OVERVIEW:

THE MUSIC AND FORMS

OF POETRY

WHAT IS A POEM?

NO UNIVERSALLY AGREED UPON

DEFINITION.

BUT ONE ESSENTIAL FACT IS

THAT POETRY BEGAN AS SONG.

POETRY AS SONG

WHAT MOST DISTINGUISHES POETRY

FROM PROSE ARE ITS MUSICAL

QUALITIES: I.E., ITS RHYTHM,

SOUND, & STRUCTURAL PATTERNS

RHYTHM

LANGUAGE CONSISTS OF A SEQUENCE

OF SOUNDS (VOWELS & CONSONANTS)

ORGANIZED INTO SYLLABLES OF

VARYING EMPHASIS (OR “STRESS”).

RHYTHM (cont.)

IF A POEM’S RHYTHM IS

ORGANIZED INTO A RECURRING

PATTERN, THIS IS CALLED METER.

METER

PROCESS OF ANALYZING A POEM’S

METER (I.E., OF DETERMINING THE

PATTERN OF UNSTRESSED &

STRESSED SYLLABLES PER LINE) IS

CALLED SCANSION.

METER (cont.)

OF THE FOUR METRICAL

SYSTEMS IN ENGLISH POETRY,

THE MOST COMMON BY FAR IS

ACCENTUAL-SYLLABIC METER.

METER (cont.)

IN THIS METRICAL SYSTEM THE

BASIC RHYTHMIC UNIT IS CALLED

A FOOT (A COMBINATION OF 2 OR

3 STRESSED AND/OR UNSTRESSED

SYLLABLES).

METER (cont.)

THE FOUR MOST COMMON FEET IN ENGLISH POETRY: IAMB (adj. IAMBIC)

unstressed-stressed (NEW YORK) TROCHEE (adj. TROCHAIC)

stressed-unstressed (DELHI)

METER (cont.)

COMMON FEET (cont.): ANAPEST (adj. ANAPESTIC)

unstressed-unstressed-stressed(TENNESSEE)

DACTYL (adj. DACTYLIC)stressed-unstressed-unstressed

(DELAWARE)

METER (cont.)

FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE RISE OF FREE VERSE IN THE 20TH CENTURY, IAMBIC METER WAS THE MOST COMMON IN ENGLISH POETRY, CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THE METER CLOSEST TO EVERYDAY SPEECH.

METER (cont.)

NUMBER OF FEET PER LINE: 1--MONOMETER 2--DIMETER 3--TRIMETER 4--TETRAMETER 5--PENTAMETER 6--HEXAMETER 7--HEPTAMETER

METER (cont.)

MOST COMMON METRICAL LINE

(OR BASE RHYTHM) IN ENGLISH

POETRY IS IAMBIC PENTAMETER.

METER (cont.)

TOO REGULAR OR OBVIOUS A METER

CAN BECOME BORING, SO POETS OF-

TEN INTRODUCE VARIATIONS INTO

THE BASE RHYTHM OF A POEM.

METER (cont.)

IT’S ALSO IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT SCANSION IS TO AN EXTENT A MATTER OF INTERPRETATION, B/C THE RHYTHM OF A POEM CAN VARY FROM SPEAKER TO SPEAKER & SITUA-TION TO SITUATION.

RHYTHM (cont.)

IF A GRAMMATICAL PAUSE OCCURS AT THE END OF A LINE, THAT LINE IS SAID TO BE END-STOPPED. IT IS THE OPPOSITE OF A RUN-ON LINE, WHERE THERE IS NO PAUSE (OR PUNCTUATION) AT THE END.

RHYTHM (cont.)

END-STOPPED LINES TEND TO SLOW

DOWN THE PACE OF A POEM, WHILE

RUN-ON LINES TEND TO SPEED IT UP.

COMMON SOUND EFFECTS

MORE THAN ANY OTHER

ELEMENT, RHYME IS WHAT MOST

PEOPLE ASSOCIATE WITH POETRY.

RHYME DEFINED

RHYME IS THE CORRESPONDENCE, IN

TWO OR MORE WORDS, BETWEEN A

VOWEL SOUND AND ANY

SUBSEQUENT SOUNDS IN A STRESSED

SYLLABLE (SUN/RUN, MAY/TODAY).

RHYME (cont.)

RHYME MAY OCCUR AT THE END

OF A LINE (END RHYME) OR IN

THE MIDDLE (INTERNAL RHYME).

RHYME (cont.)

POETS MAY EMPLY PERFECT (TRUE,

EXACT) RHYME, OR TAKE POETIC

LICENSE AND USE VARIOUS FORMS

OF IMPERFECT RHYME.

IMPERFECT RHYME (cont.)

AN EXAMPLE OF IMPERFECT RHYME IS

SLANT (OFF, NEAR, HALF) RHYME.

USUALLY A MATCH OF CONSONANT

SOUNDS FOLLOWING DIFFERENT VOWELS

(MYTH/MATH, FORCE/ FARCE).

