Poetry Notes There are two types of poetry: Lyric and Narrative. 1.) Narrative Poetry This is poetry organized around a time sequence. It is similar to narrative prose in that a plot, which contains characters, setting, and a basic theme is developed. A.) Epic Poem i.) The theme is so broad in its scope that it reaches beyond the affairs of mere individuals to things concerning an entire nation or the world as a whole. Tradition would make people familiar with the theme. ii.) Subject matter is taken from history, religion, legend, or mythology. The supernatural element is usually prevalent. iii.) Action is always on a large scale; powerful forces are in conflict. iv.) Character is interesting to us for the part he plays in the struggle with opposing forces rather than because of his own individuality. The action is more important than the individual. v.) The same meter is used throughout. Examples: The Iliad by Homer; The Odyssey by Homer; Paradise Lost by Milton B.) Story Poem This form is a simple narrative, usually intended for a young audience. Examples: The Lady of Shalott by Tenneyson; Dr. Seuss C.) Traditional Ballad i.) Tells a story. ii.) Comes from the works of minstrels or reciters. They are one of the oldest forms of literature, for men have always been fond of recording history and fiction in poetic forms. A minstrel who sang ballads was like a talking newspaper. iii.) Traditional ballads date from approximately 1200 to 1700 AD. The first written ballads were not recorded until about 1800 when Sir Walter Scott went into the more primitive regions of the Highlands of Scotland and wrote down the songs which these people were singing. iv.) Traditional ballads are said to be the work of many people, not of an individual poet. v.) Traditional ballads are usually quite short and simple because they were originally designed to be sung. vi.) The main characters are often heroic, such as knights or kings. vii.) Most traditional ballads begin abruptly with no introduction. The language is very simple. viii.) Traditional ballads tell their story through dialogue and description of action. ix.) The rhythm is quite pleasing. Usually, the stanzas are four lines long, and lines two and four rhyme. There is often a refrain or repetition. x.) The story is usually about some great adventure or tragic event. xi.) There is very often something of the supernatural present. xii.) The most common themes are love, war, hatred, tragedy. Example: Lord Randall D.) Literary (Modern) Ballad i.) Modern ballads use a definite rhyme scheme and rhythm. ii.) The supernatural element is usually strong. iii.) The author is known. iv.) Modern ballads have a definite introduction and setting. v.) Modern ballads are relatively modern in scope (after 1700 AD). vi.) The story related often has a tragic element. Examples: The Highwayman - Alfred Noyes; The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald – G. Lightfoot 2.) Lyric Poetry This poetry is the expression of human feelings in poetic form. It expresses the author’s own mood, emotions, and reflections in musical language. The reader looks at life through the author’s eyes. A.) Sonnet Probably the most esteemed stanza form is the sonnet. Its extremely rigid rules seem a challenge to the poet to show how much range and variety he can create within the space of 140 syllables. The term “sonnet” refers to a poem of 14 iambic pentameter lines which hold to a very definite rhyme scheme. The most common is the Petrarchan sonnet. Its rhyme scheme is abba, abba, cde, cde (the last six lines may change). Such a sonnet falls into stages. The first eight lines form the “octave”, and the last six lines form the “sestet”. This division allows the writer to present his poem in two parts. i.) In the octave, the writer poses a problem, depicts a situation, or offers an observation. He merely tells the reader about something. ii.) In the sestet, the author provides an answer or conclusion to the octave. He tells what the meaning of the octave is. Examples: How Do I Love Thee? by Elizabeth Barrett Browning Some poets have experimented with the sonnet and produced a different form. For example, the Shakespearean sonnet has the rhyme scheme abab, cdcd, efef, gg. Examples: Shall I Compare Thee? by Shakespeare B.) Blank Verse This is unrhymed verse written in iambic pentameter. Because it is appropriate to serious poetry, narrative, and dramatic expression, blank verse has been widely used in English poetry. Examples: most of Shakespeare’s plays; Wordsworth’s longer poems C.) Free Verse This form does not try to follow any rigid requirements or to obey conventional rules. i.) The lines may vary in length from one word (or even part of a word) to as many as the poet wishes to include. ii.) There is no regular rhyme scheme. iii.) The poem is not arranged in conventional metric feet but it usually does have a rhythm. iv.) The achievement of results comes through: * clarity of presentation * the use of strong images *arrangement * originality and freshness in point of view. Examples: Dulce et Decorum by Wilfred Owen; The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost D.) Limerick This is a five-line, nonsense stanza of anapestic feet. The first, second, and fifth lines are trimester and the third and fourth are dimeter ( 9, 9, 6, 6, 9 syllable lines respectively). The rhyme scheme is aabba. Example: There once was an old man from Esser, Whose knowledge grew lesser and lesser. It at last grew so small, He knew nothing at all, And now he's a college professor. E.) Parody A piece of writing which achieves a humourous effect by mimicking the structure or content of a serious selection. Examples: Weird Al Yankovic’s songs Also: The Passionate Shepherd to His Love Christopher Marlowe Parody: Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove That valleys, groves, hills, and fields, Woods or steepy mountain yields. Come bowl with me this evening dear And we’ll kill twelve cans of beer: We’ll join the others on the team And eat three quarts of peach ice cream And we will sit upon the rocks, Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. And in between each frame we bowl We’ll have a burger on a roll, A dozen hotdogs, sacks of fries, A meatball and two apple pies; And I will make thee beds of roses And a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle; Come bowl with me you really should The exercise will do us good. A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull; Fair lined slippers for the cold, With buckles of th purest gold; A belt of straw and ivy buds, With coral clasps and amber studs: And if these pleasures may thee move, Come live with me and be my love. The shepherds' swains shall dance and sing For thy delight each May morning: If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me and be my love. F.) Haiku a.) An ancient Japanese verse form of three unrhymed lines containing 17 syllables in all. b.) The conventional poem usually includes a comparison, allusion, or paradox, refers to a season of the year, and is comprised of 5, 7, 5 syllable lines respectively. c.) North American usage interprets the Haiku as a simple, metaphorical, three-line 5, 7, 5 poem. Example: The falling flower I saw drift back to the branch Was a butterfly. 