Creative

Writing
Quarter 1
Module 2
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OBJECTIVE:

This module will help you to:

 identify the various elements, techniques,
and literary devices in specific forms of
poetry.
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ELEMENTS OF
POETRY
(STRUCTURE OF
POETRY)
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Poetry has remained a vital part of art

and culture. Like other forms of
literature, poetry is made to express
thoughts and emotions in a creative
and imaginative way. It conveys
thoughts and feelings, describes a
scene or tells a story in a
concentrated, lyrical arrangement of
words.
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Structure
of poem
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Generally speaking, structure

refers to the overall organization
of lines and/or the conventional
patterns of sound. However,
various modern poems may not
have particular structure.

One significant way to analyze

poems is by looking into the
stanza structure and the form of
the poem.
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A. Stanza
Stanzas refer to series of lines grouped
together and separated by a space from other
stanzas. They correspond to a paragraph in an
essay. Identifying the stanza is done by
counting the number of lines.
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 The following are some of the terms used to

refer to the number of stanzas:
monostich (1 line)
couplet (2 lines)
tercet (3 lines)
quatrain (4 lines)
cinquain (5 lines)
sestet (6 lines) (sometimes it's called a sexain),
septet (7 lines)
octave (8 lines)
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EXAMPLE:

“So, lovers dream a rich and long delight,

But get a winter-seeming summer's night."
- "Love's Alchemy," John Donne

The poem consists two lines hence, the stanza is

called couplet.
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B. Form
A poem may also be labelled according to its form
or style. The three most common types of poetry
according to form are: lyric, descriptive and
narrative. We will also include other popular types
of poetry.
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1. Lyric Poetry
 It is any poem with one speaker (not necessarily the
poet) who expresses strong thoughts and feelings.
 A lyric poem is short, highly musical verse that
conveys powerful feelings. The poet may use rhyme,
meter, or other literary devices to create a song-like
quality.
 Unlike narrative poetry, which chronicles events, lyric
poetry doesn't have to tell a story. A lyric poem is a
private expression of emotion by a single speaker.
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Here are some types of lyric

poetry:
A. Ode
An ode is a lyric poem that praises an individual, an
idea or an event. The length is usually moderate, the
subject is serious, the style is elevated and the stanza
pattern is elaborate. In Ancient Greece, odes were
originally accompanied by music. In fact, the word “ode”
comes from the Greek word aeidein, which means to sing
or to dance.
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Example: “Ode to the West Wind” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Scatter, as from an unextinguish’d hearth

Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
Be through my lips to unawaken’d earth
The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
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B. Elegy
An elegy is written with a purpose to “mourn the
dead”. It usually begins by reminiscing about the dead
person, then weeps for the reason of death, and then
resolves the grief by concluding that death leads to
immortality. It has no set stanza or metrical pattern. It
often uses "apostrophe" as a literary technique.
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Example: Excerpt from Walt Whitman's "O Captain, My Captain,"

(written following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln)

O Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-
crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead.
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C. Sonnet
It is a lyric poem consisting of
14 lines and, in the English
version, is usually written in
iambic pentameter.
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• Italian/Petrarchan
sonnet
is named after Petrarch, an Italian Renaissance
poet. The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an
octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). It
tends to divide the thought into two parts
(argument and conclusion). The rhyming pattern
is
ABBA ABBA CDECDE, or some accepted sestet
such as CDCCDC, CDDCDE or CDCDCD
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When I consider how my light is spent, A

Ere half my days in this dark world and wide, B
And that one talent which is death to hide B
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent A
To serve therewith my Maker, and present A
My true account, lest He returning chide; B
“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?” B
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent A
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need C
Either man’s work or His own gifts. Who best D
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state E
Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed, C
And post o’er land and ocean without rest; D
They also serve who only stand and wait.” E
- “When I Consider How My Light is Spent” by John Milton
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• Shakespearean
sonnet
Also called as “English
sonnet”, it consists of three
quatrains (four lines each) and
a concluding couplet (two
lines). The final couplet is the
summary. The rhyming pattern
is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
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Two households, both alike in dignity, A

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, B
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, A
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. B
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes C
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; D
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows C
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife. D
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love, E
And the continuance of their parents’ rage, F
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove, E
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage; F
The which if you with patient ears attend, G
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. G
- “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
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• Spenserian sonnet
is divided into three quatrains,
or segments of four lines,
followed by a rhyming couplet.
The rhyming pattern is usually
ABAB BCBC CDCD EE.
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One day I wrote her name upon the strand, A

But came the waves and washed it away: B
Again I write it with a second hand, A
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. B
Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay, B
A mortal thing so to immortalize, C
For I myself shall like to this decay, B
And eek my name be wiped out likewise. C
Not so, (quod I) let baser things devise C
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: D
My verse, your virtues rare shall eternize, C
And in the heavens write your glorious name. D
Where when as death shall all the world subdue, E
Our love shall live, and later life renew. E
- Amoretti #75 by Edmund Spenser
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2. Narrative Poetry
 It is a poem that tells a story; its structure
resembles the plot line of a story [i.e. the
introduction of conflict and characters, rising
action, climax and the denouement]. The most
common types of narrative poetry are ballad
and epic.
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A. Ballad
It is a narrative poem that has a musical rhythm and
can be sung. A ballad is usually organized into quatrains
or cinquains, has a simple rhythm structure, and tells the
tales of ordinary people.
Example: Excerpt from “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.
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B. Epic
It is a long narrative poem in elevated style
recounting the deeds of a legendary or
historical hero.
Examples of epic include Iliad by Homer,
Beowulf, The Divine Comedy by Dante
Alighieri, Metamorphoses by Ovid and many
more.
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3. Descriptive Poetry
 It is a poem that describes the world that surrounds the speaker. It uses
elaborate imagery and adjectives. While emotional, it is more "outward-
focused" than lyric poetry, which is more personal and introspective.

Ex: Excerpt from William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
FORMS
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OF
POETRY
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1. Haiku. It has an unrhymed verse form having

three lines (a tercet) and usually 5,7,5 syllables,
respectively. It is usually considered a lyric poem.
Example: “The Old Pond” by Matsuo Bashō

The old pond-

Furuike ya
a frog jumps in,
kawazu tobikomu
sound of water.
mizu no oto.
Translated by Robert Hass
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2. Limerick. It has a very structured poem, usually

humorous & composed of five lines (a cinquain), in
an AABBA rhyming pattern. It is usually a narrative
poem based upon a short and often ribald
anecdote.
Example: A poem by Dixon Lanier Merritt
A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill can hold more than his beli-can.
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week
But I’m damned if I see how the heli-can.
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