Understanding Poetry

Understanding Poetry

In my experience, students either love poetry or hate it. It's also either the most over-taught or least understood genre of literature. This unit on poetry will discuss just some of the most essential elements of poetry. This isn't a poetry class, but we'll still have fun with some exciting poems. That means that you'll need at least the basic language of poetry to discuss these texts during the unit and cite them correctly. This unit offers just a peak at the enormous genre of poetry.

What exactly makes a poem … a poem? 

Poets have struggled with this question, often using metaphors to approximate definitions. Is a poem a little machine? A firework? An echo? A dream? Melissa Kovacs shares three recognizable characteristics of most poetry.

Poetry Terms

As with short stories, knowing some specialized vocabulary to speak about poetry is essential.

 Common Features of Poetry

●      It looks like a poem – If it looks like a poem and reads like a poem, then the chances are pretty good that it is indeed a poem. Poetry comes in lines, some of which are complete sentences, but many are not. Also, these lines usually don’t run out to the margins consistently, like in a novel. All this gives poetry a distinctive and recognizable look on the page.

●      It often has some underlying form holding things together – While this isn’t always true (in some free verse, for example), a lot of poetry conforms to a prescribed structure, such as in a sonnet, a haiku, etc.

●      It uses imagery – If the poet is worth his or her salt, they’ll endeavor to create images in the reader’s mind using lots of sensory details and figurative language.

●      It has a certain musicality – We could be forgiven for thinking that poetry’s natural incarnation is the written word and its habitat, the page, but the printed word is not where poetry’s origins lie. The earliest poems were composed orally and committed to memory. We can still see the importance the sound of language plays when we read poems out loud. We can see it, too, in the attention paid to musical devices incorporated into the poem. Devices such as alliteration, assonance, and rhyme, for example. We will look at many of these later in this article.

Remember that some forms of writing, such as prose poetry or poetic prose, may blur the lines between poetry and prose. In these cases, the distinction might be less clear, and it’s up to the reader to interpret the work’s genre.

The Structure of Poetry: THE STANZA

Though some modern forms of poetry eschew traditional poetic conventions such as rhyme schemes and meter, the stanza still plays a vital role in the overall look of printed poetry.

Stanzas are the poetic equivalent of a prose paragraph. They are a series of lines grouped and separated from other groups of lines or stanzas by a skipped line.

Stanzas come in various lengths, dependent either on the poet’s whim or the conventions of a particular poetic form. Various technical vocabulary is often used to refer to stanzas of specific lengths. Here are the most common of these,

Stanzas of:

● two lines are called a couplet

● three lines are called a tercet

● four lines are called a quatrain

● five lines are called a cinquain

● six lines are called a sestet, or occasionally a sexain

● seven lines are called a septet

● eight lines are called an octave

POEM STRUCTURES: TYPES OF POETRY AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

When exploring the elements of poetry, we must appreciate many different types of poetry, some of which we will look at below. But, regardless of the specific kind of poetry in question, a poem will most likely fit into one of these three overarching types of poetry: lyric, narrative, and descriptive.

Lyric Poetry

Lyric poetry mainly concerns the poet’s emotional life; it’s written in their voice and expresses solid thoughts and emotions. There is only one voice in a lyric poem, and we see the world from that single perspective. Most modern poetry is lyric poetry in that it is personal and introspective.

Lyric Poetry Example: The Cat’s Serenade

The moon is high and the night is still

A feline prowls with a velvet thrill

His whiskers twitch and his eyes gleam bright

As he sets out on his nightly flight

The world is his, all to explore

His kingdom vast, a hunter's floor

With stealth and grace he moves along

A symphony of purrs and song

The night breeze whispers in his ear

As he purrs a tune, oh so clear

His melody lulls the world to sleep

As he creeps and crawls, oh so deep

The stars above, they shine so bright

As the cat serenades the night

With every note, he weaves a spell

A magical tune, too hard to quell

So listen close, my dear friend

To the cat's serenade, till the very end

For in his song, there lies a clue

To the secrets of the night, so pure and true.

Narrative Poetry

As its name implies, narrative poetry is concerned with storytelling. Just as in a prose story, a narrative poem will most likely follow the conventions of the plot, including elements such as conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution. Again, as in prose stories, narrative poems will most likely be peopled with characters to perform the actions of the tale.

Narrative Poem Example: The Tale of Little Miss Whiskers

Little Miss Whiskers was a feline so fine,

Her fur was soft, and her eyes did shine.

