Feeling the charms of Poetry
Lesson 1 Introduction |
What is Poetry?
Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language—such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.
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Lesson 2 Literary Terms for Poetry |
Overview
Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential interpretation to words, or to evoke emotive responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to achieve musical or incantatory effects. The use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations. Similarly figures of speech such as metaphor, simile and metonymycreate a resonance between otherwise disparate images—a layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of resonance may exist, between individual verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm. |
Stanza: A stanza is one of the parts into which a poem is divided.
Symbolism: Symbolism is the use of symbols in order to represent something. Imagery: Imagery, in a literary text, is an author's use of vivid and descriptive language to add depth to his or her work. It appeals to human senses to deepen the reader's understanding of the work. Powerful forms of imagery engage all of the senses and use metaphors to express ideas and concepts.
Allusion: Allusion is a figure of speech, in which one refers covertly or indirectly to an object or circumstance from an external context. It is left to the audience to make the connection; where the connection is detailed in depth by the author, an allusion is often called a reference.
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Apostrophe: Address to an absent or imaginary person.
Hyperbole: is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It is used in poems to create emphasis on a situation. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally.
Oxymoron: An oxymoron (plural oxymora or oxymorons) is a figure of speech that juxtaposes elements that appear to be contradictory. Oxymora appear in a variety of contexts, including inadvertent errors (such as "ground pilot") and literary oxymorons crafted to reveal a paradox.
Examples: alone together, awful good, bitter sweet, civil war, pretty ugly, living dead, icy hot, freezer burn, open secret, ill health, extinct life… |
Sound Devices
Meter & Foot
Meter is a unit of rhythm in poetry, the pattern of the beats. It is also called a foot. Each foot has a certain number of syllables in it, usually two or three syllables. The difference in types of meter is which syllables are accented and which are not.
Iamb Meter
Iamb meter has the first syllable unaccented and the second accented. Here are examples:
Trochee Meter
Trochee meter has the first syllable accented and the second unaccented. Here are examples:
By the | shining | Big-Sea-|Water - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha”
Prithee why so pale?
Will, when looking well can't move her,
Looking ill prevail?
Prithee why so pale? - Sir John Suckling's "Song"
The infant child is not aware
It has been eaten by the bear. - A. E. Housman’s “Infant Innocence”
Let this Irish vessel lie
Emptied of its poetry. - W. H. Auden's "In Memory of W. B. Yeats"
In addition to knowing the pattern of the syllables (the kind of feet) that are in a line of a poem, we also want to know how many times that pattern repeats (how many feet there are).
A line of one foot is monometer
Two feet is dimeter Three feet is trimeter Four feet is tetrameter
Five feet is pentameter Six feet is hexameter Seven feet is heptameter
Eight feet is octameter Nine feet is nonameter Ten feet is decameter
If there is no clear repetition of a foot, the line is named for the number of syllables it contains; an eight syllable line is octosyllabic, a ten syllable line is decasyllabic, etc.
Iamb Meter
Iamb meter has the first syllable unaccented and the second accented. Here are examples:
- That time l of year l thou mayst l in me l behold
- Come live | with me | and be | my love
- All I could see from where I stood
- To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells - John Keats’ “To Autumn”
Trochee Meter
Trochee meter has the first syllable accented and the second unaccented. Here are examples:
- Tell me | not in l mournful l numbers
By the | shining | Big-Sea-|Water - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha”
- (I could) wait forever, Face a thousand lifetimes, Ponder your embraces, Just to live in your time.
Prithee why so pale?
Will, when looking well can't move her,
Looking ill prevail?
Prithee why so pale? - Sir John Suckling's "Song"
- The Grizzly Bear is huge and wild;
The infant child is not aware
It has been eaten by the bear. - A. E. Housman’s “Infant Innocence”
- Earth, receive an honoured guest;
Let this Irish vessel lie
Emptied of its poetry. - W. H. Auden's "In Memory of W. B. Yeats"
In addition to knowing the pattern of the syllables (the kind of feet) that are in a line of a poem, we also want to know how many times that pattern repeats (how many feet there are).
A line of one foot is monometer
Two feet is dimeter Three feet is trimeter Four feet is tetrameter
Five feet is pentameter Six feet is hexameter Seven feet is heptameter
Eight feet is octameter Nine feet is nonameter Ten feet is decameter
If there is no clear repetition of a foot, the line is named for the number of syllables it contains; an eight syllable line is octosyllabic, a ten syllable line is decasyllabic, etc.
ImageryImagery is when the writer or speaker uses their descriptions to access the senses of the reader of listener. Sometimes this is called, using sensory details. When I say “senses” or “sensory,” I am referring to the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.
