Extended Metaphor
A metaphor that goes several lines or possible the
entire length of a work.

Example:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
Hyperbole
Is an exaggeration used to aid imagery, usually used in
humorous poems or light-hearted prose. Hyperbole can
make/emphasise a point in an entertaining way, or it
can be used to make fun of someone or something.

Example: Shel Silverstein Hyperbole Poem

Litotes
Understatement - basically the opposite of hyperbole.
Often it is ironic. The speaker's words convey less
emotion than is actually felt.

Example:
The grave's a fine a private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
- Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress”
"I'm really glad that you have come to visit," said the spider
to ‘the fly. - Mary Howitt, ‘The Spider and the Fly
Idioms
• An expression where the literal meaning of the
words is not the meaning of the expression. It means
something other than what it actually says.

Example: Idioms for Idiots

Personification
• This technique involves giving human traits
(qualities, feelings, actions or characteristics) to
inanimate objects, animals or natural phenomena.

Example: April Rain Song – Langston Hughes

Other Poetic Devices
• Allusions
• Symbolism
• Imagery
• Diction
• Denotation
• Connotation
• Euphemisms
• Caesura
• Enjambment
Allusion
• An allusion is the reference to a figure or event in
history or literature that creates a mental image in
the mind of the reader. It stimulates ideas,
associations, and extra information in the reader's
mind with only a word or two.
Example: Dover Beach – Matthew Arnold
‘Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the A gaean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery.’
Symbolism
• When a person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in
itself also represents, or stands for, something else.
• Symbolism can take place by having the theme of a story
represented on a physical level. A simple example might
be the occurrence of a storm at a critical point, when
there is conflict or high emotions. Similarly, a transition
from day to night, or spring to winter, could symbolize a
move from goodness to evil, or hope to despair.
Example: "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost
Imagery
• The creation of images using words. Poets usually
achieve this by invoking comparisons by means of
metaphor or simile or other figures of speech.
• Use of language that appeals to the senses. Most images
are visual, but they can also appeal to the senses of
sound, touch, taste, or smell.
• In his famous line from ‘Sonnet 18’ Shakespeare creates
an image by comparing his love to a 'summer's day'.

Example: ‘Sonnet 18’ by Shakespeare

Diction
• Refers to both the choice and the order of words. Can
be split into vocabulary and syntax. The basic
question to ask about vocabulary is "Is it simple or
complex?" The question to ask about syntax is "Is it
ordinary or unusual?“
• A work's diction forms one of its centrally important
literary elements, as writers use words to convey
action, reveal character, imply attitudes, identify
themes, and suggest values and used to enhance the
poem's meaning and effect.
Diction: Types
• Formal Diction:
– Words that appear a bit more elegant or extravagant.
Often formal diction will contain
– words that are polysyllabic (many syllables).
• Neutral Diction:
– Words that appear ordinary and that you hear everyday.
Contractions are often used in
– poetry that has neutral diction, as well as a simpler
vocabulary.
Diction: Types
• Informal Diction:
– Words and phrases that are slang expressions, or the
colloquial – the language of relaxed activities and
friendly conversations.

• A poem that uses slang expressions can be just as

powerful as a poem that uses a lot of big words.
• Word order matters—sometimes for clarity of
meaning (a solo guitar isn't the same as a guitar solo)
and sometimes for effect.
Denotation & Connotation
• Denotation is when you mean what you say, literally.
• Connotation is created when you mean something else,
something that might be initially hidden. The
connotative meaning of a word is based on implication,
or shared emotional association with a word.
• Often there are many words that denote approximately
the same thing, but their connotations are very
different. Innocent and genuine both denote an absence
of corruption, but the connotations of the two words are
different.
Denotation & Connotation
Example
Innocent is often associated with a lack of experience,
whereas genuine is not.
• Connotations are important in poetry because poets
use them to further develop or complicate a poem's
meaning.
Denotation & Connotation
Example
Innocent is often associated with a lack of experience,
whereas genuine is not.

My Papa’s Waltz – Theodore Roethke

Euphemisms
Euphemism is the substitution of a soft agreeable
expression instead of one that is harsh or unpleasant.
For example 'pass away' as opposed to 'die'.

Example: My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As if alive. Will't please you rise? We'll meet
The company below, then. I repeat,
Caesura
• Is a grammatical pause or break in a line of poetry (like a
question mark), usually near the middle of the line.
• A caesura is usually dictated by sense or natural speech
rhythm rather than by metrics.
• In poetry scansion*, a caesura is usually indicated by the
symbol //.
• The caesura can also be used for rhetorical effect, as in
"To err is human; || to forgive, divine." by Alexander Pope
*analysis of verse into metrical patterns
Caesura
Example: An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope

Know then thyself II, presume not God to

scan;
The proper study of Mankind II is Man.
Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
Enjambment
• A run-on line of poetry in which logical and
grammatical sense carries over from one line into the
next. An enjambed line differs from an end-stopped
line in which the grammatical and logical sense is
completed within the line.
• In the opening lines of Robert Browning's "My Last
Duchess," for example, the first line is end-stopped
and the second enjambed:
Enjambment
Example:
That's my last Duchess painted on the wall,
Looking as if she were alive. I call
That piece a wonder, now....