Poetry
The words poetry and poem apply to a vast variety
of literary forms, both spoken and written.
There is so much difference in so many different
kinds of work considered poetry that it is not easy
to nail down a complete definition.
Poetry
Part of the problem is that verse – which is to say,
formal writing that is not the prose of novels and
short stories – is among the oldest form of
communication.
Poetry
Poetry also often involves rhythm and rhyme,
although neither is necessary for a work to be
called poetry.
Also, poetry conveys powerful images, feelings,
and figurative language in fewer words than prose.
Poetry
Often it uses only phrases, single words, figures of speech,
or sensory details to provoke ideas.
figure of speech: specific device or kind of figurative
language , such as hyperbole, metaphor, personification,
simile, or understatement.
sensory details: evocative words that convey sensory
experiences— seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and
smelling.
Prose, which is much longer, follows standard rules of
paragraph and sentence structure. Figures of speech and
sensory details can also be found in this genre.
Common Types of Poetry
Epic Poems: long, complicated story-poems. They
tell of extraordinary deeds by supernatural heroes
and villains. Epics include the literary devices of
invocation and epithet.
Invocation: asking a god or muses for help
Epithet: involves naming a character’s qualities
Common Types of Poetry
Epic Poems:
The epic hero has a goal and typically is embarked
on a long journey that involves struggles with
gods, monsters, and other human beings.
The purpose of an epic poem is to entertain, teach,
and inspire the listener or reader with examples of
how people can strive and succeed against great
odds.
Common Types of Poetry
Examples of Epic Poems:
Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey
Beowulf
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Common Types of Poetry
Lyric Poetry: conveys an exact mood or feeling to
the reader. The poet speaks directly to the reader
and asks for the reader’s sympathy.
Lyric poems are usually short and musical. This
broad category of poetry covers many poetic types
and styles including rhymed poetry and free verse
(poetry that has no fixed pattern of meter, rhyme,
line length, or stanza arrangement).
Common Types of Poetry
Example of Lyric Poetry:
An important type of lyric poem is the sonnet,
which is a fourteen line poem with strict
formatting. William Shakespeare made the
sonnet popular in the 17th century.
Example of Lyric Poetry:
SONNET 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Common Types of Poetry
Ballad: part of the oral tradition, ballads tell a
story in song. Their subjects can be heroic,
satirical, romantic, or political.
Ballads focus on the actions and dialogue of a
story, not on the characters.
They usually end in tragedy.
Common Types of Poetry
Ballads continued…
Folk ballads typically tell of an exciting or dramatic
event.
They were composed by an anonymous singer or
author and passed on by word of mouth for
generations before being written down.
Literary ballads are written in imitation of folk
ballads; they are usually attributed to an author.
Poetic Devices
Poetry has a variety of language techniques that
help its effectiveness:
Personification: giving human qualities to
something not human.
The stars stare down at us.
 The stop sign jumped out at me.
Summer waited just around the corner.
 The moon winked at the young lovers.

Poetic Devices
Poetry has a variety of language techniques that
help its effectiveness:
Simile: comparison of one thing to another, using
the words like or as ; it is an explicit comparison.
Explicit means: fully and clearly expressed
The cold wind howled like a starving wolf.
 Her skin was as soft as a rose.
 She is small and sprightly, like a bantam hen.

Poetic Devices
Poetry has a variety of language techniques that help
its effectiveness:
Metaphor: comparison of one thing to another, not
using the words like or as; it is an implicit comparison.
Implicit means: implied, rather than expressly stated:
“All the world’s a stage.
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances.”
--William Shakespeare—”As You Like It”
Poetic Devices
“All the world’s a stage.
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances.”
--William Shakespeare—”As You Like It”
Shakespeare connects life itself with a theatrical
production, with birth and death akin to the
comings and goings of actors in a drama. The
speech goes on to list the stages of a man’s life as
different parts to be played.
Poetic Devices
Poetry has a variety of language techniques that help its
effectiveness:
Hyperbole: involves gross exaggeration or overstatement
to make a point.
He’s as big as a car.
She’s got more money than Bill Gates.
That was pretty much the worst movie ever made.

Hyperbole is different from idiom, in that with idioms, the
meaning of the words is not literal; hyperbole makes a
literal—if exaggerated—comparison between two or more
things.