Basic Elements of Poetry

Basic Elements of Poetry

Poetry and art go together as sources of creative expression
Poetry and art go together as sources of creative expression. Sometimes, these two mediums even intertwine as a poet reflects upon a painting as a starting point for a piece of writing. The poet may interpret what is happening in the scene or what the painter was feeling when creating the masterpiece. Since the poem is an interpretation, it may or may not reflect what you see in the painting. Consider these examples. Robert Fagles and Anne Sexton both chose to write about Vincent Van Gogh's painting, “The Starry Night”.

"The Starry Night" Anne Sexton The town does not exist except where one black-haired tree slips up like a drowned woman into the hot sky. The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars. Oh starry starry night! This is how I want to die.

It moves. They are all alive.
Even the moon bulges in its orange irons to push children, like a god, from its eye. The old unseen serpent swallows up the starts. Oh starry starry night! This is how I want to die:

into that rushing beast of night,
sucked up by that great dragon, to split from my life with no flag, no belly, no cry.

"The Starry Night" by Robert Fagles
Long as I paint I feel myself less mad the brush in my hand a lightning rod to madness But never ground that madness execute it ride the lightning up from these benighted streets and steeple up with the cypress look its black is burning green

I am that I am it cries it lifts me up the nightfall up the cloudrack coiling like a dragon's flanks a third of the stars in heaven wheeling in its wake wheels in wheels around the moon that cradles round the sun and if I can only trail these whirling eternal stars with one sweep of the brush like Michael's sword if I can cut the life out of the beast - safeguard the mother and the son all heaven will hymn in conflagration blazing down the night the mountain ranges down the claustrophobic valleys of the mad

Madness is what I have instead of heaven God deliver me - help me now deliver all this frenzy back into your hands our brushstrokes burning clearer into dawn.

What aspect of the painting did each poet choose to focus on as a starting point for writing?
What is the tone of each poem and which reflects more closely what you see as the mood of the painting? What details of the painting do you see in the poems? Who is the speaker of each poem? Why did Fagles use the pronoun "our" in the last line of his poem?

Poetry Is usually defined simply as a patterned expression of ideas in imaginative terms, USUALLY (but not necessarily) containing rhyme and a specific meter.

Form Closed: allows the poet to establish a pattern that will help him or her create the desired meaning or sound. Open: allows the poet to write freely without worrying about trying to make the words fit a specific meter or rhyme scheme.

Who is the speaker? the voice telling the poem; a poem may have more than one speaker; the speaker and the poet are not necessarily the same

Diction Diction refers to the word choices that a poet makes. Because poems are usually very concise, a poet has to make the most of every word he or she uses. Using specific, concrete words helps writers to do that. For example, a general word would be "car". Now, if you were to say this word in a classroom of twenty-five students and ask each to draw a picture of a car, you would most likely have twenty-five very different pictures. However, if you change that word to a specific word, like "Mustang", the pictures of the cars would suddenly start to look much more similar to each other. Specific word choices help create a more definite picture in the reader's mind.

Similes and Metaphors A simile compares two unlike objects, using like or as. A metaphor compares two unlike objects, without using like or as.

"She dances like an angel." and "She is an angel."
Notice that the metaphor is actually open to more interpretation than the simile, because there are more connections that the reader can make. In saying that she dances like an angel, the reader is not examining the girl's personality or physical appearance, only the way she dances. In the metaphor, however, the reader can link as many attributes of the girl to an angel as the imagination permits; she looks angelic, she has a charitable disposition, she brings light wherever she goes, she is very graceful.

Allusion An allusion is a reference to an object, person, or event from another literary work, history, society, etc., that the reader is expected to understand. The allusion will have connotations for the reader and help the reader understand more fully the point the poet is trying to make.

For example, one place that most people in our culture can identify and explain is Eden. If, in a piece of writing, the poet refers to a place as Eden, the reader understands through the Biblical allusion the setting the writer is trying to create without the time and space a detailed description of a paradise would inevitably take without such an allusion. Therefore, the one word Eden helps the reader to understand the type of setting and also the writer's attitude toward that setting. On the contrary, referring to a place as Hades, a mythological allusion, would conjure up quite a different image for the reader and create a much different tone.

