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Elements of Poetry

The document discusses key elements of poetry including structure, sounds, imagery, and figurative language. It defines common poetic forms like sonnets and haiku. It also analyzes different poetic devices such as rhythm, meter, rhyme, repetition, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and the use of sensory details, similes, metaphors and other figurative language.

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Roche Gallardo Tampil
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235 views6 pages

Elements of Poetry

The document discusses key elements of poetry including structure, sounds, imagery, and figurative language. It defines common poetic forms like sonnets and haiku. It also analyzes different poetic devices such as rhythm, meter, rhyme, repetition, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and the use of sensory details, similes, metaphors and other figurative language.

Uploaded by

Roche Gallardo Tampil
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ELEMENTS OF POETRY

(Structure, Sounds, Imagery, and Figurative Language)

STRUCTURE

An important method of analyzing a poem is to look at the stanza structure or style of


a poem. Generally speaking, structure has to do with the overall organization of lines
and/or the conventional patterns of sound although many modern poems may not
have any identifiable structure (free verse).

Stanzas. Stanzas are a series of lines grouped together and separated by an empty line
from other stanzas. They are the equivalent of a paragraph in an essay. One way to
identify a stanza is to count the number of lines. Thus:

 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)

Other Poetic Forms

Acrostic – a poem in which the first letter of each word forms a word – usually a
name – if read downward.
Example: “A Rock Acrostic” by Avis Harley.

Haiku - a Japanese three-line poetic form – usually about nature – with lines of three,
seven, and five syllables, respectively.
Example: I call to my love
on mornings ripe with sunlight.
The songbirds answer.
Limerick – a humorous rhyming poem written in five lines and having a particular
meter. It often begins with “There once was a…”
Example: Limericks by Edward Lear.

Sonnet – a poem that is 14 lines long, generally written in iambic pentameter.


Example: “Sonnet 116” by William Shakespeare.
Free Verse – a poem that does not follow a predictable form or rhyme scheme or
metric pattern.
Example: “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes.

List or Catalog Poem – a poem in the form of a list, that uses sensory details and
precise language to persuade the reader to take notice of what is being
listed.
Example: “Things To Do If You Are a Subway” by Robbi Katz.

Villanelle – a challenging poetic form that includes five tercets (aba rhyme)
followed by a quatrain (abaa rhyme) and a pattern of repetition of lines
1 and 3 of the first stanza.
Example: “Is There a Villain in Your Villanelle?” by Joan Bransfield Graham.

SOUNDS

Rhythm – the basic beat in a line of a poem.

Example: Whose woods these are, I think I know” is the first line from “Stopping by
Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. Notice that the accented words
(underlined) give the line a distinctive beat.

Meter – a pattern of stressed and unstressed (accented and unaccented) syllables


(known as a foot) in a line of poetry.
Example: In an iambic pentameter, the pattern is five iambic (unaccented + accented)
feet in each line (see Verse).

End Rhyme – same or similar sounds at the end of words that finish different lines.

Example: from “The King of Cats Sends a Postcard to His Wife” by Nancy Willard:
Keep your whiskers crisp and clean,
Do not let the mice grow lean,
Internal Rhyme – same or similar sounds at the end of words within a line.

Example: from “The Ancient Mariner by Thomas Coleridge,


"In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud"
"Whiles all the night through fog-smoke white"

Assonance – the repetition of vowel sounds within words in a line.

Example: from “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore:


The children were nestled all snug in their beds
Consonance – the repetition of consonant sounds within words in a line.

Example: by T. Gray
And all the air a solemn stillness holds.

Alliteration – the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Example: “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out” by Shel
Silverstein.

Onomatopoeia – words that sound like their meaning.

Example: buzz, swish, hiss, gulp.

Repetition – sounds, words, or phrases that are repeated to add emphasis or create
rhythm. Parallelism is a form of repetition.

Examples: Two lines from “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll showing parallelism:


Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Refrain – a line or stanza repeated over and over in a poem or song.

Example: In “Jingle Bells,” the following refrain is repeated after every stanza:
Jingle Bells, jingle bells, Jingle all the way!
Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one-horse open sleigh!
Word Play – to play with the sounds and meanings of real or invented words.

Example: from the poem “Synonyms” by Susan Moger:


Claptrap, bombast, rodomontade,
Hogwash, jargon, and rant

IMAGERY

Precise Language – the use of specific words to describe a person, place, thing, or
action.

Example: When the elders said she was too old,


Reverend Mona surrendered her tabernacle
next to Fast Frankie‟ s Pawn Shop
Sensory Details – the use of descriptive details that appeal to one or more of the five
senses.

Example: from “The Sea” by James Reeves

The giant sea dog moans


Licking his greasy paws

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Simile – a comparison of two unlike things, using the words like or as.
Example: “I read the shoreline like an open volume.”

Metaphor – a comparison of two unlike things, not using the words like or as.
Example: “Ribbons of sea foam / wrap the emerald island.”

Personification – to ascribe human traits to non-human or non-living things.


Example: “The unfurled sailboat glides on / urged by wind and will and brilliant bliss.”

Symbolism – a person, place, thing, or action that stands for something else.
Example: In “From Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, a set of stairs symbolizes life.

Hyperbole – the use of exaggeration to express strong emotion or create a comical


effect.
Example: “I‟ m so hungry I could eat a hippo.”

Verbal Irony or Sarcasm – when you mean the opposite of what you say.
Example: “My darling brother is the sweetest boy on Earth,” she muttered
sarcastically.

Situational Irony – when the outcome of a situation is the opposite of what is


expected.
Example: After many years of trying, Mr. Smith won the lottery -- and immediately died
of a heart attack.

Pun – a humorous phrase that plays with the double meaning or the similar sounds of
words.
Example: “Tomorrow you shall find me a grave man,” said the duke on his deathbed.

Allusion- a reference to a familiar person, place, or event.


Example: The following two lines from the poem “My Muse” contain an allusion to
Pandora‟ s Box:
hunched over from carrying
that old familiar Box

Idiom - a cultural expression that cannot be taken literally.


Examples: She is the apple of his eye. He drives me up the wall.

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