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

8 Elements of Poetry

6. Symbols & allegory7. Form8. Ideas

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

Imagery

Synaesthesia refers to when an image appeals to 2 or more senses at the same time

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

– Pyrrhic U U of a

– Amphribrach U / U in-ter-nal

– Cretic / U / med-I-ate

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

Symbol & Allegory

Allegories are forms of symbols which are fixed (Animal Farm)

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

Form--Villanelle

Stanza 4 ends with line 1Stanza 5 ends with line 3Stanza 6 ends with lines 1 and 3