Poetry Terms
2 general kinds of poetry– lyric and narrative.– Lyric: originate from ancient poems sung
to a lyre; includes sonnets, odes, and villanelles
– Narrative are longer and were also probably chanted
– The line between the two blurs in longer forms of poetry
8 Elements of Poetry
8 elements of poetry include:1) Language
2) Imagery
3) Tone
4) Rhythm & rhyme
5) Metaphor & figurative language
Language
Discursive language depends on telling the reader something
Imagery is language that shows the reader something
Denotation=the dictionary definition
Language
Connotation=the meaning of a word on an emotional level
The poet usually controls meaning of the poem through meaning of words and sounds
Language
Sounds– Euphony: words that sound good
together (very musical)– Cacophony: words that grate,
annoy, or create distaste– Onomatopoeia: imitates the sound it
refers to
Imagery
Images directly appeal to one of the senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, taste
Imagist poets rely on creating responses through images rather than discursive language
Tone
Tone may be thought of as arising from the voice the poet projects.
They can be ironic, conversational, angry, satirical, or judgmental
Rhythm & Rhyme
A rhythm is a regular beat– End-stopped lines have a pause at the
end of the line, usually indicated by punctuation.
– Run-on lines force the reader to read beyond their end into the beginning of the next lines• Enjambment
Rhythm & Rhyme
Rhymed and metrical poem is called verse.– Masculine rhymes: one syllable
rhymes (still, fill)
– Feminine rhymes: 2 syllable rhymes (balcalava, lava)
Rhythm & Rhyme
Slant rhyme: sounds almost echo each other (mousse, clues)
Assonantal rhyme: vowels echo each other (tube, mood)
Consonantal rhyme: consonants echo each other (klutz, blitz)
Rhythm & Rhyme
Internal rhyme: end word rhymes with a word in the middle of the same line or another nearby line (turned the air, a prayer)
Eye rhyme: words look alike but do not sound alike (blood, food)
Meter
Meter is a measure of syllables into feet.
Iambic is the usual metrical foot in English (an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable)
Meter
1 foot / line = monometer2 feet/ line= dimeter3 feet/ line= trimeter4 feet/ line= tetrameter5 feet/ line= pentameter6 feet/ line= hexameter7 feet / line= septameter8 feet/ line= octameter
Meter
Metrical foot pattern:– Iamb U / in-sist
– Trochee / U pen-cil
– Anapest U U / in a fix
– Dactyl / / U im-pli-cate
– Spondee / / top gun
Meter
Iamb and anapest are usually called rising rhythms because they begin with an unstressed syllable and proceed to a final stress.
Trochee and dactyl are, therefore, falling rhythms.
Metaphor & Figurative Language
Metaphor is a direct comparison between 2 unlike things
Figurative language includes: metaphor, oxymoron, irony, paradox, personification, pun, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, and litote
Irony
Saying one thing and meaning another or giving an apparently innocent comparison that reveals shortcomings on the subject.
Verbal irony is commonly used in conversation, as when someone claims to be bad, but the reader knows the opposite is meant.
Irony
Dramatic Irony is not limited to words, but includes actions– Tragic irony is when the result is a
tragic end to a hero
Irony
Cosmic irony shows fate reaching from the heavens to make an otherwise admirable person so unhappy as to cause his or her death.
Other figurative language
Paradox: an apparently impossible circumstance, situation, or condition.
Personification: giving a non-being the characteristics of a person.
Other figurative language
Pun: a play on words that usually depends on a word having several meanings or sounding like another word with a different meaning.
Metonymy: when you use one thing in the place of something closely related (instead of athlete using jock)
Other figurative language
Synecdoche: closely related to metonymy and uses part of a whole to mean the whole thing (wheels instead of car)
Hyperbole: overstatement for effectLitotes: understatement for effect
Symbols and Allegory
Symbols are specialized use of words (metaphor) that is universal in nature.– Begins with a comparison but the
reader is not always immediately aware that the comparison is important
Form--Sonnets
All sonnets have 14 lines and usually rhyme according to one of several patterns.
All 14 lines are usually iambic pentameter, but are not always regular—sometimes other patterns may occur.
Form--Sonnet
Petrarchan Sonnet (Italian)– Divided into an octave and a sestet
– The octave rhymes abbaabba
– The sestet my rhyme cdcdcd, cdecde, cdcdee, or cdedcd
Form--Sonnet
The normal pattern is to state the main idea in the first four lines of the octave and then to elaborate on that idea in the next 4 lines
Between the octave and the sestet is a turn, a change of tone, action or concept.
Form--Sonnet
The first part of the sestet sometimes has an example or complication of the idea developed in the octave.
The last 3 lines conclude the poem.
Form--Sonnet
Shakespearean Sonnet (English)– Divided in 3 quatrains rhyming
abab, cdcd, efef and ends with a couplet gg.
– The first 12 lines are elaborating an idea or a problem with details or examples.
Form--Sonnet
The last 2 lines resolve the issues raised by the first 3 quatrains
The couplet almost sounds like a tag or resoultion
Form--Ballad
The term “ballad” implies a songIs sometimes recited to a guitar or luteTraditionally tells a story, often of
love, promises, war, and disappointment
Often depends on repetition of key lines for effect
Form--Ode
A long irregular poem, originally meant to be a sublime poetic utterance inspired by gods
Lyric in nature, exalted in tone3 phases: strophe, antistrophe, and
epode
Form--Ode
Odes are usually predicted on oppositions—the subject of one stanza (the antistrophe) may sometimes reevaluate the subject of the previous stanza (the strophe).
Form--Ode
The end of the ode (epode) usually attempts to resolve the tensions raised in the body of the ode.
Form--Villanelle
Not a common fixed form, lots of rhymes
Extremely difficult to create in English
6 stanzas with iambic pentameter: 5 with 3 lines, and the last with 4 lines
Form—Villanelle
There are only 2 rhymesThe first line and the third line of
the first stanza repeat throughout the poem
Stanza 2 ends with line 1Stanza 3 ends with line 3