 Poetry is different from all other forms of literature essentially because it deals with emotion while the other forms, especially prose deal with reason .
 However, poetry is also different in its formal structure. When one looks at a piece of poem and a piece of prose written on a sheet of paper, one can immediately notice the formal difference between the two forms.
 While there are some elements that are common to other genres of literature, there are certain elements which are specific to poetry such as rhythm & meter , rhyme & rhyme scheme , poetic sound devices ,
stanza and figures of speech. There are also different forms of poetry .

While reading poetry, one should look at two things:
 The poem as a finished product with a definite form.
 The poem as a meaningful piece of literature.

While looking at a poem as a product, one should ask the following questions:
 What is the form or shape of the poem?
 What is the musical pattern used in the poem?
 What are the special sound devices used in the poem?
 What kind of figurative language is used in the poem?
 What kind of imagery is used in the poem?

Guide to Analyzing Poetry as a Product
 Form
 Rhythm and
Rhyme
 Sound
Devices
 Figurative
Language
 Imagery
Type of Poem
Stanza Length
Foot, Meter, Line Length
Rhyme,
Rhyme Scheme
Alliteration
&
Assonance
Simile, Metaphor
Personification, Onomatopoeia
Hyperbole, Metonymy
Image, Symbol, Myth

 The ballad
 The sonnet
(Shakesperean, Petrarchan and Spencerian)
 The Epic
 The Dramatic Monologue
 The Lyric
(Elegy, ode (Pindaric and Horacian)

 Rhythm is the term used to refer to sounds or movements occurring at regular intervals of time.
English rhythm is based on the stress patterns,
which tend to occur at regular intervals.
 Poetic meter is the measure of a line of poetry. It studies how syllables are arranged into rhythmic
groups based on strong and weak syllables in a line of a poem.
 Each rhythmic group in a line is called a foot. A foot consists of one strong and one or more weak syllables. Each foot has a name based on how the strong and week syllables are organized in it.

 A foot with a ‘weak-strong’ syllabic pattern is called
 A foot with a ‘strong-weak’ syllabic pattern is called
iamb.
trochaic.
 A foot with a ‘weak-weak-strong’ syllabic pattern is called anapaest.
 A foot with a ‘strong-weak-weak’ syllabic pattern is called dactyl.
 A foot with a ‘strong-strong’ syllabic pattern is called Spondee.
Look at the following examples.
 Tiger, tiger burning bright (Tum ti, Tum ti, Tum ti, Tum ti)
trochaic.
 Cannon to right of them, (tum ti ti tum ti ti
 Cannon to left of them (tum ti ti tum ti ti)
dactyl.

 Now, there can be one or more feet in a line. The number of feet in a line determines the meter.
 The metrical pattern of lines in a poem may vary. In fact, poets use different metrical patterns within a poem in order to produce variety in rhythm and meaning. Each line takes a name based on the number of feet in it.

 A one-foot line is called
 A two-foot line is called
 A three-foot line is called
 A four-foot line is called
 A five-foot line is called
 A Six-foot line is called
 A Seven-foot line is called
 An Eight-foot line is called monometer dimeter trimeter tetrameter pentameter hextameter heptameter octameter
Look at the following lines. tum ti tum ti tum ti tum ti
Let her / live to / earn her / dinners. (tetrameter) tum ti ti tum ti ti
Take her up / tenderly. (dimeter)

 So, while describing the metrical pattern of a poem one should give a two label description. The first should be the name of the foot and the second should be the name of the line. Look at the following lines.
tum ti tum ti tum ti tum ti
1. Let her / live to / earn her / dinners. (trochaic tetrameter) tum ti ti tum ti ti
2. Take her up / tenderly.
(dactylic dimeter)
 Line 1 has a strong-week (trochaic) pattern and there are four feet (tetrameter). So we may describe the metrical pattern of line 1 as trochaic tetrameter.
 Line 2 has a strong-week-week (dactyl) pattern and there are two feet (tetrameter). So we may describe the metrical pattern of line 2 as dactylic dimetre.

