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Lesson
Reading and Writing Poetry
Elements of a Genre

Reading and Writing Poetry

For most of us, we love poetry because it is a unique kind of language that
expresses our ideas, feelings and emotions in a meaningful way; not only using words but
also sounds, gestures, signs and symbols. Through poetry, we can relate our human
experiences and observations about life and the universe around us. While a song has
lyrics and is musically composed to move us emotionally, a poem is written in verses that
attempt to enhance our understanding of the world we live.

Read the poem “The Road Not Taken” written by Robert Frost.

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

What is Poetry?
Poetry is a form of literature which allows the writers who called to be “poets” to
express their thoughts, feelings, and emotions, ideas about a particular theme or topic.
When reading a poem, it is common that we get confuse between poet and
persona. Remember that poet is the author of the poem or literary piece while persona is
the SPEAKER or narrator of the poem.
 Poetry is recognizable by its greater dependence on at least one more parameter,
the line, than appears in prose composition.
It will be easy for us to identify if the literary piece is under poetry. Poetry is cast
in lines. It uses forms and elements and does not use ordinary syntax. We do not use
ordinary sentence formation since there are elements and techniques used by the poets.
Basically, poetry has significant elements that can be used by the poets to
strengthen their techniques and sustain it for recognition of poetic styles. Elements will
help the poets to address the message of the literary pieces to the audience or readers.

Elements of Poetry

A. The Essential Elements: Theme and Tone

When I say essential elements, these are things that we can find in most if not all forms
and types of poetry. Every poem consists of a theme or an underlying message of what
the poem wanted to tell us. There are several types of themes we find in poetry. Here are
examples of universal themes common to literature:

abundance/scarcity greed
abuse of power hate prejudice
action vs. apathy heritage price of progress
beating the odds heroes pride
beauty honesty religion
coming of age innocence revenge
corruption justice secrecy
courage love security/safety
effects of the past loyalty seizing the moment
faith manipulation survival
fall from grace mothering the overlooked
family nature war
fate need for change perseverance
fear obligation
fear of failure parent-child relationships
freedom peace
friendship peer pressure
Theme is the lesson about life or statement about human nature that the poem expresses.
– Though related to the concept of a moral, or lesson, themes are usually more complicated and
ambiguous.
– To describe the theme of a poem is to discuss the overarching abstract idea or ideas being
examined in the poem.
– A major theme is an idea that a writer repeats in his work, making it the most significant
idea in a literary work.
– A minor theme, on the other hand, refers to an idea that appears in a work briefly and gives
way to another minor theme.

Presentation of Themes
– the feelings of the main character about the subject written about
– through the thoughts and conversations of different characters
– the experiences of the main character in the course of a literary work
– the actions and events taking place in a narrative
Functions of Themes
– binds together various other essential elements of a poem
– is a truth that exhibits universality and stands true for people of all cultures
– gives readers better understanding of the main character’s conflicts, experiences, discoveries, and
emotions
– gives readers an insight into how the world works or human life can be viewed

Example:
– So, for example, in the Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, the theme of the poem,
is the argues for the importance of our choices, both big and small, since they shape our journey through
life. This theme is reflected throughout the poem. For instance, the poem begins with a speaker placing us
in a scene, specifically at the point where two roads break away from each other in the middle of a
“yellow wood.”

Tone
In fact, it suggests two attitudes: one concerning the people you’re addressing (your audience)
and the other concerning the thing you’re talking about (your subject).
That’s what the term tone means when it’s applied to poetry as well. Tone can also mean the
general emotional weather of the poem.
– the attitude expressed in a poem that a reader sees and feels
– the writer’s attitude toward the subject or audience

Example :

– So, for example, in the Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, its tone is
satisfied. Even though the persona wishes that he could have taken both of the roads, he is pleased with
the one that he chose.  Because he decided on the "road less travelled by", and therefore the less morally
dubious of the two roads (metaphorically speaking), he is satisfied that he did the right thing.

Some words that can describe the tone of a poem are:

Serious Cheerful
Humorous Sad
Amused Gloomy
Angry

Function of Tone
Tone, in a piece of literature, decides how the readers read a literary piece, and how they should feel while
they are reading it. It stimulates the readers to read a piece of literature as a serious, comical, spectacular,
or distressing manner. In addition, tone lends shape and life to a piece of literature because it creates a
mood. Moreover, tone bestows voice to characters, and throws light on the personalities and dispositions
of characters that readers understand better.
Activity I: Read and analyze the poem, “Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe”. Extract the tone conveyed in
the lines of each item and defend your answer by including clue words/phrase in the context to solidify
your claim. And also, determine the theme of the poem.

Annabel Lee
BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee—
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in Heaven above
Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea—
In her tomb by the sounding sea.