IMPERFECT RHYMES (cont.)

EYE RHYMES ARE WORDS WHOSE

ENDINGS ARE SPELLED THE SAME

BUT THAT OVER TIME HAVE COME

TO BE PRONOUNCED

DIFFERENTLY (E.G., LOVE, PROVE).

SOUND EFFECTS (cont.)

ASSONANCE

REPETITION OF IDENTICAL OR

SIMILAR VOWEL SOUNDS FOLLOWED

BY DIFF-ERENT CONSONANTS

(LAKE/FATE, KILL/ KISS).

SOUND EFFECTS (cont.)

ALLITERATION USUALLY THE REPETITION OF

INITIAL CONSONANT (OR VOWEL) SOUNDS IN A SEQUENCE OF NEARBY WORDS (EX.: THE FAIR BREEZE BLEW, THE WHITE FOAM FLEW).CAN ALSO APPLY TO STRESSED

SYLLABLES WITHIN WORDS.

SOUND EFFECTS (cont.)

ONOMATOPOEIA

USE OF WORDS THAT IMITATE

SOUNDS OR THAT MATCH THE

SOUND WITH THE SENSE OF THE

WORD (E.G., SPLASH, ZIP, CRACK).

MAJOR TYPES OF POETRY

ONE USEFUL WAY OF THINKING ABOUT POETRY IS IN TERMS OF THREE BROAD CATEGORIES: NARRATIVE POEMS

DRAMATIC POEMS

LYRIC POEMS

TYPES OF POETRY (cont.)

NARRATIVE POEMS TELL

STORIES, STRESS ACTION. THIS

CATEGORY INCLUDES EPICS

(SUCH AS BEOWULF) & BALLADS

(LIKE “SIR PATRICK SPENS”).

TYPES OF POETRY (cont.)

DRAMATIC POEMS ARE EITHER

MONOLOGUES OR DIALOGUES

WRIT-TEN IN THE VOICE OF A

CHARACTER CREATED BY THE POET.

DRAMATIC POEMS (cont.)

EXAMPLES INCLUDES DRAMATIC

MONOLOGUES SUCH AS BROWN-

ING’S “MY LAST DUCHESS” AND

TENNYSON’S “ULYSSES.”

TYPES OF POETRY (cont.)

LYRIC POEMS EXPRESS THE

THOUGHTS OR EMOTIONS OF A

SINGLE SPEAKER WHO MAY OR

MAY NOT BE THE POET HIM-

OR HERSELF.

LYRIC POEMS (cont.)

THIS IS THE MOST BROADLY

INCLU-SIVE TYPE OF POETRY AND

INCLUDES SONNETS, ODES, AND

ELEGIES, AMONG OTHERS.

BASIC FORMS OF POETRY

BLANK VERSE

UNRHYMED IAMBIC PENTAMETER; THE

VERSE FORM CLOSEST TO THE

RHYTHMS OF EVERYDAY ENGLISH

SPEECH.

BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.)

COUPLET A TWO-LINE UNIT OF VERSE, USUALLY

LINKED BY RHYME.

TERCET A STANZA OF THREE LINES TRADITION-

ALLY LINKED W/ A SINGLE RHYME.

BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.)

QUATRAIN A STANZA OF FOUR LINES, RHYMED

OR UNRHYMED.

THE MOST COMMON STANZA FORM

IN ENGLISH POETRY.

QUATRAIN (cont.)

MOST COMMON TYPE OF QUATRAIN

IS THE BALLAD STANZA, IN WHICH

LINES OF IAMBIC TETRAMETER

ALTERNATE W/ IAMBIC TRIMETER,

RHYMING ABCB (OR ABAB).

BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.)

SONNET ONE OF THE OLDEST & MOST WIDELY

USED VERSE FORMS IN ENGLISH.

TRADITIONALLY A 14-LINE LYRIC POEM IN IAMBIC PENTAMETER W/ AN INTRI-CATE RHYME SCHEME.

SONNET (cont.)

ENGLISH SONNET

CONSISTS OF THREE QUATRAINS (RHYM-

ING ABAB CDCD EFEF) + A COUPLET

(RHYMING GG) THAT PROVIDES A

COMMENTARY OR CONCLUSION.

THE FORMS OF POETRY (cont.)

UNLIKE CLOSED FORM POEMS SUCH AS SONNETS, OPEN FORM (OR FREE VERSE) POEMS MAKE LITTLE OR NO USE OF TRADITIONAL RHYME & ME-TER, ARE NOT WRITTEN ACCORDING TO ANY ESTABLISHED RULES OF VERSIFICATION.

POETIC SYNTAX

READERS OF POETRY MUST BE ALERT TO THE FACT THAT POETS OFTEN EXERCISE POETIC LICENSE WHEN IT COMES TO THE RULES THAT GOVERN EVERYDAY SPEECH (E.G., BY INVERT-ING NORMAL WORD ORDER), THUS POSING A CHALLENGE FOR THE READER.