An old lump of snow melted in the corner. The chirping crickets filled the empty night air. I was awoken by the pleasing scent of the bacon as it wafted down the hallway. As you read the first example, you might be visualize snow melting, because the description accesses your sense of sight. When you read the second example, you may imagine the noises that crickets produce, as the imagery in the text references this sound. And as you encounter the third example, you may recall the aroma of bacon based on the imagery in the sentence. Good writers don’t just tell you things, they show you things by using imagery. |
EnjambmentEnjambment is when the writer uses line breaks meaningfully and abruptly to either emphasize a point or to create dual meanings. When a poem is read, the reader will conventionally make a slight pause (shorter than a comma) when transitioning from line to line. When a writer uses enjambment, he or she uses this space to spread an idea over more than one line, either creating an alternate interpretation of the lines or drawing attention to the enjambed words.
Rolling through the field in the dead of winter. When the word “dead” is placed on a line in isolation, it invites the reader to focus on that idea. Surrounded by empty space, the idea may resonate powerfully. Though enjambment could be used during a speech, the term “enjambment” is generally applied to the study of poetry. |
RepititionRepetition is when the writer or speaker knowingly repeats a word or group of words for effect. This is a strong rhetorical technique that can also be used to build a theme in a speech or poem. It is important to note that it is not considered using repetition when a writer or speaker repeats essential articles, prepositions, pronouns, or conjunctions that are frequently used unintentionally as the mechanics of language dictate.
Nobody, oh nobody can make it out here alone. Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! Love is a red, red rose. In the first example, only one word in the sentence is repeating: nobody. Nonetheless, this is still considered repetition. A poet, writer, or speaker may also repeat more than one word to have a greater impact or to highlight the importance of an idea, such as in the second example. In the second example a whole group of words repeats: Free at last. Each method of repetition can effectively embolden a message. |
RhymeRhyme is when the end or final sound of two or more words are identical. If the end sounds are not identical, then the speaker or writer is using consonance or assonance instead. Rhymes can also occur internally or on the inside of words or lines of poetry. A rhyme may also be monosyllabic (a one syllable rhyme) or polysyllabic (rhyme two or more syllables), such as in the following examples:
I left my punch card on the lunch yard. I drove a race car to the space bar. We saw a butter fly flutter by. This is the technique that students most often associate with poetry, but I encourage my students to try writing free or blank verse, as it takes much poetic skill to freely maneuver within the confines of a rhyme scheme. |
Rhythm
Rhythm is when the arrangement of words creates an audible pattern or beat when read out loud. A good way to check to see if a passage of text is using rhythm is to just hum the sounds that the words make rather than clearly pronouncing them. If you can hear a song or identify a form in the sounds, then the text is rhythmic.
There once was a guy from Chicago / Who drank away all of his problems.
I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny / but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Instead of just reading these examples, trying humming them. Do you hear how they sort of bounce? This is a rhythm.
There once was a guy from Chicago / Who drank away all of his problems.
I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny / but we can have lots of good fun that is funny.
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Instead of just reading these examples, trying humming them. Do you hear how they sort of bounce? This is a rhythm.
Assonance, Consonance & Alliteration
In this section, I made a video of myself to help you understand these three similar concepts better. Enjoy. :)
Lesson 4 Types of Poetry |
1. Narrative PoetryNarrative
poetry is poetry that tells a story. Like a short story, it has a plot,
characters, a setting, and a theme. However, it is written in verse, with a
rhythm, and sometimes a rhyme scheme. Just as stories are broken up into
paragraphs, poems are divided up into stanzas. Often, each stanza has the same
number of lines and the same rhyme pattern.
2. Limerick PoetryA type of poetry with a strict rhyming pattern in the form of five lines. The first 2 lines are always longer than the second two. The rhyme scheme is AABBA.
3. Shakespeare's SonnetThe Shakespearean sonnet is a type of lyric poem with a specific form:
Has 14 lines, three quatrains (four line stanzas) and a couplet (two lines stanza) The final couplet usually reveals the underlying message of the poem The meter, or pattern of stresses or beats, is iambic pentameter The pattern of rhyming words is: ABAB --First quatrain CDCD --Second quatrain EFEF -- Third quatrain GG --Final quatrain 4. Haiku Poetry“Haiku” is a trational form of Japanese. Haiku poems consist of 3 lines. Here is an example of Haiku poetry. The syllable pattern of Haiku is 5,7,5. The first and last line of a Haiku have 5 syllables and the middle line has 7 syllables.
Haiku poems can act almost like a riddle. Try writing a Haiku poem about a certain animal, but don’t mention the animal’s name. See if your friends can guess what you wrote about! See an example I wrote: I am cute and small I have long ears on my head Covered by white coat 5. Dramatic PoetryDramatic poetry is poetry where the speaker is clearly someone other than the poet. Frequently dramatic poetry is in the form of dialogue, where more than one character speaks. Often there is also a setting and a plot. You will read more dramatic poetry when you read Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
6. Lyric PoetryLyric poetry expresses thoughts and feelings about a subject in a musical, and usually brief, way. Of all the different types of poetry, lyrics are the most closely related to song. The word “Lyric” comes from the word “lyre,” which is a stringed instrument, which was played as an accompaniment to the sung words, or lyrics. Not all lyric poetry is set to music,, but a lyric poem often uses musical devices and has other song-like qualities that distinguish it from other types of poems.
