The Elements of Poetry Mr. D. Bellis CP/AP English

Elements of Poetry The Nature of Poetry (3 purposes)  Poetry helps the writer say what they feel in a better way than speaking those feelings.  Poetry helps the reader see (or perceive) familiar things in new ways.  Finally, poetry helps the reader feel things we have not felt before. Therefore, poetry serves to widen our experiences and the way we view ourselves.

The types of poetry Narrative Poetry  Is the oldest form of literature.  It tells a story or expresses an emotion, or explains and idea.  Is usually used in the story telling of a culture. Lyric Poetry  Is the recreation of the author’s feelings.  Contains short outbursts of emotions.  Allows the author to “share” their experiences and emotions with others.

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Rhetorical devices-the tools poets use in the expression of their art.  Figures of speech-such as simile, metaphor, and personification are common poetic tools. Some examples include: Simile—his feet were like two immense cannons, two sharks, two blackbirds.

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Figures of speech examples continued. Metaphor—finally seeing her smile was a welcomed relief to my abused emotions. Personification—the wolves sang their lonely chorus throughout the moon lit night.

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Imagery—is a second type of poetic device in which the poet uses words to draw pictures in the readers’ minds describing appeals to the human senses. Different types of imagery include:  Sense impressions (sound and sight).  Tactile (touch) sensations.  Olfactory (smell) appeals.

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Sound devices—are poetic tools that form the rhythmic patterns in poetry. Metrical symbols (scansion) is the rhythmic representation of poetry in the form of foot patterns and stressed and unstressed syllable sounds.

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Syllable stress symbols: \ = Stressed syllable  = Unstressed syllable Foot patterns: two syllable feet  Iambic =  \ (unstressed, stressed)  Trochaic = \  (stressed, unstressed)  Pyrrhic =   (unstressed, unstressed)  Spondaic = \\ (stressed, stressed)

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Foot patterns: three syllable feet  Anapest =   \ (unstressed, unstressed, stressed)  Dactyl = \   (stressed, unstressed, unstressed) Poetic rhythm is also symbolized by the number of “feet” per line.

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Rhythm feet measures: the number of measures (feet) in a line of poetry. Also known as the scansion of a line. Monometer (one measure) Dimeter (two measures) Trimeter (three measures) Tetrameter (four measures) Pentameter (five measures) Hexameter (six measures) Octameter (eight measures)

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Scansion continued:  Caesura—a pause caused by the phrasing of words.  End-stopped—all meaning, rhythm, and rhyme stop simultaneously.  Enjambment—the phrasing pressure carries the rhythmic pattern from one line to the next.

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Sound devices—the choice of sounds of words to determine the impact of the poem upon the reader.  Assonance—the repetition of a vowel sound within successive words, phrases, or lines of text.  Alliteration—the repetition of initial consonant sounds in successive words.  Onomatopoeia—the sound of a word echoes its meaning (BAM, POW, BOOM, SMACK).

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Sound devices (continued)  Rhyme—the repetition of the ending sounds of words, particularly occurring at the end of lines.  Internal rhyme—the repetition of sounds of words in the middle of a line with those sounds at the end of the same line of text.

Poetic Devices:the toolbox of poetry Examples of poetic devices: