THE ELEMENTS OF

POETRY
 2

SWEETZER SEGISMUNDO
CRISTINE TALABIS
HILLARY ZULUETA
 3

EXAMPLE OF A POETRY
Just Let Him Go The laughs that we shared
Published: April 2009 The dreams that we had
But those dreams changed
We had a lot of fun And they left me sad
When we were together
I'll never forget I know you've moved on
I'll always remember And found someone new
But I have to admit
The laughs that we shared I still wish for you
The dreams that we had
But those dreams changed This isn't healthy for me
And they left me sad I really need to stop
When I think about our past
I know you've moved on My heart wants to pop
And found someone new
But I have to admit So as I say my last goodbye
I still wish for you I want you to know
That I'm trying my best
To learn to just let go
 4

HELLO!
I am Jayden Smith
I am here because I love to give
presentations.
You can find me at @username
1.LINES
 6

A line is a subdivision of a poem, specifically a group of words arranged into a

row that ends for a reason other than the right-hand margin. This reason could be
that the lines are arranged to have a certain number of syllables, a certain
number of stresses, or of metrical feet; it could be that they are arranged so that
they rhyme, whether they be of equal length or not. But it is important to
remember that the poet has chosen to make the line a certain length, or to make
the line-break at a certain point. This line-break, where a reader has to turn back
to the start of the next line, was known in Latin as the versus, which translates
as "turn", and is where the modern English term "verse" comes from. It is one of
the strongest points of a line, which means that words that fall at the end of a
line seem more important to a reader (an effect that rhyme can intensify); other
strong points are the start of a line, and either side of a caesura.
2.STANZA
 8

STANZA
Definition of Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a division of four or more lines having a fixed
length, meter, or rhyming scheme.
Stanzas in poetry are similar to paragraphs in prose. Both stanzas and
paragraphs include connected thoughts, and are set off by a space. The
number of lines varies in different kinds of stanzas, but it is uncommon
for a stanza to have more than twelve lines. The pattern of a stanza is
determined by the number of feet in each line, and by
its metrical or rhyming scheme.
 9

Stanza Examples in English Poetry

On the basis of a fixed number of lines and rhyming scheme,
traditional English language poems have the following kinds of
stanzas:
⊗Couplet
⊗Tercet
⊗Quatrain
⊗Quintain
⊗Sestet
Couplet 10

A couplet consists of two rhyming lines having the same meter. Consider the
following couplet stanza examples:
Example #1: Essay on Criticism (By Alexander Pope)
“True wit is nature to advantage dress’d;
What oft was thought, but ne’er so well express’d.”
Tercet
A tercet comprises three lines following a same rhyming scheme a a a, or have a rhyming
pattern a b a. Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced tercet in the 16th century.
Example #1: Second Satire (By Thomas Wyatt)
“My mother’s maids, when they did sew and spin,
They sang sometimes a song of the field mouse,
That for because their livelihood was but so thin.
Would needs go seek her townish sister’s house.
Would needs She thought herself endured to much pain:
The stormy blasts her cave so sore did souse…”
 11

THIS IS A SLIDE TITLE

⊗ Here you have a list of items
⊗ And some text
⊗ But remember not to overload your slides with
content
Your audience will listen to you or read the content,
but won’t do both.
 12
Quatrain
Quatrain is a form of stanza popularized by a Persian poet, Omar Khayyam, who
called it a Rubai. It has common rhyming schemes a a a a, a a b b, a b a b.
Example #1: The Eagle (By Alfred Lord Tennyson)
“Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
Your Winter garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To flutter–and the Bird is on the Wing.”
Quitain
A quintain, also referred to as “cinquain,” is a stanza of five lines, which may be
rhymed or unrhymed, and has a typical stress pattern. Its invention is attributed to Adelaide
Crapsey.
Example #1: November Night (By Adelaide Crapsey)
“Listen…
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees
And fall.”
 13

Sestet
Sestet is a kind of stanza that consists of six lines. It is the second division of
Italian or sonnets of Petrarch, following an octave or the first division
comprising eight lines. In a sonnet, a sestet marks a change of emotional state
of a poet as they tend to be more subjective in the second part of the sonnet.
Example #1: The Better Part (By Mathew Arnold)
“So answerest thou; but why not rather say:
‘Hath man no second life? – Pitch this one high!
Sits there no judge in Heaven, our sin to see? –
More strictly, then, the inward judge obey!
Was Christ a man like us? Ah! Let us try
If we then, too, can be such men as he!'”
FUNCTION OF
14