7. Free VerseFree verse is also known as “open form” verse. It is different from other forms of poetry because its rhythmic pattern is not organized into meter; also, it often has irregular line lengths, and usually does not rhyme. Within the broad category of free verse there are many different types, and it has evolved over years.
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Lesson 5 A Quick Guide to Understand Poetry
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1. Read aloud
Reading aloud also cues you in to a poem’s rhyme scheme and rhythm, and helps you identify other sonic devices, which include word repetition and alliteration (the repetition of initial consonant sounds). 2. “Prosify” Sometimes poetic elements like line breaks and odd syntax can convolute its meaning. A good exercise, then, is to try to rewrite the poem in prose form and rearrange the syntax to make it more logical. In other words, make it sound like “normal” language. Once you prosify the poem, perhaps its subject matter will become clearer to you. Or perhaps not, but it is nonetheless a good start towards understanding. Basically, try your best to paraphrase the poem at this point. 3. Use your dictionary 4. Identify the speaker The speaker of the poem, identified by “I,” is very important. You should first avoid assuming that the speaker is the poet, since poets often imaginatively assume other voices. Try to obtain as much information about the speaker as possible: age, gender, tone, mood, attitude, role in the “narrative” of the poem, etc. The more questions you can answer about the speaker, the better you will be able to understand the poem. 5. Identify the addressee Whom is the speaker addressing? Is there a “you”? If so, who is “you”? Is it a private address, or a general one? If general, what types of people does the speaker think s/he is addressing? How does the speaker expect his audience to respond? 6. Imagery One of the most important elements of poetry—the characteristic that makes poetry so special—is imagery. Imagery comes in several forms. It could be sensory language, which is language that invokes one or more of the five senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste). Or it could be a simile, which compares one thing to another using “like” or “as.” Or it could be a metaphor, which is like a simile, but doesn’t use “like” or “as.” Or it could even be personification, which describes nonhuman things as having human qualities. By identifying imagery, you begin to unravel the poem’s complexity. 7. Track allusions Often a poet will allude to other works of literature, history, or current events. Knowing when a poem is written helps. In many poems, proper nouns may be alluding to a character from classic literature or the Bible, or other popular works such as Shakespeare. An allusion can be a powerful way to add depth to a poem because it serves as a memory touchstone. If you think a word or passage may be an allusion, Google it! You might find something really interesting that opens up completely new possibilities for the meaning of the poem. Also, critical editions of poems are indispensible as they usually explain allusions in footnotes. 8. Structure and Scansion Poems often follow a strict form, in which a specific rhythm comprised of stressed and unstressed syllables (called “meter”) and rhyme scheme are followed. While knowing these can help you appreciate what type of poem you’re dealing with, you may not gain anything from identifying form without knowing their rhetorical structures or typical purpose. Moreover, scansion (identifying meter and rhyme scheme) can be tedious and tricky, and may lead to very little to contribute to your understanding of the poem. The purpose of discovering form is to ask why the poet might have chosen it, and how s/he might have manipulated the form to get our attention. |
Lesson 5
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William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. He belonged to the Protestant, Anglo-Irish minority that had controlled the economic, political, social, and cultural life of Ireland since at least the end of the 17th century.
Style He was a Symbolist poet, in that he used allusive imagery and symbolic structures throughout his career. Yeats chose words and assembled them so that, in addition to a particular meaning, they suggest other abstract thoughts that may seem more significant and resonant. His use of symbols is usually something physical that is both itself and a suggestion of other, perhaps immaterial, timeless qualities. Let's look at one of his poem work together: When You Are OldWhen you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face; And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars. Assignment: Read the poem of W.B. William When You Are Old. Download and listen to the audio of the poem. When you finish, figure out what type of poem it is and find out all the poetic devices in the poem. Write down your analysis of the poem and your understanding of the meaning of the poem.
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Lesson 6 Practicing Writing Simple Poems
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- Assignment: Use the steps 2-6 introduced above to write a short poem on one of the four seasons. When you finish, have some of your friends to read and discuss it.
Reference
"Examples of Meter in Poetry." YourDictionary. <http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-meter-in-poetry.html>.
“How to Write a Simple Poem.” eHow. <http://www.ehow.com/how_4619286_write-simple-poem.html>.
"William Butler Yeats." Poetry Foundation. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/william-butler-yeats>.
"Examples of Meter in Poetry." YourDictionary. <http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-meter-in-poetry.html>.
“How to Write a Simple Poem.” eHow. <http://www.ehow.com/how_4619286_write-simple-poem.html>.
"William Butler Yeats." Poetry Foundation. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/william-butler-yeats>.