Poetry Terms General Elements Figurative Language Sound Devices

Poetry Terms • General Elements • Figurative Language • Sound Devices • Forms of Poetry • Types of Poetry 1

Elements: Stanza • Formal division of lines in a poem • Considered a unit • Separated by spaces • Couplets: two lines • Quatrains: four lines 2

Speaker • Imaginary voice assumed by poet • Often not identified by name • May be person, animal, thing, or abstraction • E. g. : Dickinson as dead person: “Because I could not stop for Death-He kindly stopped for me-” 3

Tone • Writer’s attitude to audience and subject § E. g. : formal or informal serious, playful, pompous bitter, ironic, personal sympathetic, friendly grieving, sarcastic, harsh 4

Allusion • Reference to well-known person, place, event, literary work, or art • Usually to the Bible or to mythology • E. g. : “The Magi. . . were wise men. . . who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. ” 5

Connotation • Ideas or meanings associated with a word (in addition to dictionary definition) • E. g. : “caged bird” = sad, trapped creature “previously owned vehicle” = used car “vacation spot” = lake Compare: fragrance, smell, stench 6

Denotation • Dictionary definition of a word • Independent of other associations (connotations) • E. g. : lake • Denotation: inland body of water • Connotation: vacation or fishing spot 7

Paradox • Statement that seems contradictory but may be true • Surprising, catches reader’s attention • E. g. : “Youth is wasted on the young. ” “The more things change, the more they stay the same. ” 8

Symbol • Object has own meaning but also abstract idea represents • Stands for something else • E. g. : • Flag symbolizes country • Scarlet ibis symbolizes Doodle and other people who struggle 9

Figurative Language • Writing not meant to interpret literally • Compares dissimilar things • Creates vivid impressions • Metaphors, similes, personifications • E. g. : • “My black eyes are coals burning Like a low, full jungle moon Through the darkness of being” 10

Fig Lang: Metaphor • Figure of speech • A comparison • One thing spoken of as if it is something else • E. g. : “Poetry is a river. ” “The sky is a patchwork quilt. ” 11

Fig Lang: Simile • Figure of speech, comparison • Uses like or as to compare two unlike ideas • E. g. : • “The morning sun is like a red rubber ball. ” • “Does it dry up, like a raisin in the sun? ” 12

Fig Lang: Imagery • Descriptive or figurative language • Creates word pictures (images) • Details of sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, or movement • E. g. : “ghostly marching on pavement stones” “wind-tanned skin” “wise black pools” 13

Fig Lang: Personification • Figurative language • Nonhuman subject given human characteristics • E. g. : “The wind danced in the trees. ” Daffodils “tossing their heads in sprightly dance” Storm “tosses her hair, throws back her head, and closes her eyes” 14

Fig Lang: Extended Metaphor • Writing about a subject as if it were something else • Comparison several lines long or • E. g. : “caged bird” becomes who is not free entire poem person “broken-winged bird that cannot fly” becomes life without a dream 15

Fig Lang: Sensory Words/Lang • Writing that appeals to the senses images • Provides details related to senses • E. g. : feeling the sun beating head down on one’s 16

Sound Devices: Onomatopoeia • Words that imitate sounds • E. g. : murmur, thud, sizzle, hiss, pop, cuckoo buzz, bang, • E. g. : Poe’s “Bells” “Of the bells, bells” ringing, chiming, jangling, rangling, clash, roar” 17

Sound Devices: Assonance • Repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonants in 2 or more stressed syllables • E. g. : “weak and weary” “child of silence” “so rolling…a stone” 18

Sound Devices: Alliteration • Repetition of initial consonant sounds • Emphasizes words, imitates sounds, creates musical effects • E. g. : “I grew like a thin, stubborn weed, watering myself whatever way I could. ” “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary. ” “The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew. ” 19

Sound Devices: Rhyme • Repetition of sounds at ends of words • End rhyme vs. internal rhyme • E. g. : “Swans sing before they die—’twere no bad thing Should certain persons die before they sing. ” (end) “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary. ” (internal) • Exact rhyme vs. slant rhyme (slant rhyme – similar but not identical sounds) • E. g. : ball and hall (exact) hold and bald (slant) 20

Sound Devices: Repetition • Use of any language element – a sound, word, phrase, clause, or sentence – more than once • Used for musical effects and for emphasis • E. g. : • Alliteration, assonance, rhyme, rhythm repeat sounds • Refrain repeats line/s • “You liked winning…You liked writing…You liked all the faces…” 21

Sound Devices: Refrain • Regularly repeated line or group of lines In music: a chorus E. g. : Quoth the raven, “Nevermore. ” “Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity. ” 22

Sound Devices: Rhythm • Pattern of beats or stresses • Some poems have a specific pattern or meter • E. g. : “There was a young lady named bright Whose speed was far faster than light; ” • Prose and free verse use natural of everyday speech rhythms 23

Forms of Poetry: Fixed Form • Stanzas have repeated or predictable patterns • Words in each stanza may rhyme or sound alike • Length and rhythm of stanzas are related • Number of syllables in line may be fixed 24

Forms of Poetry: Free Form or Free Verse • Lacks structure or pattern • Words may not rhyme • Lines do not match in number of syllables, length, or rhythm 25

Types of Poetry: Sonnet • 14 -line lyric poem • Formal patterns of rhyme, rhythm and line structure Two types: English, or Shakespearean (3 quatrains + couplet) Italian, or Petrarchan (octave + sestet) 26

Types of Poetry: Haiku • 3 -line verse form • 1 st and 3 rd lines: 5 syllables (? ) • 2 nd line: 7 syllables (? ) • Single vivid emotion • Images from nature • E. g. : Basho: • “furu-ike ya “An old pond kawazu tobi-komu A frog jumps in Mizu-no-oto” The sound of water” 27

Types of Poetry: Lyric Poem • Brief poem • Musical verse: uses rhythm, alliteration, and rhyme • Observations and feelings of one speaker • Sung with lyre in ancient times 28

Types of Poetry: Narrative Poem • Tells a story in verse • May be an epic or a ballad • E. g. : • “Casey at the Bat”: humorous narrative poem • Poe’s “Raven”: serious narrative poem 29

Types of Poetry: Ballad • Songlike poem that tells a story • Often adventure and romance • Most written in 4 to 6 -line stanzas, regular rhythms and rhyme schemes, often a refrain 30

Types of Poetry: Limerick • Humorous, rhyming, five-line poem • Specific meter and rhyme scheme • E. g. : Edward Lear: “There was an Old Person whose habits, Induced him to feed upon rabbits; When he'd eaten eighteen, He turned perfectly green, Upon which he relinquished those habits. ” 31

Types of Poetry: Concrete Poem • Poem with shape that suggests subject. . . t e a r s 32

Types of Poetry: Dramatic Poem • Uses techniques of drama • Writer tells a story • Character’s own thoughts/words • E. g. : Poe’s “Raven” uses dramatic dialogue • Dramatic monologue: 1 person speaks to silent listener 33