Analysing Poetry The Basics
Aspects for Analysis SCASI- still a basic tool for both poetry and prose Time- for poetry, this is an important aspect of setting Narrator- as part of character, narrator plays an important role in poetry Action- consider the changing flow of ideas in the poem
Aspects of Style Structure- type of poem, structure of both poem and ideas Elements that support structure- caesura, enjambment, end stop, volce face Imagery- look for and discuss patterns of imagery (how do they support thematic ideas? Consider senses) Language- punctuation, syntax, level of formality, diction Figurative Language
Style: Rhythm Rhythm refers to the “movement” of the poem, and is created through meter and stress patterns.
Stress Syllable Stress: natural rhythms of language we use automatically. Poets use these natural stresses in their overall rhythmic effect Emphatic Stress: deliberate emphasis on a word or part of a word for effect. The stress emphasizes meaning, or can change it. Phrasing and Punctuation also influence rhythm (word order, length of phrases, punctuation and line breaks, and repetition, as examples)
Metre Poetic metre is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. Variations in pattern can mark changes in mood or tone, or signify change of direction in the movement of the poem.
Main patterns of feet Syllables can be divided into groups of two or three. Each group is called a foot. The number of feet in a line can vary. One foot Monometer Two feet Dimeter Three feet Trimeter Four feet Tetrameter Five feet Pentameter Six feet Hexameter Seven feet heptameter Eight feet octameter
5 Basic Patterns of Stress Iambic: one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. (Shakespeare) Trochaic: one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one. e.g. Tyger! Tyger! Burning Bright In the forests of the night -Blake
Stress Patterns continued Dactylic: one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. Half a league, Half a league, Half a league, onward -Tennyson Anapaestic: two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. Will’s at the dance in the Club-room below, Where the tall liquor cups foam; -Hardy
Stress Patterns Continued Spondaic: two stressed syllables. e.g. One, two Buckle my shoe.
When I have fears by John Keats When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen hath glean’d my teeming brain Before high-piled books, in charact’ry Hold like rich garners the full-ripen’d grain: When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, And think that I may never live to trace Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance And when I feel, fair creature of an hour! That I shall never look upon thee more, Never have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love! – then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
Style: Rhyme Rhyme can contribute to the musical quality of a poem. It affects sound and overall effectiveness. The rhyme scheme can unify and draw a poem together Give in an incantatory quality Add emphasis to particular elements of vocabulary
Rhyme Internal rhymes: rhymes that occur within a line of poetry. e.g. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea -Coleridge
Rhyme Sight Rhymes: (or eye rhymes) are lines that look similar but are incomplete or inaccurate. e.g. “love” and “move” or “plough” and “rough”
Rhyme Poets may choose to use these to deliberately weaken the force of the rhyme by making either the consonant or vowel different e.g. Like twitching agonies of men among its brambles Northward, incessantly, the flickering gunnery rumbles -Wilfred Owen These are called half rhyme, slant rhyme or para-rhyme
Analysing Rhyme The important thing is not spotting the rhymes or rhyme scheme, but rather identifying the effect of the rhyme scheme on the poem. You need to explain WHY the poet has chosen to use language this way.
Possible Effects of Rhyme Make a poem sound musical and pleasing to the ear Create a jarring, discordant effect Add emphasis to certain words and give particular words added prominence Act as a unifying influence on the poem, drawing it together through rhyme patterns
Possible Effects of Rhyme cont’d Give the poem a rhythmic, incantatory or ritualistic feel. It can influence the rhythm of the verse It can provide a sense of finality (e.g. a rhyming couplet for a sense of “ending”) It can exert a subconscious effect, drawing together certain words or images, affecting sound, or adding emphasis in some way
Mean Time by Carol Ann Duffy The clocks slid back an hour And stole light from my life As I walked through the wrong part of town, Mourning our love. And, of course, unmendable rain Fell to the bleak streets Where I felt my heart gnaw At all our mistakes If the darkening sky could lift more than one hour from this day there are words I would never have said nor have heard you say. But we will be dead, as we know, beyond all light. these are the shortened days and the endless nights.