This is an introduction to some of the
techniques of poetry which you need to
understand to be able to complete the Textual
Analysis NAB of the Higher course. Many of
these techniques will or should be familiar to
you from Standard Grade: others might be new.
It is not just a question of identifying the
techniques, you must also be able to comment
on their effect, and evaluate how effective they
are.
• Although many of the techniques detailed below
also apply to other forms of literature (esp.
plays, some of which are written in verse
anyway), it is the case that poetry is a
particularly condensed form of communication in
which not only the meaning of language, but
also its power of suggestion, its sound and even
its visual appearance on the page can come into
play.
• Most poems do not tell a story as such but
describe a person or a scene or an incident, and
attempt to relate that to some general principle
or moral.
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First step
The first thing to do when you are confronted
with a poem is to try and get the general drift. If
the poem is worthwhile, you will not understand
everything (or even very much) at first reading.
You must then ask yourself certain questions:
Is the poem about a person or a place or an
incident, or a combination, or none of these?
What can you understand of what is being said?
Who is the narrator? (first/third person)
Read the poem aloud to yourself: how does it
sound?
What is the mood (tone ) of the poem- serious,
humorous, tragic ? does it change? how can you
tell?
Now it is time to look more closely at the language of
the poem
Imagery
• Imagery is any attempt to create a mental picture in
words. “He was tall with fair hair” is an image because
it gives you a mental image of someone’s appearance.
• In poetry, however, imagery is usually an attempt to
compare the thing being described with something
else to make the description more vivid.
• If the comparison is straightforward, using like or as,
it is known as a simile. Coleridge describes a
becalmed ship thus:
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
• This is a straightforward comparison: the ship is so
still it is like a painting, although the repetition of
“painted” lends emphasis to the image.
Often, though, the comparison is more implicit- you
have to look harder for it. An implicit comparison is
known as a metaphor: Any expression which should
not be taken literally is metaphorical. The following
extract by Wilfred Owen describes soldiers returning
from the trenches in World War 1:
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep; many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod; all went lame,all blind,
Drunk with fatigue, deaf even to the hoots,
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
• Here, Owen begins with a simile- like old beggars but the imagery is continued throughout in words
such as coughing, cursed, limped, lame, blind,
drunk, deaf, to create, in a extended metaphor (A
comparison between two unlike things that continues
throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph or
lines in a poem). , the image of young fit men as old
decrepit down-and-outs, to show what their time in
the trenches has done to them.
Word choice
• When you read a line of poetry, you should keep
in mind the notion of paradigmatic choice:
Simply, this means that every time a poet uses a
word, he has chosen it from the whole supply of
words which would have done in that place: in
the extract above, for example, Owen uses
“trudge” when walk, shamble, stagger or several
other words would have done. Your job is to say
“Why that word?” Was it just so that he could
make a rhyme, or was there another reason?
• There are a number of possible reasons for
choosing particular words:
Denotation and Connotation
• As poets are trying to say a lot in a small space,
they often choose words or expressions which
carry ideas or associations along with them. The
denotation of a word is the “dictionary”
definition it has, its meaning. The
connotations of a word are its associated
ideas, the things that come to mind when you
hear the word. For example:
• “Rolls-Royce” denotes a large car, but its
connotations are things like luxury, film stars,
royalty, money, bad taste and so on.
• “Massage parlour” denotes a place where you
can get a massage; its connotations are of
prostitution, sleaze, middle-aged men etc.
• Ask yourself-what connotations does that word
have?
Ambiguity
• If a word is ambiguous it has more than one meaning
or its meaning is unclear. Normally, we try to avoid
this and say what we mean. However, poets often use
it on purpose because they mean to say more than
one thing at once. For example, Philip Larkin entitled
one of his poems Church Going. On one level, the
poem is about someone visiting a church, so the title
fits; however, on a deeper level, the poem is about
how the Church is disappearing or losing its meaningthe word Going means both visiting and disappearing.
• Look at the phrase blood-shod in the Owen extract: it
literally means “shoed with blood” because the
soldiers had no boots and their feet were cut, but see
how it also resembles the words bloodshed, which
indicates what the men have just been through, and
bloodshot, to suggest their appearance.
Suggestion/ Inference
• To take things a step further, often the message or
theme or gist of a poem is not stated at all, but
merely suggested or implied. It is up to the reader to
work out what the poem is saying above and beyond
what is explicitly stated. We call this process of
working out inference, or inferring. To see how it
works, look at the poem A Study of Reading Habits.
• Inference is an extreme form of what we do whenever
we read- we bring our own skill, judgement and
experience to the text and combine it with that of the
writer.
Sound Effects
• Poems are meant to be read aloud. Not only the
intellectual meaning, but also the sound of the
work is important, therefore poets make use of
several techniques to do with the sounds of
words. One of the most common of these is
Repetition
• You will often find repeated words or
phrases in a poem. Sometimes this is just
for emphasis. In the Snack Bar by Edwin
Morgan describes the narrator taking a
blind and handicapped man downstairs to
the toilet:
• And slowly we go down, and slowly we go
down.
