Sunday, October 01, 2006

POETRY: A GUIDE


A poem is sectioned into stanzas, just as narratives (novels, stories, articles) are sectioned into paragraphs. Usually, each stanza will contain a unit of meaning. The organisation of lines within each stanza is called the form and there are a variety of identifiable forms, depending on the pattern of rhymes used.
Rhyme is the identity of sound between words, usually at the end of verse lines. The rhyme scheme is the pattern in which the rhymed line-endings are arranged within the stanza. Critics usually express this by giving each line-ending with the same rhyme a letter of the alphabet. Rhyme schemes may follow a fixed pattern, as is found in sonnets, or can be arranged freely to suit the poet’s requirements.

  • Rhyming couplet - pair of rhymed lines: aa bb cc.
  • Tercet - three-line stanza: aaa.
  • Quatrain - abab or abcb or abba.
  • Iambic Pentameter - ten-syllable line with one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed, either: abab or aabb.
  • Rhyme royal - seven-line stanza: ab ab bcc.
  • Octavia rima - eight-line stanza, comic effect: ab ab ab cc.
  • Sonnet - one-stanza lyric, consisting of fourteen iambic pentameter lines with intricate rhyme scheme.
  • Petrarchan sonnet - eight lines: ab ba ab ba plus six lines cde cde.
  • Shakespearean sonnet - three quatrains plus one couplet: abab cdcd efef gg.
  • Spenserian sonnet - rhyme links each quatrain to the next: abab bcbc cdcd ee.
  • Lyric - short, song-like verse, conveying emotion.
  • Ballad - quatrain narrative, often containing a refrain.
  • Mock Heroic - trivialises the subject matter.
  • Lament - short poem conveying intense grief.

[It will be beneficial for students to know the terms that have been highlighted in blue.]

Rhythm refers to the movement of the poem, which is achieved by the organisation of stressed and light syllables, creating a ‘beat’ within the verse. Identifying the type of rhythm is easier if you read the poetry out loud so that you can hear clearly where the stresses naturally occur.

SOUNDS IN POETRY
A poet will often deliberately choose a word so that its sound echoes or reflects its meaning. The technical terms to describe these sounds are:

  • alliteration – repetition of similar sounds, usually in the initial consonants of a word.
  • assonance – repetition of similar vowel sounds in neighbouring words.
  • consonance – repetition of the same consonant, but different vowel sounds in neighbouring words.
  • onomatopoeia – sound echoes the sense in that the word reflects the sound that it refers to.

Imagery is an essential technique used by poets. It creates mental pictures for the reader: CS Lewis described imagery as ‘a picture made out of words’. Poets have to use words economically and therefore will convey meaning in a condensed way. An efficient and effective device to convey meaning is through comparison. Metaphors and similes are both employed to make the reader think about comparing one thing to another. A simile is a direct comparison, whereas a metaphor is an indirect comparison – e.g. ‘Jack was as angry as a lion’ (simile) ‘Jack was a lion’ (metaphor). Look carefully at the image that is used and what kind of associations you have with that image. They will often tell you something more about the content of the poem.

Everything in the poem contributes towards the tone of the poem. The tone is the attitude, emotions, mood and atmosphere conveyed within the poem. The tone of the poem can be:

  • conventional
  • satirical
  • formal
  • sentimental
  • bold
  • reserved
  • grave
  • whimsical.

The above information was extracted from: Keeling, Z. and Rowe, C. AS in a Week : English Literature. London: Letts Educational Ltd, 2000.

  1. Francesco Petrarca (July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374). One of the greatest writers of lyrical poetry. His sonnets became the model for love poetry in Europe, influencing writers for many centuries. At age 23, he met and fell desperately in love with a young woman whom he called Laura. She was already married but he wrote a remarkable series of love poems inspired by her and continued to do so even after her death in 1348.
  2. William Shakespeare (April 23, 1564 – April 23, 1616). Considered the greatest playwright and poet in the English Language. Some of his plays, such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, are among the most famous literary works in the world.
  3. Edmund Spenser (1552 – Jan. 16,1599). A leading English poet in the time of Queen Elizabeth 1. Born in London where his father was a clothmaker. After finishing his studies, Spenser became an assistant to the Earl of Leicester, a very powerful man and it was then that he got to know the poet, Sir Philip Sidney. They became lifelong friends.
LITERARY TERMS - It is important to know some literary terms and their purpose in the material/text that is being studied. Ability to demonstrate this knowledge in the writing of essays will be of great advantage. The terms below have been taken from Paul Pascoe's notes on A Choice of Poets by York Notes, published by York Press for Longman (2003).
alliteration the occurence in a phrase or line of two or more words having the same initial consonants, e.g. fast flowing; sweet, swift.
atmosphere a mood dominating a piece of writing.
connotation/word association various secondary meanings and overtones - what the word suggests beyond what it directly refers to. Readers of poetry must be alert to connotation.
image/imagery image usually applies to a picture which words call to mind, such as light and darkness. Imagery usually applies to the poet's use of particular devices, essentially simile and metaphor.
irony/ironic words used to convey the opposite of their literal meaning - a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
metaphor involves unstated comparison and may pick up unusual points of similarity.
parody a literary work that mimics another work or style and deliberately holds it up to ridicule.
rhyme deliberate correspondences of sounds, usually, but not always at the ends of lines; masculine rhyme is a rhyme of only one syllable; it is terminal and stressed, e.g. annoy, convoy, feminine rhyme is a rhyme of two syllables. The second syllable is not stressed, e.g. swallow/follow, or three or more syllables in which only the first is stressed, e.g. edible/incredible.

posted by Bastian's Way @ 1:54 am