POETRY

GENRE OF CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

 2

WHAT IS A POETRY?
Poetry is a type of literature based on the interplay of
words and rhythm. It often employs rhyme and meter (a
set of rules governing the number and arrangement of
syllables in each line). In poetry, words are strung
together to form sounds, images, and ideas that might be
too complex or abstract to describe directly.

The opposite of poetry is “prose” – that is, normal

text that runs without line breaks or rhythm. This article,
for example, is written in prose.
 3

ELEMENTS OF POETRY
(Structure, Sound, Imagery, Figurative Language, Elements of Fiction, Poetic
Forms)
1. STRUCTURE
 5

STRUCTURE
1. Poetic Line – the words that form a single line of poetry.
Example: “‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all
through the house” is the wellknown first poetic line of “A
Visit from Saint Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore.
2. Stanza – a section of a poem named for the number of
lines it contains.
Example: A couplet is a stanza of two lines. The first stanza
from “Barbara Frietchie” by John Greenleaf Wittier is a
couplet:
 6

STRUCTURE
3. Enjambment – when there is no written or natural pause at the
end of a poetic line, so that the word-flow carries over to the next line.
Example: the following lines from “Knoxville, Tennessee” by Nikki
Giovanni contain enjambment: and listen to gospel music outside at the
church
4. Placement – the way words and poetic lines are placed on the page
of a poem.
Example: The following are creatively-placed lines from a poem by E.E.
Cummings: in Justspring when the world is mudluscious the little lame
ballonman whistles far and wee.
 7

STRUCTURE
5. Verse – a line in traditional poetry that is written in meter.
Example: In “When I do count the clock that tells the time” from
Shakespeare’s “Sonnet Number Twelve,” the underlined syllables are
accented, giving the line a metric pattern known as an iambic pentameter
(see Meter).
6. Capitalization and Punctuation – In poetry, rules of
capitalization and punctuation are not always followed; instead, they are at
the service of the poet’s artistic vision.
Example: in our backyard we plant Tomatoes is the first stanza from
“Laughing Tomatoes” by Francisco X. Alarcón. Notice the lack of
capitalization and punctuation.
2. SOUNDS
 9

SOUNDS
1. 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.

2. 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).
 10

SOUNDS
3. End Rhyme – same or similar sounds at the end of words that
finish different lines.
Example: The following are the first two rhyming lines 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,
4. Internal Rhyme – same or similar sounds at the end of words
within a line.
Example: A line showing internal rhyme (underlined) from “The Rabbit”
by Elizabeth Maddox Roberts: When they said the time to hide was mine,
 11

SOUNDS

5. Rhyme Scheme – a pattern of rhyme in a poem.

Example: A quatrain – a stanza of four lines in which the second and
fourth-lines rhyme – has the following rhyme scheme: abcb (see
Quatrain).
6. Assonance – the repetition of vowel sounds within words in a
line. Example: A line showing assonance (underlined) from “A Visit from
Saint Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore: The children were nestled all
snug in their beds
 12

SOUNDS
7. Consonance – the repetition of consonant sounds within words in
a line.
Example: A line showing consonance (underlined) from “A Visit from
Saint Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore: Not a creature was stirring, not
even a mouse
8. Alliteration – the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning
of words.
Example: Notice the alliteration (underlined) in “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia
Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out” by Shel Silverstein.
 13

SOUNDS
9. Onomatopoeia – words that sound like their meaning.
Example: buzz, swish, hiss, gulp.

10. 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!
 14

SOUNDS

11. 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!
 15

SOUNDS
12. Word Play – to play with the sounds and meanings of real or
invented words.
Example: Two lines from the poem “Synonyms” by Susan Moger:
Claptrap, bombast, rodomontade,
Hogwash, jargon, and rant
Two lines from the poem “Antonio” by Laura E. Richards:
Antonio, Antonio,
Was tired of living alonio.
3. IMAGERY
 17

IMAGERY
1. Precise Language – the use of specific words to
describe a person, place, thing, or action.
Example: Notice how Paul B. Janeczko uses proper nouns in
his poem “Reverend Mona”:
When the elders said she was too old, Reverend Mona
surrendered her tabernacle next to Fast Frankie’s Pawn Shop
 18

IMAGERY

2. Sensory Details – the use of descriptive details that

appeal to one or more of the five senses.
Example: Notice the sensory details in the following lines
from “The Sea” by James Reeves:
The giant sea dog moans, Licking his greasy paws.
 FIGURATIVE
4.
LANGUAGE
 20

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

2. Metaphor – a comparison of two unlike things,

not using the words like or as.
Example: “Ribbons of sea foam / wrap the emerald
island.”
 21

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
3. 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.”
4. 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.
 22

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
5. Hyperbole – the use of exaggeration to express
strong emotion or create a comical effect.
Example: “I’m so hungry I could eat a hippo.”

6. 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.
 23

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
7. 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.

8. Pun – a humorous phrase that plays with the double

meaning or the similar sounds of words.
Examples: “Tomorrow you shall find me a grave man,” said
the duke on his deathbed. The cookbook Lunch on the Run by
Sam Witch is awesome.
 24

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
9. 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

10. Idiom - a cultural expression that cannot be taken

literally.
Examples: She is the apple of his eye. He drives me up the
wall.
 ELEMENTS
5.
OF FICTION
(Poems may contain
some or all elements of
fiction. For example, a
narrative poem (a poem
that tells a story) may
contain all elements.)
 26

ELEMENTS OF FICTION
1. Setting – the time and place where a story or
poem takes place.