 This act of determining the metrical pattern of a poem is called scansion. In order to scan a poem, you should follow five steps.
 Scansion: Five Steps
Step 1 Stress mark the line.
Step 2 Mark the feet.
Step 3 Look at the arrangement of the weak and strong syllables and name the feet.
Step 4 Count the number of feet in each line and name the line.
Step 5 Give a two label description of the meter used in the line.

 Rhyme is the repetition of identical sounds at the end of lines.
 We can say that rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem. It is usually referred to by using letters
(a,b,c…) to indicate which lines rhyme. For example,
abab indicates a four-line stanza in which the first and third lines rhyme, as do the second and fourth.
Here is an example of this rhyme scheme from
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 65.
Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea, (a)
But sad mortality o'ersways their power,
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
(b)
(a)
(b)

 Poetry also uses some interesting sound devices to support the rhythmic features of a poem. Some of the common devices are
alliteration and assonance .

 Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in a short sequence of words (at least two times). Look at the following lines. In the first line the /p/ sound is repeated five times and in the second line the /n/ sound is repeated four times.
In the playground he pushes, pinches and pulls people,
He’s always naughty and nasty – not nice to know.

 Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in a short sequence of words
(at least two times). Look at the following line from W. b. Yeats’
Byzantium. The / o / sound is repeated 4 times.
“that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea.”

 Figure of speech or figurative language in poetry is a special language that goes beyond the ordinary language and produces special effects. The most common figures of speech are simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, m etonymy, image, symbol and myth .

 It is a comparison made between two items using connectives such as ‘like’ or ‘as’ or ‘than’ or by the use of a verb such as ‘appears’ or ‘seems’.
Look at the following example.

He eats like a pig.
 “Her lips were as red and moist as the seeds of a pomegranate seed.”

Thinking of you is like eating potato chips. Once I start, I can’t stop.

 It is another type of comparison in which the poet does not use the connectives ‘as’ or ‘like’. Instead, he/she uses a name or descriptive term or phrase to effect the comparison. Look at the following example.
 “He is a pig”
 “Her lips were pomegranate seeds, red and moist” .

 It gives the characteristics of a human being to abstract ideas or things or animals.
In other words, the poet speaks of something non-human as if it were human.
Look at the following example from William
Watson’s Song .
April, April,
Laugh thy girlish laughter
Then the moment after,
Weep thy girlish tears.

 Hyperbole is exaggeration or overstatement. For example, “I'm so
hungry I could eat a horse.” Now look at the following lines from Robert
Burns’
My Love is Like a Red, Red, Rose.
Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear
And the rocks melt wi' the sun!
O I will luve thee still, my Dear
While the sands o' life shall run.

 Onomatopoeia is a device in which the meaning of a word is suggested by its sound.
For example, “jingling bells”, “buzzing bees”,
“the whizz of my bow”, “cat meows”, “the sheep baas” etc. Now look at the following line from
Tennyson’s The Princess.
“The murmur of innumerable bees”
 The combination of the nasal /m/ and /n/ sounds convey to the ear the buzzing of the bees.
 Some words are onomatopoetic by nature, for example, “splash," "crash," "croak," "murmur,"
"moan," "hiss," and so on.

 Metonymy is referring to something or someone by naming one of its/one’s attributes. This might be done in several ways: substituting the inventor for his invention, the container for the thing contained or vice versa and an author for his work.
 “
Have you read any Hemingway
?” – ‘Hemingway’ stands for a book written by him
 “
The pen is mightier than the sword
.” – The pen stands for thoughts and ideas that are written with a pen; the sword stands for military action

 Understanding the use of imagery in poetry is essential for the comprehension of the overall meaning.
 Imagery refers to the " pictures " which we perceive with our mind's eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, and through which we experience the world created by the poet. The poet uses words of sounds, color and touch in addition to figures of speech to provide this sensory experience to the reader.
 Sometimes he/she even gives you an experience of internal sensations and movements.

