PoetryBasics

What is Poetry Anyway? It is words arranged in a Rhythmic pattern with regular Accents (like beats in music) It is words carefully selected for sound, accent and meaning to express imaginatively ideas and emotions “Imagination is not the talent of some, but the health of everyone.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everyone Uses Poetry… In conversation – “I’ve come to the end of my rope” In Songs – “Love is a many splendored thing” In Speeches – “I am Canadian”

A Poet… Example Non PoetPoet I see a big tree andI see a it’s getting dark.Dark hand is tearing the vault of night Is a person who tries to express an idea with words that give it form and beauty.

Every Poem Has… Rhythm Melody Imagery Form/Structure “Poetry lifts the veil from hidden beauty. It makes familiar objects be as if they were not familiar and creates anew the universe.” ~Percy Bysshe Shelley

Rhythm In a poem, rhythm is called a metric pattern (except in free ferse) The accents of the syllables in the words fall at regular intervals, like the beats of music. Example – - / - / The stag / at eve/ de dum de dum

Four Most Used Metric Patterns Number of Syllables per “Foot” Technical NameAccented = / “Dumm” Unaccented = - “De” Such As… 2Iambic - / De Dumm - / a way I will 2Trochaic / - Dumm De / - Com ing Do it 3Anapestic - - / De De Dumm - - / Can non ade Let us in 3Dactylic / - - Dumm De De / - - Vic to ries Two of them

Less Used Metric Patterns Spondee = / / Dumm Dumm Pyrraic = - - De De Tribach = De De De Amphibrach = - / - De Dumm De Amphimacer = / - / Dumm De Dumm Note – Sometimes a pause (Caesura) may take the place of an Unaccented Syllable

The Beat of Poetry Feet is Called….Meter - / - / Had drunk / his fill this is a “foot” Note: If meter should vary within a line, it is called “Inversion”

The Number of Feet in a Line is Expressed… Number of FeetName 1Monometer 2Dimeter 3Trimeter 4Tetrameter 5Pentameter 6Hexameter 7Heptameter 8Octameter 9Nonameter Except Free Verse There is no metrical Pattern in free verse as It is based on natural Speech cadences

Like Music, Every Poem has Melody Melody in a poem is the use of sound devices Primary sound device is Rhyme Single Rhyme - love, dove Double Rhyme - napping, tapping Triple Rhyme - mournfully, scornfully Note: Sometimes too many rhymes detract from a poem and make it sound too Jingly.

Other Rhyming Terms “Imperfect” Rhyme – two words look alike, but do not sound alike such as “Love” and “Jove” “Internal” Rhyme – the rhyme occurs inside a line such as “Let’s beat the heat” “Masculine” Rhyme – the last syllable is accented such as “rake” and “stake” “Feminine” Rhyme – more than one syllable is rhymed and not on the last syllable such as “weather” and “heather

Other Sound Effects Poets Use… Assonance - resemblance of sound in words or syllables such as “O harp and alter, of the fury fused” Onomatopoeia – where words sound like meanings such as drip, whisper, hiss, hoot, meow, murmur Alliteration – words beginning with the same consonant sound such as “In a summer season, where soft was sun”

Poems Also Have Imagery Imagery by Comparison Simile - two unlike things compared using “like” and/or “as” such as “The man paced like a hungry lion.” Metaphor – two unlike things directly compared such as “The river is a snake which coils on itself.” Personification – giving human qualities to things such as “The trees danced in the breeze.” Apostrophe - addressing some abstract object such as “O world! Tell me thy pain.” Literary Allusions – referring metaphorically to persons, places, and to other literature

Imagery by Exaggeration Hyperbole – saying more than is true such as “ he wore his fingers to the bone.” Understatement – saying less than is true such as “Losing his job meant he could sleep late.” Irony – saying the opposite to what is true or expected such as “War is kind.” Antithesis – using contrasts for effect such as “Deserts are dry; oceans are wet.: Synechdoche – using parts for the whole such as “All hands on deck.” Metonymy – substitution of one word for another such as “The pot’s boiling.” “Lend me your ears.”

Never mix metaphors, such as “He threw in the sponge before he hit the jackpot.” Avoid comparisons that are too obvious or far-fetched.