3.) Rhythm This is the regular recurrence of accent or stress. In any polysyllabic word in English, one of the syllables receives a greater stress than the others. Ie: photograph photographer photographic Unstressed syllables are marked with a , while stressed syllables are marked with a . Single syllable words, when used in a phrase, are stressed or unstressed according to the meaning of the phrase. down the street When these phrases are used in sentences, the stress may shift. We walk down the street. This alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables and words is the rhythm of all language. 4.) Meter In poetry, there is a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables this is what gives verse its rhythmic pattern. This regular pattern is known as meter. Each poem has a meter of its own. A.) Foot This is the division of each line into units called feet. One foot usually contains one stressed syllable and its associated unstressed syllables. Example: It is / an an /cient Mar / in er. This line has a total of four feet. one foot – monometer two feet – dimeter three feet – trimester four feet – tetrameter five feet – pentameter six feet - hexameter Longer lines are possible, but they occur very infrequently. B.) Types of Metrical Feet Meters differ in the number and arrangement of their syllables. i.) Iambic is the most important and most used foot in English verse. This consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. Example: My heart / is like / a sing / ing bird / Here we have four feet in each line, and each foot is iambic. The pattern of these lines is called iambic tetrameter. The greater bulk of English verse is written in a basically iambic meter. ii.) Trochaic is a stressed syllable preceding an unstressed syllable. Example: Soft ly / through the / crim son / twi light / To the / gate way / of the / sun This example shows a fairly common variation of the trochaic foot; the omission of the final unstressed syllable, as in the last line. Trochaic feet occasionally appear in iambic lines, especially at the beginning of the line. Example: Cap tive! / Is there / a hell / to him / like this? / iii.) Anapestic is a stressed syllable following two unstressed syllables. This is closely related to the iambic foot and is also often used to replace the iambic foot. Example: The Ass The anapestic foot is relatively uncommon in English poetry, except as an occasional replacement for iambic feet. Example: And the day / is loud / with voi / ces spea / king. / iv.) Dactylic is a stressed syllable preceding two unstressed syllables. Examples: gra du al mar gar ine Marg ar et This form is seldom found making a complete metrical foot. It is usually found forming one foot of another type of metrical foot. v.) Spondaic consists of two syllables to form this pattern: another type of metrical foot. . This type also only forms part of Example: Yet there is n’t / a train / goes by / all day./ 5.) Rhyme A.) Labeling (for end rhyme) i.) Label the first line of the poem with the letter “a”. ii.) Label the second line of the poem either: “a” if it rhymes with line one or “b” if it does not rhyme. iii.) Label the third line of the poem: “a” or “b” if it rhymes with either lines one or two “c” if it does not rhyme. iv.) Continue in the same fashion throughout the remainder of the poem. B.) Types of Rhyme There are two basic categories of rhyme – perfect and imperfect. Perfect: thing – swing Imperfect: crooned – ground Using either form, they may be classified into the following types: i.) Internal – the rhyming of words which occurs within a line of poetry Example: On Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson Trail. ii.) End – the most common form which entails the rhyming of words at the end of lines. Example: The woods are lovely, dark, and deep But I have promises to keep. iii.) Masculine – the rhyming of words of a single rhyming syllable or the last syllable. Examples: fun-run-sun-one concealed-revealed iv.) Feminine – the rhyming of words with multiple syllables, with the first rhyming syllable accented and the other rhyming syllables not accented. Examples: showers-flowers impulsively-convulsively 6.) Stanza Forms Generally, poems are divided into stanzas, which is a group of two or more lines. A single line of poetry is called a verse. Every poem has a pattern, and some of these are easy to understand. However, patterns in poetry vary, and some are quite complicated. In some poems, there is no rhyme at all, and lines are of many different lengths. Even in such a poem, the poet has a definite pattern in mind. The order of his words and lines must conform to that pattern. A.) Couplet There are very definite rules about the patterns of most kinds of poetry. The simplest patter is the couplet. It consists of two lines of poetry that are of equal length that rhyme with each other at the endings. They also must have a uniform rhythm. Example: January brings out the snow, a Makes our feet and fingers glow. a B.) Triplet Three lines of poetry which rhyme. Example: He clasps the crag with crooked hands Close to the sun in lonely lands Ringed with the azure world he stands. a a a C.) Quatrain Four rhyming lines. Sometimes, the four lines all rhyme with each other. Example: We have a secret, just we three a The robin, I, and the cherry tree, a The bird told the tree, and it told me a And nobody knows it, just we three. A