STANZA
⊗ Stanza divides a poem in such a way
that does not harm its balance, but
rather adds to the beauty, and to the
symmetry of a poem. Moreover, it
allows poets to shift their moods,
and present different subject
matters in their poems.
3.RHYME
 16

A rhyme is a repetition of similar

sounding words, occurring at the end of
lines in poems or songs. A rhyme is a tool
utilizing repeating patterns that
bring rhythm or musicality to poems.
 17

For instance, all nursery rhymes contain rhyming words in order

to facilitate learning for children, as they enjoy reading them,
and the presence of repetitive patterns enables them to
memorize them effortlessly. We do not seem to forget the
nursery rhymes we learned as children. Below are a few nursery
rhyme examples with rhyming words in bold and italics:
⊗“Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!
One for the master, one for the dame,
And one for the little boy who lives down the lane.”
 18
Various Types of Rhyme
Perfect Rhyme
A perfect rhyme is a case in which two words rhyme in such a way that their final stressed vowel,
and all subsequent sounds, are identical. For instance, sight and light, right and might, and rose and
dose.
General Rhyme
The term general rhyme refers to a variety of phonetic likenesses between words.
⊗ Syllabic Rhyme– Bottle and fiddle, cleaver and silver, patter and pitter are examples of syllabic rhyme: words
having a similar sounding last syllable, but without a stressed vowel.
⊗ Imperfect Rhyme – Wing and caring, sit and perfect, and reflect and subject are examples of imperfect
rhyme. This is a rhyme between a stressed and an unstressed syllable.
⊗ Assonance or Slant Rhyme exists in words having the same vowel sound. For instance, kill and bill, wall and
hall, and shake and ha
⊗ Consonance exists in words having the same consonant sound, such as rabbit and robber, shipand sheep
⊗ Alliteration or Head Rhyme refers to matching initial consonant sounds, shuch as sea and seal, and ship
and sh
FUNCTION OF
19

STANZA
⊗ Stanza divides a poem in such a way
that does not harm its balance, but
rather adds to the beauty, and to the
symmetry of a poem. Moreover, it
allows poets to shift their moods,
and present different subject
matters in their poems.
4.RHYME SCHEME
 21

Rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme that comes at the end

of each verse or line in poetry. In other words, it is the
structure of end words of a verse or line that a poet needs to
create when writing a poem. Many poems are written in free
verse style. Some other poems follow non-rhyming structures,
paying attention only to the number of syllables. The
Japanese genre of Haiku is a case in point. Thus, it shows that
the poets write poems in a specific type of rhyme scheme or
rhyming pattern. There are several types of rhyme schemes as
given below.
 Types of Rhyme Scheme 22

There are a number of rhyme schemes used in poetry; some of the most popular of which include:
⊗ Alternate rhyme: It is also known as ABAB rhyme scheme, it rhymes as “ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH.”
⊗ Ballade: It contains three stanzas with the rhyme scheme of “ABABBCBC” followed by “BCBC.”
⊗ Monorhyme: It is a poem in which every line uses the same rhyme scheme.
⊗ Couplet: It contains two-line stanzas with the “AA” rhyme scheme, which often appears as “AA BB CC and
DD…”
⊗ Triplet: It often repeats like a couplet, uses rhyme scheme of “AAA.”
⊗ Enclosed rhyme: It uses rhyme scheme of “ABBA”
⊗ Terza rima rhyme scheme: It uses tercets, three lines stanzas. Its interlocking pattern on end words
follows: ABA BCB CDC DED and so on.
⊗ Keats Odes rhyme scheme: In his famous odes, Keats has used a specific rhyme scheme, which is
“ABABCDECDE.”
⊗ Limerick: A poem uses five lines with a rhyme scheme of “AABBA.”
⊗ Villanelle: A nineteen-line poem consisting of five tercets and a final quatrain. It uses a rhyme scheme of
“A1bA2, abA1, abA2, abA1, abA2, abA1A2.”
5.RHYTM
 24