2. Point of View / Narrative Voice – the person

narrating a story or poem (the story/poem could be
narrated in first person (I, we), second person (you),
or third person limited or omniscient (he/she, they).
 27

ELEMENTS OF FICTION
3. Characterization – the development of the
characters in a story or poem (what they look like,
what they say and do, what their personalities are
like, what they think and feel, and how they’re
referred to or treated by others).

4. Dialog or Dialogue – the conversation between

the characters in a story or poem.
 28

ELEMENTS OF FICTION
5. Dialect or Colloquial Language – the particular
style of speaking of the narrator and the characters in
a story or poem (according to their region, time
period, and social expectations).

6. Conflict – the problem or situation a character or

characters face in a story or poem.
 29

ELEMENTS OF FICTION
7. Plot – the series of events in a story or poem.

8. Tone and Voice – the distinctive, idiosyncratic

way a narrator has of telling a story or poem (tone
and voice depend on the intended audience, the
purpose for writing, and the way the writer or poem
feels about his/her subject).
 30

ELEMENTS OF FICTION
9. Style – the way a writer uses words to craft a
story or poem.
10. Mood – the feelings and emotions the writer
wants the reader to experience.
11. Theme and Message – the main topic of a story
or poem, and the message the author or poet wants to
convey about that topic.
6. 20 POETIC
FORMS
 32

TWENTY POETIC FORMS

1. 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.

2. Couplet – two lines of poetry that rhyme and usually

form one complete idea.
Example: The poem “Catch a Little Rhyme” by Eve Merriam
is written in couplets.
 33

TWENTY POETIC FORMS

3. 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.
4. Quatrain – a stanza made up of four lines, often
containing a rhyme scheme.
Example: “The Toaster” by William Jay Smith
 34

TWENTY POETIC FORMS

5. Cinquain – a five-line untitled poem, where the syllable
pattern increases by two for each line, except for the last line,
which ends in two syllables (2,4,6,8.2).
Example: The cinquain that begins with “Oh, cat” by Paul B.
Janeczko.
6. 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.
 35

TWENTY POETIC FORMS

7. Sonnet – a poem that is 14 lines long, generally written
in iambic pentameter.
Example: “Sonnet 116” by William Shakespeare.

8. Free Verse – a poem that does not follow a predictable

form or rhyme scheme or metric pattern.
Example: “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes.
 36

TWENTY POETIC FORMS

9. 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.
10. 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.
 37

TWENTY POETIC FORMS

11. Ode – a poem that celebrates or praises
something.
Example: “Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes” by Gary
Soto.
12. Lyric Poetry – poetry that expresses a poet’s personal
experience, feelings, and emotions.
Example: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William
Wordsworth.
 38

TWENTY POETIC FORMS

13. Blank Verse – a poem written in iambic
pentameter, but with no rhyme.
Example: Verses in Romeo and Juliet by William
Shakespeare.
14. Blues Poem – poems that – like blues songs –
deal with personal or world issues.
Example: “Evening Air Blues” by Langston Hughes.
 39

TWENTY POETIC FORMS

15. Nonsense Poem – a fun, usually rhyming poem
that makes no sense, focusing instead on the sounds
and the rhythm of the poem.
Example: “The Jumblies” by Edward Lear.
16. Concrete Poem – a poem that uses words to
form the shape of the subject of the poem (also
known as a “shape poem”).
Example: “Concrete Cat” by Dorth Charles.
 40

TWENTY POETIC FORMS

17. Narrative Poem – a poem that tells a story.
Example: “The Sneetches” by Dr. Seuss (Theodor
Geisel).

18. Ballad – a poem that tells a story, usually written

in four-line stanzas.
Example: “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow.
 41

TWENTY POETIC FORMS

19. Epic Poem – a long and heroic narrative
poem.
Example: “The Odyssey” by Homer.
20. Imagist Poetry – poems that contain precise
visual images.
Example: “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William
Carlos Williams.
 42

EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATION

Example 1
Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth, nothing
is bred that is weaker than man.
(Homer, The Odyssey)
The Greek poet Homer wrote some of the ancient world’s
most famous literature. He wrote in a style called epic poetry,
which deals with gods, heroes, monsters, and other large-scale
“epic” themes. Homer’s long poems tell stories of Greek
heroes like Achilles and Odysseus, and have inspired
countless generations of poets, novelists, and philosophers
alike.
 43

EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATION

Example 2
Poetry gives powerful insight into the cultures that create it.
Because of this, fantasy and science fiction authors often
create poetry for their invented cultures. J.R.R. Tolkien
famously wrote different kinds of poetry for elves, dwarves,
hobbits, and humans, and the rhythms and subject matter of
their poetry was supposed to show how these races differed
from one another. In a more humorous vein, many Star Trek
fans have taken to writing love poetry in the invented Klingon
language.
 44

IMPORTANCE OF POETRY
Poetry is probably the oldest form of literature, and probably
predates the origin of writing itself. The oldest written
manuscripts we have are poems, mostly epic poems telling the
stories of ancient mythology. Examples include the Epic of
Gilgamesh and the Vedas (sacred texts of Hinduism). This
style of writing may have developed to help people memorize
long chains of information in the days before writing. Rhythm
and rhyme can make the text more memorable, and thus
easier to preserve for cultures that do not have a written
language.
 45

Thanks!
REPORTERS:
C-Jay Hernandez
Shiela Enriquez
Kyla Ilagan