 Visual images (sight)
 Tactile images (touch)
 Auditory images (sound)
 Gustatory images (taste)
 Olfactory images (smell)
 Organic imagery(internal sensation: hunger, thirst, fatigue, fear)
 Kinesthetic imagery - movement

1.
Magnified apples appear and disappear ...
every fleck of russet showing clear.
After Apple Picking
2.
The roar of trees, the crack of branches, beating on a box.
An Old Man's Winter Night
3.
A scent of ripeness from over a wall ...
smelling the sweetness in no theft .
Unharvested
4.
The walking boots that taste of Atlantic and Pacific salt.
A Record Stride
5.
The bed linens might just as well be ice and the clothes snow.
The Witch of Coos
6.
My heart owns a doubt, It costs no inward struggle not to go.
Storm Fear
7.
Leaves got up in a coil and hissed, / Blindly struck at my knee and missed .
Bereft

 While an image evokes a world that is familiar to us, a symbol evokes an unseen world. It reveals a hidden world that hides behind our everyday reality. For example, a poem that speaks of the fading of the rose may actually be speaking of the transience
of beauty. Symbolism thus attempts to penetrate into a world of ideas beyond reality. Look at the following lines from T. S. Eliot’s
The Journey of the Magi .
‘Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,’
 These lines are symbolical. The 'temperate valley ... smelling of vegetation' with its 'running stream' and ‘watermill beating the darkness’ evokes feelings of life and redemption .

Myths are stories about gods or heroes of superhuman dimension, intended to support religious beliefs. They are valued for their universality and timelessness. Myths are mostly very symbolic and help us understand the beliefs and traditions of our past.

Poem as a Meaningful Piece of
Literature
While looking at a poem as a meaningful piece of literature, one should ask the following questions:
1.
Who is the speaker?
2.
Who is he/she speaking to?
3.
What is the occasion?
4.
What is the setting in time?
5.
What is the setting in place?
6.
What is the ‘sense’ of the poem?
7.
What is the ‘intention’ of the poet?
8.
What is the ‘theme’ of the poem?
9.
What is the ‘tone’ of the poem?
10.
What images and symbols are used in the poem? And, how do they contribute to the meaning construct?

 Poetry is the vehicle of feelings and emotions as against prose which expresses all matters based on reason and logic.
 Poetry is close to music in its dependence on sound and rhythm.
 Poetry is rich because it uses a great deal of figurative language.
 Poetry has many forms to accommodate a wide range of themes, impressions and emotions. Some popular forms of poetry are the ballad , the sonnet , the epic , the dramatic monologue , the lyric , the ode , the
limerick and the haiku .
 In order to appreciate a poem one should look at the form, figurative language and the meaning of the poem.

 What distinguishes poetry from prose?
 How important is meter for a poem?
 Identify the metrical pattern in the following lines from Wordsworth’s
Lucy Gray.
Not blither is the mountain roe:
With many a wanton stroke
Her feet disperse the powdery snow,
That rises up like smoke.

 What is the difference between
alliteration and assonance? Explain with examples.
 What is the role of figurative language in poetry?
 What is the difference between
image and symbol?

 Identify the figures of speech used in the following.
 My luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June:..
 The Soul selects her own Society –
Then shuts the door.
 The wind whispered to them as they ran through the woods.
 He clattered and clanged as he washed the dishes.
 I had to wait an eternity for the file to download.
 He took to the bottle after his wife's death.
 I have four mouths to feed.

 What is the difference between a
myth and an epic?
 Describe in your words the ballad, the sonnet, the epic, the dramatic monologue, the lyric, the ode, the
limerick and the haiku. Find your own examples.

My Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
I will luve thee still my Dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.
As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my Dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.
And fare thee well, my only Luve,
And fare the well, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it ware ten thousand mile!