overview: the music and forms of poetry
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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. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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 EMPLOY 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.