Assignment: For each of the allusions below, briefly explain what the term makes you think of. Also, identify the type of allusion as biblical, mythological, historical, literary, or social. If there is an allusion that you don't understand (as there often will be), use your resources to find out what it is referring to. 1. He's a real Einstein. 2. Her class was the Alcatraz of the "classroom as prison" world. 3. The teacher stood in her doorway, a siren beckoning in the new students. 4. It was no Tara, but it was a nice house. 5. He thinks of himself as a modern-day Romeo. 6. Her hands are as clean as Lady MacBeth's. 7. My mother-in-law would easily blend in at a Gorgon reunion. 8. The new leader is a Hussein on a smaller scale. 9. As I looked around, I knew I had reached the belly of the whale. 10. If the class could, they would vote him "Most likely to become Johnny Knoxville".

Symbolism and Allegory
A symbol is an object or action that means something beyond itself. An allegory is a group of symbols used in a story, such as a fable, which teaches a lesson.

If you are in class and look over to see a friend rolling her eyes, that action symbolizes to you that she is bored. All she did was to move her eyes from one side to another, but you took it to mean something more: the class wasn't exciting and your friend wanted to communicate that to you without using words. For example, one common symbol is water. In some contexts water can represent life, as it is necessary for growth. However, in other contexts it can represent destruction, as in a flood or tempest. Fire can be used the same way. It can be a destructive force and represent death, but it can also represent purgation or purification. Therefore, a reader must always look at the context in which the symbol is used before interpreting it.

Syntax Syntax refers to the word order of words in a sentence, phrase, or clause. Poets use syntax as they use any other rhetorical device --to create meaning.

Imagery Imagery refers to the details poets include that appeal to one of your senses; that is, the details cause you to feel something, hear something, smell something, taste something, or see something. This can only be done through concrete, specific details that trigger a response from your everyday life.

We see the sun rise and set, we hear children yelling and horns honking, we smell bread baking; we feel the bitter sting of cold wind, and we taste the bitterness of vinegar. Poems that include these details trigger emotional responses from our memories and therefore create reactions in the reader. Sometimes the imagery in a poem can refer to a pattern of related details. For example, there may be patterns of light and dark imagery, and they may convey a meaning beyond what is being literally described. They are then called metaphorical or symbolic images. Light and dark images might indicate knowledge or ignorance or death.

How can a poet create sound?
Rhyme Rhythm Meter Alliteration Assonance Consonance

When people are asked to define poetry, they often say, "Lines that rhyme." It is true that poems can rhyme, but you should be very careful when trying to make a poem rhyme. One mistake that beginning poets make is to start with one line, and then simply brainstorm rhyming words to shape the next line. Instead, you should come up with the poem first, and then revise to include rhyme. That way, you make sure that the message is what shapes the poem and it doesn't go off course because you had to choose a word that rhymed but didn't make sense.

There are different kinds of rhymes, and poetic license makes it okay for writers to use any of these types and maintain a rhyme scheme. True rhyme: words that rhyme with all ending sounds: Example: trouble and bubble. Slant rhyme: words that are very similar on the end but do not truly rhyme. Example: quick and look; dizzy and easy Sight rhyme: words that look alike but do not rhyme. Example: though and bough; good and food End rhyme: words that rhyme and occur at the ends of different lines of poetry Internal rhyme: two words that rhyme within one line of poetry

Rhyme the similarity or likeness of sound existing between two words; the repetition of sounds that are similar or identical; expresses strong feelings and enhances the meaning and impact of poetry

Rhyme Scheme the pattern of rhyme in a poem. To get the rhyme scheme, each line in the poem is assigned a letter. The first line gets an "A". If the next line rhymes with the first, give it an "A" also. If not, give it a "B". Continue throughout the poem, following the same rules: if the end word rhymes with anything before, match that letter. If not, give it the next unused letter of the alphabet.

Rhythm the regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables (beats) we hear in poetry; stress is simply the greater amount of emphasis we give to a syllable in speaking; stressed syllable is accented (long); unstressed syllable is unaccented (short)

Meter the pattern of rhythm in a line of poetry; from the Greek word meaning "measure"; the type of meter depends upon the placement of stress within each poetical foot

Standard Metrical Units

1. happy 2. misty 3. broken 4. angrily 5. lyrical
Identify the type of metrical foot in each of the words below. Use a dictionary if necessary. 1. happy 2. misty 3. broken 4. angrily 5. lyrical

Determine the metrical pattern in the following lines
This above all to thine own self be true This-a-bove-all-to-thine-own-self-be-true

To find the rhythm of the line, find the pattern of the stressed and unstressed syllables, and then see how many times that pattern repeats itself throughout the line. For example, if the meter is trochaic, (Da da), and there are five sets of Da da in the line (for a total of ten syllables), the rhythm would be iambic pentameter.

