Poetry

Poem- a literary composition characterized by a high degree of verbal compression and figurative language in which pleasure is derived from an appreciation of the parts with a perception of the whole. -not mere verse

Three Elements in any poem: 1. imagination- through this, the poet makes his appeal to our senses, our feelings and even our intellects. figures of speech- any departure from the plain or ordinary way of expressing oneself for the purpose of making the meaning more effective. E.g. metaphor, simile, etc. images- mental pictures built up by the poets words and used not merely to create mood but also to stand for an idea.

Imagery- a verbal appeal to any of the senses; a stimulation of the imagination through sense experience visual imagery- appeals to the sense of sight, any object that can be seen aural- appeals to the sense of hearing. E.g. thunderous kinetic- appeals to the sense of motion E.g. I sprang to the saddle

kinesthetic- appeals to a sense of muscular tension and activity gustatory- appeals to the sense of taste. E.g. salty tactile- appeals to the sense of touch. E.g. velvety smoothness olfactory- appeals to the sense of smell. E.g. stench thermal- appeals to sensitivity to temperature E.g. scorch, frigid

c. symbolism- much like an image except that it is not necessarily a picture. It is any concrete object used to stand for an idea. Note: One of the chief functions of the imagination in poetry lies in its power to create feeling. -One standard to judge the emotional appeal of a poem is its universality. -The emotion inspired by a poem usually is genuine, not affected, and it must be justified, not just sentimental. Sentimentality- means reveling in emotion for its own sake. It is feeling that is not justified by the circumstances, or language that exaggerates the emotion the poet seeks to arouse.

2. thought- ideas in a poem that are more often suggested than directly stated. -the chief means by which the poet manages to suggest his ideas are symbols, images and figures of speech 3. form- technical means by which the poet expresses his feelings or ideas through sound, images, pattern and other devices.

Sound- chief means of securing rhythm -creates feeling Rhythm- secured by meter (arrangement of lightly and heavily stressed syllables in lines), equivalent of beat in music. Three kinds of rhyme: Assonance- consists in pairing the same vowel sounds in a verse or verses, without regard to the consonants. E.g. The weeds that grew green from the graves of its roses.

2. Alliteration- repetition of initial consonant sounds throughout a line or lines; beginning rhyme. E.g. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew. rhyme- may occur at the end of lines, as in: Sweet is true love tho given in vain, in vain; And sweet is death who puts an end to pain,

Or rhyme occurring at the middle and end of a line as in: (internal rhyme) I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers From the seas and the streams; I bear light shade for the leaves when laid In their noonday dreams.

streams and dreams, shade and laidcalled masculine rhyme (ends with accented syllables) showers and flowers- feminine rhyme ( rhyme in two syllables, the first of which is accented) rhyme scheme- pattern of rhymes in a poem streams and dreams, shade and laidcalled masculine rhyme (ends with accented syllables) showers and flowers- feminine rhyme ( rhyme in two syllables, the first of which is accented) rhyme scheme- pattern of rhymes in a poem

Standard feet: iambic-an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable- today trochaic- a stressed followed by an unstressed syllable- colder anapestic- two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable- in the book dactylic- a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables syllable spondaic- two stressed syllables- daybreak

Lines of verse are designated by the number of feet within the line: Monometer- one foot (e.g. Away) Dimeter- two feet Trimeter- three feet Tetrameter- four feet Pentameter- five feet Hexameter- six feet Heptameter- seven feet

Shall I/ compare/ thee to/ a sum/mers day (iambic pentameter line)

Tone Color through Effective Vowel and Consonant Sounds: 1.deep tone vowels- give a deep melancholy music to verse Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O Sea, 2. open vowels- suggest sweet and distant music O sweet and far from cliff and scar, 3. liquid consonants- l, m, n, r, (soften the whole tone of a line) Lost lovelabor and lullaby And lowly let love lie.

4.sibilant consonants, s and soft c (add soft and whispering sounds to word music), f and v sounds (help to create lightness, swiftness as well as softness) O Swallow, Swallow, flying, flying South,

Notes: the line illustrates the musical effect of liquids and sibilants as well as of f and v sounds. Sibilants must be used sparingly or they will give an unpleasant hissing sound to the verse, as in, Then stuttering thro the hedge of splintered teeth Yet strangers to the tongue.

Word Music in Blank Verse- does not depend on rhyme, created by: 1.end-stopped line- a line with a pause in the sense at its end where the reading voice drops, thus, How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! 2. run-on line- a line which has no pause at the end, in which, therefore, the sense is carried on into the next line, thus, Perhaps the self-same song that found a path Through the sad heart of Ruth, when sick for home, She stood in tears amid the alien corn, 3. caesura- a definite pause within a line, thus, To die,// to sleep;//

Note: These three devices keep blank verse from being monotonous and they also give what is known as paragraph rhythm to the poem. Paragraph rhythm- the rhythm which flows from line to line, pausing, gathering new force and flowing on again Refrain- repetition of a line Pattern- a plan according to which a stanza is built up - determined by the number of lines in a stanza, the prevailing meter of each line, and the rhyme scheme Stanza- a definitely arranged group of rhythmically harmonious verses Verse-a single line of poetry, the structural unit of a stanza

Common Patterns: blank verse- unrhymed iambic pentameter couplets- lines in iambic tetrameter or pentameter rhyming consecutively tercet- a three-verse stanza quatrain- a four-verse stanza quintet- a five-verse stanza sestet- a six-verse stanza sonnets- fourteen-verse iambic pentameter stanzas:

Italian- has thought divisions of eight lines (octave) followed by six (sestet) Shakespearean- has three quatrains and a concluding couplet.

ballad- simple narrative poem usually in quatrain song- poem written for music.