• Here Morgan is merely underlining how
difficult it is for the man to descend the
stairs.
But repetition can do more. The fuller version of
Coleridge’s verse about the becalmed ship reads:
Day after day, day after day,
We sat, nor rest nor motion,
As idle as a painted ship,
Upon a painted ocean
Here the repetition of “day after day” gives a sense of
weariness as felt by the crew of the ship. Similarly,
Macbeth’s “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow”
creates a feeling of futility and pointlessness.
Long and Short vowels
• The vowels a e i o u can each be said two ways.
The Short pronunciation is:
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a as in hat
e as in fed
i as in bin
o as in pot
u as in fun
The Long pronunciation is:
a as in hate
e as in here
i as in fine
o as in pole
u as in duty
• There are variations on this: aw and ow are long
sounds, for example.
Generally, long sounds are used to create a slow
feeling, a lack of urgency, relaxation. Short
sounds are used to create a feeling of speed,
urgency, action. So “day after day, day after
day” seems very slow and calm, as it would
have done to those on the ship. Similarly “And
slowly we go down...”
Onomatopoeia
• A big word for a simple concept. Some words in
English sound like their meaning-thud, bang,
crash, tinkle, splash etc. Poets can take this a
step further by deliberately using groups of
sounds to imitate the sound of what they are
describing. Coleridge again, same poem, same
voyage, different weather:
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free.
We were the first that ever burst,
Into that silent sea.
• Here, all the f and s sounds actually create the
sound of the sea foaming as the ship crashes
through the waves. Similarly, the last two lines
of the extract from Owen:
...deaf even to the hoots
• Of gas-sh ells dropping s oftly behind.
• The s sounds here mimic the hissing of the
poison gas.
Rhyme
• As you know, rhyme is when words at the end of
a line of poetry finish with similar or identical
sounds. In previous centuries, nearly all poetry
rhymed according to certain patterns. In the
twentieth century, rhyme is less, but still,
common.
• The use of rhyme has historical origins which we
need not go into here. However, knowing how to
spot a “rhyme scheme” and also to detect any
variations in it can alert you to what the poet is
trying to do.
Exercise
• Look at “Long Distance” by Tony Harrison.
• How does the rhyme scheme draw your attention to
the poet’s purpose?
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How to annotate a rhyme scheme.
Give the first line of the poem the letter A.
Any later line which rhymes with line 1 should also be
given letter A.
Give the second line the letter B (unless it rhymes with
line 1).
Any later line which rhymes with line 2 should be
given the letter B.
Examples.
Tam O’Shanter
When chapman billies leave the street
And drouthy neibours neibours meet
As market days are wearing late
And folk begin to tak the gate
A
A
B
B
Miss Gee
Let me tell you a little story
About Miss Edith Gee
She lived in Clevedon Terrace
At number 83
A
B
C
B
The Walrus and the Carpenter
The sun was shining on the sea
Shining with all his might
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright
And this was odd because it was
The middle of the night
A
B
C
B
D
B
Half- rhyme (or pararhyme).
• Half rhyme is where there is some sound resemblance
between words, but not a full rhyme. In full rhyme,
the vowel sound and final consonant sound (if there is
one) are normally the same, but the initial
consonants are different. For example: mask and
task are full rhymes.
• With half rhymes, the consonants are often nearly the
same, but the vowel sounds are different: mask and
musk are half-rhymes.
• For some reason, half-rhymes are almost always used
to denote depression, disillusionment, despair. They
are particularly effective when the rest of the poem
has full rhyme or none at all. Look at the following
poem from World War I by Wilfred Owen: sketch out
the rhyme scheme and comment on the tone.
Futility
Move him into the sun,Gently its touch awoke him once,
At home, whispering of fields unsown.
Always it woke him, even in France,
Until this morning and this snow.
If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know.
Think how it wakes the seeds,Woke, once, the clays of a cold star.
Are limbs, so dear achieved, are sides,
Full-nerved, - still warm, - too hard to stir?
- O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?
• This next poem, also from World War 1,
needs a knowledge of the story from the
Bible of Abraham and Isaac. Comment on
the rhyme scheme here.
The Parable of the Old Man and the Young.
So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went
And took the fire with him and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb for this burnt offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,
Saying, lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him. Behold,
A ram caught in a thicket by its horns;
Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.
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Rhythm and Metre
Rhythm is present in all spoken language: if we
did not speak with rhythm, we would sound like
“interactive” computers.
As well as polysyllabic words having stressed
and unstressed syllables, sentences have
stresses also, in order to point up meaning.
What is the difference between the following:
I am going to London.
I am going to London.
I am going to London.