The word rhythm is derived

from rhythmos (Greek) which means,
“measured motion.” Rhythm is a literary
device that demonstrates the long and
short patterns through stressed and
unstressed syllables, particularly
in verse form.
English poetry makes use of five important rhythms. These rhythms are of different patterns of 25

stressed (/) and unstressed (x) syllables. Each unit of these types is called foot. Here are the five
types of rhythm:
⊗ 1. Iamb (x /)
This is the most commonly used rhythm. It consists of two syllables, the first of which
is not stressed, while the second syllable is stressed. Such as:
⊗ “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
(Sonnet 18, by William Shakespeare)
⊗ 2. Trochee (/ x)
A trochee is a type of poetic foot commonly used in English poetry. It has two
syllables, the first of which is strongly stressed, while the second syllable is
unstressed, as given below:
⊗ “Tell me not, in mournful numbers”
(Psalm of Life, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
 26
⊗ 3. Spondee (/ /)
⊗ Spondee is a poetic foot that has two syllables, which are
consecutively stressed. For example:
⊗ “White founts falling in the Courts of the sun”
(Lepanto, by G. K. Chesterton)
⊗ 4. Dactyl (/ x x)
⊗ Dactyl is made up of three syllables. The first syllable is stressed, and
the remaining two syllables are not stressed, such as in the word
“marvelous.” For example:
⊗ “This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks,”
(Evangeline, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
⊗ The words “primeval” and “murmuring” show dactyls in this line.
 27
⊗ 5. Anapest (x x /)
⊗ Anapests are total opposites of dactyls. They have three syllables;
where the first two syllables are not stressed, and the last syllable is
stressed. For example:
⊗ ” ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,”
(‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, by Clement Clarke Moore)
6. VERSE
 29

⊗The literary device verse denotes a single line of

poetry. The term can also be used to refer to
a stanzaor other parts of poetry.
⊗Generally, the device is stated to encompass
three possible meanings, namely a line of metrical
writing, a stanza, or a piece written in meter. It is
important to note here that the term “verse” is
often incorrectly used for referring to “poetry” in
order to differentiate it from prose.
⊗ Free Verse 30
A free verse poem has no set meter; that is to say there is no rhyming scheme present, and the poem
doesn’t follow a set pattern. For some poets this characteristic serves as a handy tool for the purpose of
camouflaging their fluctuation of thoughts, whereas others think that it affects the quality of work being
presented.
Example #1 Free Verse
After the Sea-Ship (By Walt Whitman)
⊗ “After the Sea-Ship—after the whistling winds;
After the white-gray sails, taut to their spars and ropes,
Below, a myriad, myriad waves, hastening, lifting up their necks,
Tending in ceaseless flow toward the track of the ship:
Waves of the ocean, bubbling and gurgling, blithely prying,
Waves, undulating waves—liquid, uneven, emulous waves,
Toward that whirling current, laughing and buoyant, with curves,
Where the great Vessel, sailing and tacking, displaced the surface…”
As can be seen from the stanza quoted above, there is an absence of rhyming effect and structure in each verse.
⊗ Blank Verse 31

⊗ There is no rhyming effect present in a blank verse poem. However, it has an iambic pentameter. It is usually employed for presenting
passionate events, and to create an impact on the reader. Shakespeare was an ardent user of blank verse.
Example #1 Blank Verse
Furball Friend (Author Unknown)
⊗ “Sweet pet by day, hunter by night. She sleeps,
she eats, she plays. My feet, caught in white paws.
She’s up the fence, watching her prey – a bird.
Poor thing, better run quick, ’cause watch, she’ll pounce!
She’ll sweetly beg for fuss, but don’t be fooled.
‘Cause one minute she’ll purr and smile, then snap!
She’ll spit and hiss – and oh – surprise! A mouse.
He’s dead. A gift. Retracts her claws. Miaow!
Figure of eight between my legs, looks up
at me and purrs. The sound pulls my heartstrings.
Her big blue eyes like dinner plates – so cute.
Cunning she is, she knows I can’t resist.
Curling up tight, we sleep entwined as one.
Despite her quirks, I would not change a claw
of her. Cheeky Sammy: my snow-white queen.”
⊗ The poem quoted above depicts the use of blank verse throughout. Here, it is important to note that there is no rhyming scheme
present. Also, it can be seen that there is a presence of iambic pentameter throughout the verses.
7.ALLITERATION
 33

YOU CAN ALSO SPLIT YOUR CONTENT

White Black
Is the color of milk and Is the color of coal, ebony,
fresh snow, the color and of outer space. It is
produced by the the darkest color, the
combination of all the result of the absence of
colors of the visible or complete absorption of
spectrum. light.
 34

⊗Alliteration is derived from Latin’s

“Latira”. It means “letters of
alphabet”. It is a stylistic device in
which a number of words, having the
same first consonant sound, occur
close together in a series.
 35
⊗ Alliteration Examples in Literature
Example #1
From Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
⊗ “The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.”
⊗ In the above lines we see alliteration (“b”, “f” and “s”) in the phrases
“breeze blew”, “foam flew”, “furrow followed”, and “silent sea”.
8.IMAGERY
 37