Every Poem Has Form/Structure Star, If you are A love compassionate, You will walk with us this year We face a glacial distance who are here Huddl’d At your feet. Dr. William Burford, “A Christmas Tree” from the book Man Now (Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1954) Note how a poet can arrange the poem so you will read it as he/she wants you to, and get its sound and rhythm Note each line starts with a Capital Letter END-STOP Line –completes a thought Run-on line – not end of sentence or thought Long lines often indicate distance or direction; short lines indicate brevity or speed.

What is “Poetic License”? It means that a poet is allowed to break rules of spelling to make his rhyme or his meter more perfect. Such as – soft – hope oft’ – ope’

Other Special Effects Caesura – a natural pause in or at the end of a line. Catalexis – an unstressed syllable omitted from the beginning of an iambic or anapestic line, or from the end of a trochaic or dactylic line Hypermeter – adding an unstressed syllable at the beginning of a trochaic or end of an iambic line

Rhyme Schemes Rhyme schemes are indicated by the use of letters such as abba, abba Sounda Ten=b Menb Rounda

Stanzas A long poem usually consists of a number of lines grouped into sets of lines called Stanzas # of LinesWhat It’s CalledWhat It Is 2Rhymed CoupletTwo lines with identical rhymes 2Heroic Couplettwo iambic pentameter lines with identical rhymes 3Tercet, TripletThree lines – any rhyme scheme or meter 4QuatrainFour lines – any rhyme scheme (abab, abba, abcb) and any length and meter 4Ballad QuatrainRhyme scheme is abcb. The first and third lines are iambic pentameter, the second and fourth lines are iambic trimeter 5Quintet, CinquainFive lines – rare form 6SestetSix lines (often three sets of couplets) 7Prime RoyalSeven line Iambic Pentameter; Rhyme scheme abab, abcc 8OctaveEight line stanza 8Octava RimaEight lines iambic pentameter, rhyme scheme abab, abcc 9Spenserian StanzaEight lines iambic pentameter, one line iambic hexameter, rhyme scheme ababbcbcc 14SonnetOne form – three quatrains plus couplet, rhyme scheme ababcdcdefefgg Another form – eight lines rhyming (abba, abba), then six lines rhyming (cdecde or cdcdee)

Stanzas Continued… Blank Verse – usually iambic pentameter but no rhyme …see any Shakespearian play Free Verse - no regular rhythmic patter or use of rhyme ….see Walt Whitman

Types of Poems Narrative – tells a story -A long poem about a hero such as Dante’s “Divine Comedy” or Milton’s “Paradise Lost” -Or a long poem about a group of people such as Homer’s “Odyssey” and “Beowulf”

Types of Poems Continued Ballad – a very short story such as Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and much folk (and rock) music ancient and contemporary such as “American Pie” by Don McLean

Types of Poems Continued Fable – a short story usually about animals with a moral such as those by Aesop

Groups of Poems - Lyric Ode – in praise or memory of someone Elegy - a lament in memory of someone Epitaph – A short elegy to inscribe on a monument Epigram – a satirical poem ending with a witticism Pastoral - a poem dealing with country life Sonnet – a popular form of lyric poetry having 14 lines

Other Groups of Poems Didactic – for purposes of instruction/teaching such as Horace’s “Art of Poetry” Satirical – to attack folly via ridicule Dramatic – telling a story through the speeches of characters Parody – imitations of an author’s characteristic style for humour Humorous – dialect, limerick, jingle

Poets and Poetry Have Their Own Styles Sometimes these styles are called schools or movements Classical – poetry that is very formal in treatment such as poems by John Milton Romantic – imaginative poetry dealing with nature, love etc. but in strict metrical patterns such as poems by John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley Realistic – a candid representation of every day life such as poems by Walt Whitman Psychological – realistic poetry concerned with man’s inner thoughts such as poems by Robert Frost and T.S. Eliot Abstract – poems that are highly symbolic, the poet’s interpretation and extremely personal

To Remember Every Poet is Influenced By: His/her beliefs as they are usually reflected in his/her themes The period of time in which they lived as it affects the style of his/her poems The subject as it often affects the metrical pattern His/her creativity as it affects his/her use of imagery