The Language of Poetry
Poetry is “the best words in their
best order.” ~Samuel Taylor
Coleridge
Part 1: Form-refers to a poem’s structure, or
the way the words are arranged on page.
• All poems are made up of a series of
lines.
• The length of the lines, where they break,
and how they are punctuated all contribute
to a poem’s rhythm and meaning.
• In many poems, the lines are grouped into
stanzas, which function like paragraphs in
prose.
• Each stanza plays a part in conveying the
overall message of a poem.
Poems comes in usually two
forms
Traditional
• Characteristics
– Follows fixed rules, such as
a specified number of lines
– Has a regular pattern of
rhythm and/ or rhyme.
• Form
– Epic, ode, ballad, sonnet,
haiku, limerick
Organic
• Characteristics
– Does not follow established
rules for form
– Does not have a regular
pattern of rhythm and may
not rhyme at all.
– May use unconventional
spelling, punctuation, and
grammar.
• Forms
– Free verse, concrete
poetry.
Part 2: Poetic Elements
using sound devices and
language, poets can convey
meaning, make music, and tap
into the sense.
Sound Devices
• Like music, language has rhythm. In poetry, the
pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in
each line is what creates the rhythm.
• Rhyme also enhances the musical quality of a
poem.
• It can occur at the ends of lines as end rhyme or
within in lines as internal rhyme.
• A regular pattern of rhythm is called meter.
• A regular pattern of rhyme is called a rhyme
scheme.
• Rhyme Scheme- is charted by assigning a letter
of the alphabet to matching end rhymes.
Meter
• A regular pattern of rhythm is called a meter.
• A regular pattern of rhyme is called a rhyme
scheme.
• Meter is charted in a process called Scansion,
where stressed syllables are marked with a ‘and
unstressed syllables with a ˉ.
• A rhyme scheme is charted by assigning a letter
of the alphabet to matching end rhymes.
• To identify a poem’s
meter, you have to
break each line into
smaller units, called
feet.
• A foot consists if one
stressed syllable and
one or two unstressed
one.
Meter
Types of Feet
Number of feet
Iamb
(unstressed,
Stressed)
Trimeter (3)
Trochee
(stressed,
Unstressed)
Tetrameter (4)
Spondee
(Stressed,
Stressed)
Pentmeter (5)
Sound Device Techniques
Repetition
Alliteration
• Repetition-
• A sound, word, phrase, or line that is
repeated for emphasis and unity
• Repetition of consonant sounds at the
the beginnings of words.
Assonance
• Repetition of vowel sounds in words that
don’t end with the same consonant.
Consonance
•Repetition of consonant sounds within
and at the ends of words.
Imagery and Figurative
Language
• Unlike prose, poetry is very concise: a
limited number of words must carry a great
deal of meaning.
• Poets also use sensory details to illustrate
and elaborate on their ideas and feelings.
• Like imagery, figurative language opens
up the mind to more than the literal
meanings of the words.
– Literal: He was angry
– Figurative: He burned with anger
Types of Figurative Language
1. Smile- a comparison
between two unlike things,
containing the words like,
as, or as if.
2. Metaphor- a comparison
between two unlike things
without the word like or as.
3. Personification- a
description of an object, an
animal, a place, or an idea
in human terms.
4. Hyperbole- an exaggeration
for emphasis or humorous
effect.
1. My heart is like a
singing bird
2. Poets make pets of
pretty, docile words
3. It [this poem] has
taken in many
victims
4. The hunger of this
poem is legendary
Notes on Lyrics as Poetry
• Lyrics- Songlike Poetry
→Rhythm is important to the set up of this poetry
→The lyrics are usually set to music
Verse
A Stanza of lyric Poetry
Chorus
The line and/ or stanza that repeats
Bridge
A transitional moment in a lyric poem,
usually near the end of the poem, that
connects a verse to verse moment. You
can usually hear this moment as the
musical chords may change during the
bridge.
Common Song/Lyric Structure
Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Chorus
Guidelines for Reading Poetry
1) Read the poem several times. This allows you to get a feel for what it
is saying, describing, and what sounds it may be emphasizing.
2) Pay attention to the structure of the poem; particularly anything that
is repeated.
3) Look for the following:
Special language
o Simile
o Metaphor
o Hyperbole
o Personification
Sounds
o Rhyme Scheme Patterns
o Alliteration
o Assonance
Structure
o Quatrains; Couplets
Other literary terms
o Irony; Point of View; Tone
4) Prose Paraphrase: Rewrite each stanza in your own words. Write it
so that it is easy to understand.
5) Arrive at the central idea of the poem. What is this poem trying to
say? How does the speaker feel about the subject?
Mid-Term Break
By Seamus Heaney
•
I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a
close.
At two o'clock our neighbours drove
me home.
In the porch I met my father crying He had always taken funerals in his
stride And Big Jim Evans saying it was a
hard blow.
The baby cooed and laughed and
rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was
embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my
hand
And tell me they were 'sorry for my
trouble'
Whispers informed strangers that I
was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my
hand
In hers and coughed out angry
tearless sighs.
At ten o'clock the ambulance
arrived
With the corpse, stanched and
bandaged by the nurses.
Next morning I went up into the
room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside I
saw him
For the first time in six weeks.
Paler now,
Wearing a poppy bruise on his left
temple.
He lay in a four foot box, as in his
cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper
knocked him clear.
A four foot box, a foot for every
year.
Mid-Term Break Questions
• How do you think the boy felt as the men came
up to shake his hand?
• How does the father normally deal with
funerals?
• What differences are there in the mother's and
the father's reactions?
• In what way is the boy's body described in the
poem?
• Describe the different emotions dealt with in the
poem.
• How old was Seamus Heaney's brother when he
died?