Imagery means to use figurative

language to represent objects, actions,
and ideas in such a way that it appeals
to our physical senses.
 38
Read the following examples of imagery carefully:
⊗ It was dark and dim in the forest.
The words “dark” and “dim” are visual images.
⊗ The children were screaming and shouting in the fields.
“Screaming” and “shouting” appeal to our sense of hearing, or auditory
sense.
⊗ He whiffed the aroma of brewed coffee.
“Whiff” and “aroma” evoke our sense of smell, or olfactory sense.
⊗ The girl ran her hands on a soft satin fabric.
9.EXAGGERATION
 40

IN TWO OR THREE COLUMNS

Yellow Blue Red
Is the color of gold, Is the colour of the Is the color of blood,
butter and ripe clear sky and the deep and because of this it
lemons. In the sea. It is located has historically been
spectrum of visible between violet and associated with
light, yellow is found green on the optical sacrifice, danger and
between green and spectrum. courage.
orange.
 41

We all exaggerate. Sometimes by spicing up

stories to make them more fun, or simply to
highlight our points. Exaggeration is a
statement that makes something worse, or
better, than it really is. In literature and oral
communication, writers and speakers use
exaggeration as a literary technique, to give
extra stress and drama in a work or speech.
 42
Types of Exaggeration
⊗ Overstatement
It is a statement that slightly exaggerates something to convey the meaning. Cole
Porter’s poem You’re the Top provides a good example:
“You’re the Nile,
You’re the Tower of Pisa,
You’re the smile
Of the Mona Lisa…”
⊗ Here, the poet overstates the actual truth and calls his beloved the river Nile, and the tower of
Pisa. He also says that her smile like that of the Mona Lisa.
⊗ Hyperbole
Hyperbole is an extreme, extravagant, and impossible exaggeration, such as when Flannery
O’Connor writes in his essay, Parker’s Back:
“And the skin on her face was thin and drawn tight like the skin on an onion and her eyes
were gray and sharp like the points of two ice picks.”
10.FIGURATIVE
LANGUAGE
 44

Figurative language uses figures of speech to be

more effective, persuasive, and impactful. Figures of
speech such as metaphors, similes, and allusions go
beyond the literal meanings of the words to give
readers new insights. On the other hand,
alliterations, imageries, or onomatopoeias are
figurative devices that appeal to the senses of the
readers.
 45
⊗ Figurative language can appear in multiple forms with the use of different
literary and rhetorical devices. According to Merriam Webster’s
Encyclopedia, figurative language has five different forms:
⊗ Understatement or Emphasis
⊗ Relationship or Resemblance
⊗ Figures of Sound
⊗ Errors and
⊗ Verbal Games
⊗ Types of Figurative Language 46
⊗ The term figurative language covers a wide range of literary devices and techniques, a few of which include:

￮ Simile
■
Metaphor
■
Personification
￮ Onomatopoeia
￮ Oxymoron
￮ Hyperbole
○ Allusion
￮ Idiom
￮ Imagery
￮ Symbolism
○ Alliteration
￮ Assonance
￮
Consonance
￮
Metonymy
■
Synecdoche
Irony ■
Sarcasm ■
Litotes ■
Pun ■
Anaphora ■
Tautology■
■
Understatement
11.Onomatopoeia
 48

Onomatopoeia, pronounced on-uh-mat-

uh–pee–uh, is defined as a word which
imitates the natural sounds of a thing. It
creates a sound effect that mimics the
thing described, making the description
more expressive and interesting.
 49
Common Examples of Onomatopoeia
⊗ The buzzing bee flew away.
⊗ The sack fell into the river with a splash.
⊗ The books fell on the table with a loud thump.
⊗ He looked at the roaring
⊗ The rustling leaves kept me awake.
The different sounds of animals are also considered as examples of onomatopoeia. You will recognize
the following sounds easily:
⊗ Meow
⊗ Moo
⊗ Neigh
⊗ Tweet
⊗ Oink
⊗ Baa
 50
Groups of Onomatopoeic Words
⊗ Onomatopoeic words come in combinations, as they reflect different
sounds of a single object. For example, a group of words reflecting
different sounds of water are: plop, splash, gush, sprinkle, drizzle, and
drip.
⊗ Similarly, words like growl, giggle, grunt, murmur, blurt, and chatter
denote different kinds of human voice sounds.
⊗ Moreover, we can identify a group of words related to different sounds of
wind, such as swish, swoosh, whiff, whoosh, whizz, and whisper.
12.SYMBOL
 52