Alliteration Alliteration: Repetition of initial sounds of words in a row. Example: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. (Of course, alliteration is not always so obvious)

Assonance Assonance: Repetition of internal vowel sounds of words close together in poetry. Example: I made my way to the lake.

Consonance Consonance: Repetition of internal or ending consonant sounds of words close together in poetry. Example: I dropped the locket in the thick mud.

"They talked of all their dreams and hopes,
Read the following excerpt from Miss Spider's Wedding by David Kirk and identify the various ways he creates sounds. "They talked of all their dreams and hopes, Of art and nature, love and fate. They peered through toy kaleidoscopes And murmured thoughts I shan't relate. Then Holley held Miss Spider's hand... I'll say no more, you understand. For private moments between spiders Should not be witnessed by outsiders."

Using Form Verse Forms Types of Poems

Verse Forms Rhymed Verse: contains end rhyme and usually has a regular meter and rhyme scheme; rhyming couplets means that every two lines rhyme; an example of "closed form" Blank Verse: contains a fixed rhythm and regular line length. Free Verse: poetry free of traditional metrical and stanzaic patterns; no fixed rhythm or rhyme scheme; uses everyday (colloquial) language, natural speech rhythms, and differing line lengths; key feature is its departure from traditional meters; an example of "open form“.

Types of poems Ballad Tercets Couplets Sonnet Sestina Villanelle
Acrostic Haiku

Ballad A group of 4 lines is a STANZA.
The ballad has a rhyme at the end of line number 2 and line number 4. A-B-C-B Poem meant to be sung

Tercet Tercets have 3 lines.

Couplets Couplets have 2 lines that rhyme.

Sonnet Sonnets are composed of 14 lines. Always ends with a couplet.
Rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

Sonnet Example One of the hardest things is poetry, Reading, thinking, finding what words do mean, I bet you're wondering how this could be, Never easy to find the hidden theme. Please spare me all the meter, rhyme, spondee, I can't believe I had to take this class, I do despise it - means nothing to me, Sometimes I do feel like such a striped bass. As much as I can try so hard to see, I have to say that poetry is tough, To comprehend it takes eternity, To understand the rules is not enough. To learn about this thing called poetry, I wish that someone could do it for me.

Sestina Another example of a closed form is the sestina. It consists of six stanzas of six lines each followed by a three-line conclusion. a set pattern of repetition of the six key words that end the lines of the first stanza.

"Sestina" Elizabeth Bishop September rain falls on the house. In the failing light, the old grandmother sits in the kitchen with the child beside the Little Marvel Stove, reading the jokes from the almanac, laughing and talking to hide her tears. She thinks that her equinoctial tears and the rain that beats on the roof of the house were both foretold by the almanac, but only known to a grandmother. The iron kettle sings on the stove. She cuts some bread and says to the child, It's time for tea now; but the child is watching the teakettle's small hard tears dance like mad on the hot black stove, the way the rain must dance on the house. Tidying up, the old grandmother hangs up the clever almanac

on its string. Birdlike, the almanac
hovers half open above the child, hovers above the old grandmother and her teacup full of dark brown tears. She shivers and says she thinks the house feels chilly, and puts more wood in the stove. It was to be, says the Marvel Stove. I know what I know, says the almanac. With crayons the child draws a rigid house and a winding pathway. The child puts in a man with buttons like tears and shows it proudly to the grandmother. But secretly, while the grandmother busies herself about the stove, the little moons fall down like tears from between the pages of the almanac into the flower bed the child has carefully places in front of the house. Time to plant tears, says the almanac. The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove and the child draws another inscrutable house.

Villanelle This form consists of:
five tercets (three line stanzas) and an ending quatrain (four line stanza). There is also a pattern of repetition between the first and third lines in the poem.

"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night"
Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Acrostic Poem F R I E N D S When you use each letter in a word or name to describe it.

Haiku A Japanese poem composed of three lines.
Each line has a different amount of syllables They are usually about nature.

Who used iambic pentameter?
Chaucer, Milton and Shakespeare were all famous for the use of iambic pentameter in their writing.

What is iambic pentameter?
Meter= measure Iamb=2 syllables Iambic refers to an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Three quatrains and a couplet. 14 lines Each line has 10 syllables

Shall – I – com-PARE – thee – TO – a – SUM-mer’s DAY?
Example Shall – I – com-PARE – thee – TO – a – SUM-mer’s DAY?

Are you ready to become a poet?

Basic Elements of Poetry

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