Rhythm in poetry refers to the sound of the
lines: quick or slow, smooth or jerky. The
rhythm can be achieved by various means:
Punctuation
• A lot of punctuation, especially in the middle of lines,
slows things down, makes the lines sound jerky.
• Less or no punctuation speeds up the sound of lines.
• Remember Dulce et Decorum est agan:
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed
through sludge...
• In the following stanza, there is a gas attack, and
panic ensues:
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime...
• The lack of punctuation in the second segment speeds
up the whole sound, just as the soldiers speeded up.
Word choice
• Short vowelled words sound quick; long
vowelled words sound slow.
• Two syllable words, for some reason, sound
much sharper than three syllable words.
• Macbeth’s “Tomorrow and tomorrow and
tomorrow” sounds infinitely wearying and
despairing. If he had said “Tonight and tonight
and tonight” it wouldn’t have been the same at
all.
Enjambment
• This is defined as “the running on of a sentence from one line
of verse to another” but it’s actually more than that. Sentences
run from one line to another all the time. Enjambment is more
when a closely related segment of a sentence runs into another
line. Look at this example from Larkin’s “Next Please”:
Flagged and the figurehead with golden tits
Arching our way, it never anchors, it’s
No sooner present than it turns to past.
Right to the last,
• The it’s at the end of line 2 definitely belongs with line 3: the
enjambment creates an unnatural pause meant to mimic the
sense of anticipation we have at the approach of a big event.
• What, then, does the rhythm of line 3 suggest, and how?
Metre
• Metre is a poetic term meaning that rhythm has
been used in a regular way, according to some
pattern.
• There are a wide variety of metres. Here is “A
Study of Reading Habits” again.
• When getting my nose in a book- 3 stresses
• Cured most things short of school- 3 stresses
• It was worth ruining my eyes- 3 stresses
• To know I could still keep cool- 3 stresses
• The pattern here is quite loose: the stresses are
not regular on syllables. However, the number of
stresses or beats to the line is 3 on each
occasion.
• An iamb is a pair of syllables, the first one unstressed,
the second stressed. It is a very common means of
constructing poetry, giving a regular beat to verse.
Here is one example:
If seven maids with seven mops - 4 stresses
Swept it for half a year - 3 stresses
Do you suppose, the walrus said - 4 stresses
That they could get it clear? - 3 stresses
• Lines 1 and 3 are called iambic tetrameter (tetrameans four).
• Lines 2 and 4 are called iambic trimeter (tri- means
three).
• Shakespeare usually writes in iambic pentameter
(penta- means five).
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day
Thou art more lovely and more temperate
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May...
• Iambic pentameter is said to be popular because it
imitates the sound of the human heartbeat.If
Shakespeare wants to draw your attention to
something important, his verse will skip a beat.
Mood and Tone
• These two terms are now just about interchangeable.
They mean the emotional state of a piece of poetry,
what the poet was feeling, what we are meant to feel
when we read the poem.
• Here are two contrasting lines:
oy it was on that morn to be alive!
and
Dark, dark, dark, we all go into the dark.
Contrasting emotions, easy to spot.
Two more difficult ones from WW1 again.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch...
Does it matter?
Does it matter?- losing your legs...
For people will always be kind,
And you need not show that you mind
When the others come in after hunting
To gobble their muffins and eggs.
Does it matter? - losing your sight?...
There’s such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
As you sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light.
Do they matter?- those dreams from the pit?...
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won’t say that you’re mad;
For they’ll know you’ve fought for your country
And no-one will worry a bit.
Same subject matter- casualties of war- very
different attitude. What?
How is tone and mood achieved: here; in
general. See on for examples!
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SYLLABLES, STRESS AND RHYTHM
A syllable is one separate sound of speech. Cat is a
one-syllable word because it is only one sound.
Begin is a two-syllable word: be-gin
Acrobat is a three-syllable word: ac-ro-bat
Electrical is a four-syllable word: e-lec-tric-al...and so
on.
Exercise 1
• a. How many syllables do the following words have:
• 1. thorough 2. apache 3. kangaroo 4. rhinoceros 5.
rhythmical
• 6. disciplinarian 7. gardener 8. nevertheless 9.
borough 10. mathematician
• 11. polyphiloprogenitive.
• b. Make your own list of 1,2,3,4,5 syllable words.
STRESS
• If you have ever heard a voice synthesiser, you will
know what people would sound like if they did not use
stress- their voices would be flat and monotonous.
• All people when talking stress syllables and wordsthat is, they say some louder than others. Take for
example
EVENTUAL
• If you say this to yourself, you will realise that the
syllable -VEN- is said louder than the other syllables.
It is the stressed syllable in the word. To show this,
you could write the word as
EVENTUAL
Exercise 2
• Write these words out, marking the stressed
syllable
• 1. gardener 2. beautician 3. continent 4.
continental 5. desert 6. dessert 7. television 8.
crocodile 9. library 10. librarian 11. avoid 12.
upset (noun) 13. upset (verb)