POETRY

POETRY

 Poetry -is an art form in which human language

is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or
instead of, its notional and semantic content.
 It consists largely of oral or literary works in
which language is used in a manner that is felt by
its user and audience to differ from ordinary
prose.

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﹡ It may use condensed or compressed
form to convey emotion or ideas to the
reader's or listener's mind or ear.

﹡ Poems frequently rely for their effect on

imagery, word association, and the
musical qualities of the language used.

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﹡ In most poetry, it is the connotations and the
"baggage" that words carry (the weight of words)
that are most important. These shades and
nuances of meaning can be difficult to interpret
and can cause different readers to "hear" a
particular piece of poetry differently. While there
are reasonable interpretations, there can never be
a definitive interpretation.

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History of poetry

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﹡ Poetry as an art form predates literacy. In preliterate
societies, poetry was frequently employed as a
means of recording oral history, storytelling (epic
poetry), genealogy, law and other forms of
expression or knowledge that modern societies
might expect to be handled in prose.

﹡ Some writers believe that poetry has its origins in

song. Most of the characteristics that distinguish it
from other forms of utterance—rhythm, rhyme,
compression, intensity of feeling, the use of
refrains—appear to have come about from efforts to
fit words to musical forms

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﹡ In preliterate societies, all these forms of poetry
were composed for, and sometimes during,
performance. As such, there was a certain degree of
fluidity to the exact wording of poems, given this
could change from one performance or performer to
another. The introduction of writing tended to fix
the content of a poem to the version that happened
to be written down and survive.
﹡ Written composition also meant that poets began to
compose not for an audience that was sitting in
front of them but for an absent reader. Later, the
invention of printing tended to accelerate these
trends. Poets were now writing more for the eye
than for the ear.
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﹡ The development of literacy gave rise to more
personal, shorter poems intended to be sung. These
are called lyrics.

﹡ In more recent times, the introduction of electronic

media and the rise of the poetry reading have led to a
resurgence of performance poetry and have resulted
in a situation where poetry for the eye and poetry for
the ear coexist, sometimes in the same poem.

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Nature of poetry

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Poetry can be differentiated most of the time from
prose, which is language meant to convey meaning
in a more expansive and less condensed way,
frequently using more complete logical or narrative
structures than poetry does.

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GREAT POETRY
 “Great" poetry generally captures images vividly
and in an original, refreshing way, while weaving
together an intricate combination of elements like
theme tension, complex emotion, and profound
reflective thought.

 A poet is therefore one who creates and poetry

is what the poet creates

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SOUND IN POETRY
 Rhyme- more words or phrases end in the same
sounds

 Perhaps the most vital element of sound in poetry is

rhythm.

 Poetry in English and other modern European

languages often uses rhyme.

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ELEMENTS OF POETRY
 1. STANZA
 A stanza is to a poem as a paragraph is to a
piece of prosaic writing - a fixed number of lines
of verse forming a single unit of a poem.

 A poem is usually composed of multiple stanzas

that are separated from each other by a space
in between.

 Usually, all stanzas are made up of equal

number of lines in a poem.

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Based on the number of lines present in a stanza, they are
assigned different names:

 couplet- 2 lines.
 tercet -3 lines.
 quatrain- 4 lines.
 cinquain -5 lines.
 sestet -6 lines.
 sonnet -14 lines.

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"True wit is nature to advantage
dress'd;
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well
express'd." - From Alexander Pope's
"An Essay on Criticism"

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"An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the
pond,
splash! Silence again."

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"Listen...
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp'd,
break from the trees
And fall." - From Adelaide
Crapsey's "November Night"

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 2. Rhyme and Rhyme Scheme
 Rhyming in poetry is one convention that makes this
form of literature recognizably different from prose and
drama. Even in this age when free verses are quite
popular, rhyme in poesy is what makes it poetic.

 One of the unique qualities of rhyme in poetry is that it

has the ability to provide a systematic flow to a bundle
of thoughts that may seem absolutely chaotic if put
together otherwise.

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 In poetry, the most common kind of rhyme is the end
rhyme, which occurs at the end of two or more lines

 Internal rhyme occurs in the middle of a line

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Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again."

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"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;"

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Robert Browning's "The Last Ride Together".

"I said--Then, dearest, since 'tis so, (a)

Since now at length my fate I know, (a)
Since nothing all my love avails, (b)
Since all, my life seemed meant for, fails, (b)
Since this was written and needs must be-- (c)
My whole heart rises up to bless (d)
Your name in pride and thankfulness! (d)
Take back the hope you gave--I claim (e)
Only a memory of the same, (e)
--And this beside, if you will not blame, (e)
Your leave for one more last ride with me. (c)

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 3. FORM
 A poem may or may not have a specific number of lines, rhyme scheme
and/or metrical pattern, but it can still be labeled according to its form or
style.

1. Lyric Poetry: It is any poem with one speaker (not necessarily the poet)
who expresses strong thoughts and feelings. Most poems, especially
modern ones, are lyric poems.
2. Narrative Poem: It is a poem that tells a story; its structure resembles
the plot line of a story
3. Descriptive Poem: 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.
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4. METER

The systematic regularity in rhythm.

5. IMAGERY - the mental pictures the poet creates through

language

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 Quality Characteristics
 Imaginative
 Creative
 Descriptive and vivid language that often has an economical or
condensed use of words chosen for their sound and meaning
 Meaning is enhanced by recalling memories of related experiences in
the reader or listener
 Provokes thought
 Causes an emotional response: laughter, happy, sad …
 Uses figurative language (personification, similes, metaphors...)
 Imagery where the reader/listener creates vivid mental images
 Often has rhythm and rhyme
 Often includes words and phrases that have a pattern made with rhythm
and rhyme.
 Story in verse
 Can have physical and grammatical arrangement of words usually
enhance the reader's overall experience

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Questions to ask to evaluate the quality of poetry
 Does it have figurative language and imagery?
 Does it create images? (pictures, sounds, smells,
tastes, touching sensations)
 Does it move from the familiar to the unfamiliar or
unfamiliar to familiar in a manner that enlightens and/or
amazes?
 Is it understandable? (literally, interpretively, and
emotionally)

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 Does it appeal to me? To who else would it appeal?
 Does the poem touch people emotionally?
 Are words combined in a mixture that communicates both a literal and
suggested meaning.
 Not so precise as to limit the imagination or so suggestive as to not
communicate? (denotation and connotation).
 Does it get to the heart of an idea?
 Is it creative with language? Use language and words in interesting ways?
(metaphors, similes, personifications).
 Are words used in a highly powerful manner? Is there a lot of zap with few
words?
 Is it a language of simplicity?
 Does it sing to you? [sounds (alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia),
verse, rhythm, patterns, beat (words, phrases), rhyme (end of line, inline,
and/or link rhyme)
 Does it include ideas that people can use?

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 Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at:
@fatimahmeccasamanodi

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