1. Introduction to Literature
The Genre of Poetry
Introduction to Literature

2. Poetry vs. Prose What distinguishes poetry from prose?
It’s rhymed? Only sometimes…
It’s about love? Only sometimes…
It’s difficult to understand? Usually (but, then again, prose can be, too…)
While there are many ways that poetry and prose can differ, these are the major ones:
Poetry places as much importance on the sound, style, and shape of the message as the message itself.
Poetry is less concerned with creating a story, defining characters, or establishing a setting than creating a mood or leaving an impression.
Because poetry is often shorter and more condensed than prose, interpreting it requires the audience to “read between the lines” and consider multiple meanings.

3. Meter
In poetry, meter refers to how we measure a line or lines of poetry. It can be:
Syllabic: Measured according to the number of syllables per word
Accentual: Measured according to the number of accented, or stressed, syllables
Accentual-syllabic: Measured according to the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables
Most common in traditional, form poetry
When we are measuring the length and rhythm of a poem’s line(s), we are engaging in a process called scansion.
Knowledge of poetic forms, rhythms, and scansion is called prosody. Sometimes we refer to a particular poet’s “style” with this term.
Ex. Robert Frost’s prosody

4. Scansion Stressed Syllable: ́ or ̄ Unstressed Syllable: ˘́
Feet Break: /
Caesura: //
A mid-line pause

5. Types of Feet In accentual-syllabic verse…
Each unit of stressed and unstressed syllables is known as a foot
Different combinations of stresses create different feet—the building blocks of poetry
TWO SYLLABLES THREE SYLLABLES
IAMB: a-live
TROCHEE: dou-ble
SPONDEE: ra-pid
PYRRHUS: and the
DACTYL: mur-mur-ing
ANAPEST: ‘Twas the night
AMPHIBRACH: e-nor-mous
AMPHIMACER: La-di-dah
˘ ¯
¯ ˘ ˘
¯ ˘
˘ ˘ ¯
¯ ¯
˘ ¯ ˘
˘ ˘
¯ ˘ ¯

6. Number of Feet In accentual-syllabic verse…
Along with the type of foot, the number of feet per line dictates the name of the structure in which the poem is written
Number of Feet per Line
Name of Foot 1
Monometer 2
Dimeter 3
Trimeter 4*
Tetrameter 5*
Pentameter 6*
Hexameter 7
Heptameter 8
Octameter
*Indicates most common

7. Examples Trochaic Trimeter Anapestic Tetrameter Iambic Pentameter
Like a high-born maiden
In a palace-tower,
Percy Shelley, “To a Skylark”
Anapestic Tetrameter
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
Lord Byron, “The Destruction of Sennacherib”
Iambic Pentameter
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 18”

8. Stanza
In prose, we call groups of related/nearby sentences paragraphs.
In poetry, we call groups of related/nearby lines stanzas.
Formal poetry will contain stanzas, often with the same number of lines in each.
Free verse poetry may not use stanzas, and, if it does, the stanzas may not be of uniform length.
Number of Lines
Stanza Name 2
Couplet 3
Tercet 4
Quatrain 5
Cinquain 6
Sestet 7
Septet 8
Octave

9. Types of Rhyme
End Rhyme: The sounds of final vowels and consonants are identical
Ex. Gig/big
Masculine Rhyme: The final syllables of an end rhyme are stressed and identical (most end rhymes are masculine)
Ex. Long/song
Feminine Rhyme: Of an end rhyme that is identical, the penultimate syllable is stressed and the final syllable is unstressed
Ex. Satin/Latin
Triple Rhyme: The final three syllables of an end rhyme are all identical
Ex. Deporting/resorting
Half Rhyme: Only the final consonant—but not the final vowel—rhymes exactly.
Ex. Card/word
Eye Rhyme: Two words that look as if they rhyme but are pronounced differently
Ex. Cough/bough
Internal Rhyme: An exact end rhyme within (in the middle of) a line of poetry
Ex. The goose on the loose is wild.

10. Rhyme Scheme
In formal (rhymed) poetry, the rhyme scheme is the pattern of end rhymes for each line
Different poetical forms—especially traditional ones—will have consistent, expected rhyme schemes
Rhyme schemes are portrayed with letters
Ex. AABB, ABAB, ABCABC, etc.
They flee from me that sometime did me seek A
With naked foot, stalking in my chamber. B
I have seen them gentle, tame, and meek, A
That now are wild and do not remember B
That sometime they put themself in danger B
To take bread at my hand; and now they range, C
Busily seeking with a continual change. C
Sir Thomas Wyatt, “They Flee From Me”

11. Rhymed Forms
Terza Rima
Sonnet
Villanelle
Sestina
Ballad
Ode
Elegy

12. Unrhymed Forms
Blank verse
Haiku
Free verse
Prose poem

13. Diction High (Golden) Style Low (Plain) Style
More complicated, fancy, or multi-syllabic words
Unusual stresses or syntax
Does not necessarily mean older
Low (Plain) Style
Common, simple, shorter words
Natural syntax that mimics speech
Does not necessarily mean more contemporary

14. Additional Terms
Elision: Dropping a syllable or letter to fit in poetic meter
Ex. O’er the ramparts we watched…
Accented Grave: Marking a normally unaccented end syllable (almost always an –ed) to indicate that it should be pronounced
Ex. Belovèd
Enjambment: Breaking up a clause over multiple poetic lines.
Ex. A farmer was ploughing
his field
End-stopped: Ending a clause or sentence at the end of a poetic line.
Ex. Humpty dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty dumpty had a great fall.

15. Activity In groups of 3-4: Scan: Identify the type and number of feet
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
“They Flee From Me”
Identify the type and number of feet
Note whether lines are primarily enjambed or end-stopped
Are there stanzas? If so, what type?
Identify the form and rhyme scheme
What imagery or metaphors do you see?
Does the structure of the poem seem to fit the message? Why or why not?