Elements of Poetry

Elements of Poetry
•What is poetry?
•Poetry is not prose. Prose is the ordinary language
people use in speaking or writing.
•Poetry is a form of literary expression that captures
intense experiences or creative perceptions of the
world in a musical language.
•Basically, if prose is like talking, poetry is like singing.
•By looking at the set up of a poem, you can see the
difference between prose and poetry.
Distinguishing Characteristics of Poetry
• Unlike prose which has a narrator, poetry
has a speaker.
– A speaker, or voice, talks to the reader. The
speaker is not necessarily the poet. It can also be
a fictional person, an animal or even a thing

Example
But believe me, son.
I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you.
from “Once Upon a Time” by Gabriel Okara
 Iambic Pentameter
• The most common type of meter is called
iambic pentameter
• An iamb is a foot consisting of an initial
unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable. For example, return, displace, to
love, my heart.
• A pentameter is a line of verse containing 5
metrical feet.
Significance of Iambic Pentameter
• Iambic Pentameter is significant to the study
of poetry because
– 1. It is the closest to our everyday speech
– 2. In addition, it mimics the sound of heart beat; a
sound common to all human beings.
– 3. Finally, one of the most influential writers of
our times uses iambic pentameter in all that he
writes – William Shakespeare.
 STRUCTURE OF POETRY
A. STANZA
– Refers 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.
 STRUCTURE OF POETRY
A. STANZA
The following are some of the terms used to refer to the number of stanzas:
MONOSTICH (1line)
COUPLET (2 lines)
TERCET (3 lines)
QUATRAIN (4 lines)
CINQUAIN (5 lines)
 STRUCTURE OF POETRY
A. STANZA
The following are some of the terms used to refer to the
number of stanzas:
SESTET (6 lines) sometimes it is called sexain.
SEPTET (7 lines)
OCTAVE (8 lines)
 STRUCTURE OF POETRY
A.STANZA
EXAMPLE:
the excerpt,
“ I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them Sam I am.

It consists of two lines. Hence, the stanza is called couplet.

 STRUCTURE OF POETRY
B. FORM
-poem is labelled according to its form or style. There are
three most common types of poetry according to form:
1.Lyric poetry
2.Narrative poetry
3.Descriptive poetry
 Lyric Poetry
• Lyric poetry is poetry that expresses a
speaker’s personal thoughts and feelings.
– Lyric poems are usually short and musical.
– This broad category covers many poetic types and
styles, including haikus, sonnets, free verse and
many others.
 TYPES OF LYRIC POETRY
A.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.
 TYPES OF LYRIC POETRY
A.ODE
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?
 TYPES OF LYRIC POETRY

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.
 TYPES OF LYRIC POETRY

B. Elegy.
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.
 TYPES OF LYRIC POETRY
c. Sonnets. It is a lyric poem consisting of 14 lines and, in
the English version, is usually written in iambic pentameter.
The three basic kinds of sonnets are:
1.Italian/Petrarchan sonnet
2.Shakespearean sonnet
3.Spenserian Sonnet
 Sonnets
• Background of Sonnets
– Form invented in Italy.
– Most if not all of Shakespeare’s sonnets are about
love or a theme related to love.
– Sonnets are usually written in a series with each
sonnet a continuous subject to the next. (Sequels in
movies)
 KINDS OF SONNETS
1. 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
 KINDS OF SONNETS
2. Shakespearean sonnet 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.
 KINDS OF SONNETS

3. 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.
 Narrative Poetry
• Narrative poetry is verse that tells a story.
• Two of the major examples of narrative poetry
include:
– Ballads – a song or poem that tells a story. Folk
ballads, which typically tell of an exciting or dramatic
event, were composed by an anonymous singer or
author and passed on by word of mouth for generations
before written down. Literary ballads are written in
imitation of folk ballads, but usually given an author.
– Epics – a long narrative poem on a great and serious
subject that is centered on the actions of a heroic figure.
Examples of epic include Iliad by Homer, Beowulf, The
Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Metamorphoses by
Ovid and many more.
 Descriptive Poetry
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.
OTHER FORMS OF
POETRY
 Haikus
• The traditional Japanese haiku is an unrhymed
poem that contains exactly 17 syllables,
arranged in 3 lines of 5, 7, 5 syllables each.
• However, when poems written in Japanese are
translated into another language, this pattern is
often lost.
• The purpose of a haiku is to capture a flash of
insight that occurs during a solitary
observation of nature.
 Examples of Haikus
Since morning glories
hold my well-bucket hostage
I beg for water
First autumn morning:
- Chiyo-ni
the mirror I stare into
shows my father’s face.
- Kijo Murakami
 Limerick
2. Limerick. It has a very structured poem, usually
humorous & composed of five lines (a cinquain), in an
AABBA rhyming pattern; beat must be anapestic (weak,
weak, strong) with 3 feet in lines 1, 2, & 5 and 2 feet in
lines 3 & 4. It is usually a narrative poem based upon a
short and often ribald anecdote.
 Sound Devices
• Alliteration is the repetition of consonant
sounds at the beginning of words.
• Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds
within a line of poetry.
• Onomatopoeia is the use of a word or phrase,
such as “hiss” or “buzz” that imitates or
suggests the sound of what it describes.
 Example of Sound Devices
“In the steamer is the trout
seasoned with slivers of ginger”
from “Eating Together” by Li-Young Lee

And the stars never rise but I

see the bright eyes
from “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe
 Rhyme
• Rhyme is the repetition of the same stressed vowel
sound and any succeeding sounds in two or more
words.
• Internal rhyme occurs within a line of poetry.
• End rhyme occurs at the end of lines.
• Rhyme scheme is the pattern of end rhymes that
may be designated by assigning a different letter of
the alphabet to each new rhyme
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

– JO-ANE T. SIERAS