Elements of Poetry
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.
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].
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.
e.g.
In her room at the prow of the house
Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed...
DD
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.
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.
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:
LUCIA S. BUTLIG
Teacher