Elements of Poetry
What do you know about poetry?
1. Speaker The voice that communicates with the reader of a poem. A poem’s speaker can be the voice of a person, an animal, or even a thing.
Example Lie back, daughter, let your head Be tipped back in the cup of my hand. from “First Lesson” by Philip Booth Who is the speaker?
2. Lines and Stanzas line- a row of words, which may or may not form a complete sentence. Stanza- a group of lines forming a unit (poem paragraph)
Example Drum on your drums, batter on your banjoes, Sob on the long cool winding saxophones. Go to it, O jazzmen. From “Jazz Fantasia” by Carl Sandburg Identify a line and a stanza.
3. Rhythm Rhythm- the pattern of sound created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllable in a line. Rhythm can be regular or irregular.
Example Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door— “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more.” From “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe
4. Rhyme Internal rhyme- occurs within lines of poetry End rhyme- occurs at the ends of lines Rhyme scheme- the pattern of rhyme formed by the end rhyme
Example Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore— While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door— “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more.” Find examples of end rhyme and internal rhyme and the rhyme scheme.
5. Sound Devices Alliteration- the repetition of consonant sounds Onomatopoeia- the use of a word or phrase, such as swoosh or clank, that imitates or suggests the sound of what it describes
Example Give an example of alliteration. Give an example of onomatopoeia.
6. Imagery Imagery- descriptive language used to represent objects, feelings, and thoughts. It often appeals to the five senses- sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell.
Example Black horse drive a mower through the weeds, And there, a field rat, startled, squealing bleeds. from “Reapers” by Jean Toomer To what senses do these lines appeal?
7. Figures of Speech Simile- uses the words like or as to compare two unlike things Example: My love is like a red, red rose.
Figures of Speech b. Metaphor- compares two or more different things by stating or implying that one thing is another Example: “… I was not one for keeping Rubbed in a cage a wing that would be free.”
Extended metaphor – a metaphor that appears through out a poem
Dead metaphor Metaphor so common that it is part of everyday speech Examples: the woman is a beautiful flower or love a beautiful flower
7. Figures of Speech Personification- giving human characteristics to an animal, object, or idea Example: The headlights of the car stared at Bill.
Apostrophe Addressing/ speaking to an animal, object, or idea as if it were a human Example: Death, why do you mock me?
Other Literary Elements Hyperbole – exaggeration to create an effect Examples: I was so surprised you could have knocked me over with a feather. I would rather die than eat brussels sprouts.
Other Literary Elements Oxymoron – two or three words that combine opposite ideas Examples: “sweet sorrow” “jumbo shrimp”
Other Literary Elements Paradox – holding contradictory ideas together in order to point to a deeper truth Examples: “For it is in giving that we receive, In pardoning that we are pardoned, And in dying that we are born to eternal life.” Saint Francis of Assisi
Types of Poetry Epic – a long narrative poem (tells a story) in which a hero has a great adventure Lyrical – expresses a speaker’s personal thoughts and feelings Narrative – tells a story Dramatic – the speaker is a character who gives a speech (like a monologue in a play)
Introduction to Poetry By Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem and hold it to the light like a color slide or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out. or walk inside a poem’s room and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to water ski across the surface of a poem waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it. They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.