Symbolism refers to symbols writers use to convey

specific meanings. Different symbols refer to
different things depending on the readers’
circumstances. Writers use symbols to convey
different meanings to their readers in their literary
pieces. Nathaniel Hawthorne has also used various
symbols in The Scarlet Letter, his phenomenal novel
written about shaming and social stigmatizing during
the early Puritanism. Some of the major symbols used
in this novel have been discussed below.
13.MOOD
 54

In literature, mood is a literary element

that evokes certain feelings or vibes in
readers through words and descriptions
 55
Creating Mood through Setting
⊗ Setting is the physical location in a piece of literature that provides
background in which the events of the narrative take place. A particular
setting not only provides support to the contents of the story, but also
sets the mood of the readers.
Creating Mood through Tone
⊗ The manner in which a writer approaches this theme and subject is
called the tone. The readers always rely on the writer’s point of view of
the events taking place in a story. They observe the story through his
eyes. They feel the way the writer feels about the events taking place
and the description provided. Therefore, the attitude of the writer
evokes feelings and emotions in the readers.
 56
Creating Mood through Diction
⊗ Diction is the choice of words a writer uses. Diction or choice of words
conveys deep feelings, and depicts the events, places, and characters in
a literary work in specific colors, having an effect on the way the
readers feel about them.
FUNCTION OF
57

MOOD
Mood helps in creating an atmosphere in a
literary work by means of setting, theme,
diction, and tone. It evokes various
emotional responses in readers, and thus
ensures their emotional attachment to the
literary piece they read. Once the readers are
emotionally stirred, they fully comprehend
the message that the writer tries to convey
to them.
14.TONE
 59

Tone, in written composition, is

an attitude of a writer toward a subject or
an audience. Tone is generally conveyed
through the choice of words, or the
viewpoint of a writer on a particular
subject.
 60
Tone Examples in Common Speech
We adopt a variety of tones in our day-to-day speech. This intonation of our
speech determines what message we desire to convey. Read a few
examples below:
⊗ Example #1
⊗ Father: “We are going on a vacation.”
Son: “That’s great!!!”
– The tone of son’s response is very cheerful.
⊗ Example #2
⊗ Father: “We can’t go on vacation this summer.”
Son: “Yeah, great! That’s what I expected.”
– The son’s tone is sarcastic.
15.STYLE
 62

The style in writing can be defined as the

way a writer writes. It is the technique
that an individual author uses in his
writing. It varies from author to author,
and depends upon one’s syntax, word
choice, and tone. It can also be described
as a “voice” that readers listen to when
they read the work of a writer.
 63
Types of Style
There are four basic literary styles used in writing. These styles distinguish the works of different authors,
one from another. Here are four styles of writing:
⊗ Expository or Argumentative Style
Expository writing style is a subject-oriented style. The focus of the writer in this type of writing style is to
tell the readers about a specific subject or topic, and in the end the author leaves out his own opinion about that topic.
⊗ Descriptive Style
In descriptive writing style, the author focuses on describing an event, a character or a place in detail.
Sometimes, descriptive writing style is poetic in nature in, where the author specifies an event, an object, or a thing
rather than merely giving information about an event that has happened. Usually the description incorporates sensory
details.
⊗ Persuasive Style
Persuasive style of writing is a category of writing in which the writer tries to give reasons and justification
to make the readers believe his point of view. The persuasive style aims to persuade and convince the readers.
⊗ Narrative Style
Narrative writing style is a type of writing wherein the writer narrates a story. It includes short stories,
novels, novellas, biographies, and poetry.
 64
⊗ Example #1: The Pleasures of Imagination (By Joseph Addison)
“The pleasures of the imagination, taken in their full extent, are not so
gross as those of sense. … A man of polite imagination is let into a great
many pleasures … A man should endeavour, therefore, to make the sphere
of his innocent pleasures as wide as possible, that he may retire into them
with safety … Delightful scenes, whether in nature, painting, or poetry,
have a kindly influence on the body, as well as the mind, and not only serve
to clear and brighten the imagination, but are able to disperse grief and
melancholy …”
This is an example of expository writing style, in which the author
describes advantages of imagination with facts and logical sequence, and
tells his delight of imagination. Then, he discusses its benefits and finally
gives opinions in its favor.
 65

A PICTURE IS WORTH
A THOUSAND WORDS
A complex idea can be
conveyed with just a single
still image, namely making it
possible to absorb large
amounts of data quickly.
 66

POETRY IS THE CLEAR

EXPRESSIONS OF MIXED
FEELINGS…………
 67

THANKS!
Any questions?