With a tail that flicked and a nose so pink,

She roamed the streets, without a single wink.

She lived in a world, full of mystery and might,

With rats and mice, she'd battle all night.

She'd prowl and pounce, with agility and grace,

And win the fight, in every single case.

But one day, as she ventured too far,

She stumbled upon a street so bizarre.

With buildings that rose, into the endless sky,

And people who rushed, with no time to pry.

Little Miss Whiskers was lost, that was clear,

But she refused to be trapped, in a world so drear.

So she set out, to find her way back,

With courage and wit, she stayed on track.

She met a dog, a bird, and a mouse,

And together they roamed, from house to house.

They braved the streets, and the alleys so dark,

And in each other, they found a spark.

Little Miss Whiskers had finally found her way,

And her new friends, she decided to stay.

For in this world, so strange and new,

She had found a family, and a home so true.

And so she roamed, with her tail held high,

In a world that was full, of wonders and sky.

With every step, she felt so free,

Little Miss Whiskers, the cat of the city.

Descriptive Poetry

Descriptive poetry usually employs rich imagery to describe the world around the poet. While it most often has a single poetic voice and strong emotional content, descriptive poetry differs from lyric poetry in that it focuses more on the world's externalities than the poet’s interior life.

Descriptive Poetry Example: The Majestic Cat

A cat so grand, with fur of gold,

A sight to see, so brave and bold.

His eyes of amber, bright and clear,

A gaze so piercing, it filled with fear.

He sat atop a throne of pillows,

A king of his own, no need for billows.

His head held high, with regal grace,

A monarch of the feline race.

His fur was soft, like silk and down,

His whiskers long, like a monarch's crown.

His paws were strong, with sharp claws,

A hunter's weapon, with no flaws.

He moved with grace, like a dancer's feet,

His tail so long, like a winding street.

He leaped and bounded, with such ease,

A sight so grand, it was hard to please.

But when he curled, and snuggled close,

His gentle purr, like a soothing dose.

His eyes so calm, his heart at rest,

A friend so true, with no protest.

For in his majesty, he still had love,

A heart so pure, like a cooing dove.

A cat so grand, yet still so kind,

A true companion, that's hard to find.

Subtypes of Poetry

Sonnet

Sonnets are predominantly concerned with matters of the heart. If you see a sonnet’s recognizably blocky form on a page, there’s a good chance the theme will be love. There are two common forms of sonnets: Shakespearean and Petrarchan. They differ slightly in their internal structure, but both have 14 lines. Let’s take a look at some more of the interior characteristics of both forms:

Petrarchan

●  Comprises two stanzas

●  The First eight lines pose a question

●  2nd stanza answers the question posed

●  The rhyme scheme is: ABBA, ABBA, CDECDE

Shakespearean

●  Comprises 3 quatrains of 4 lines each

●  Ends with a rhyming couplet which forms a conclusion

●  The rhyme scheme is: ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG

Haiku

Haiku is a disciplined form of poetry that originates in 17th-century Japanese poetry. Usually, it is concerned with nature and natural phenomena such as the seasons or weather. They are often quite meditative in tone.

However, there are no fundamental rules regarding themes; the only actual demands here relate to structure:

●  They are written in three-line stanzas

●  1st line contains five syllables

●  2nd line contains seven syllables

●  3rd line contains five syllables

Due to their short length and limited requirements, these are usually a lot of fun for students to write. They can serve as an excellent introduction for students to attempt to write poetry according to specific technical requirements of a form.

Elegy

Elegies are a type of poem that doesn’t have specific structural requirements but still constitutes a recognizable form of poetry. What makes an elegy an elegy is its subject, that is, death. Elegies are poems of lamentation – the word elegy comes from the Greek word elegeia, which means to ‘lament’.

●  A poem of reflection on death or on someone who has died

●  Usually comes in three parts expressing loss:

○  grief

○  praise for the deceased

○  and, finally, consolation.

Limerick

Favorites of school children everywhere, the most defining characteristic of limericks is their renowned humor. Given their well-deserved reputation for being funny and, on occasion, crude, it’s easy to overlook that beneath the laughs lies quite a tightly structured verse form.

● five lines in total

●Distinct verbal rhythm

● two longer lines of usually between 7 to 10 syllables

● two shorter lines of usually between 5 to 7 syllables

● one closing line containing the ‘punchline.’

●  Rhyme scheme is AABBA

Ballad

Ballads are a type of narrative poetry closely tied to musical forms. Ballads written as poetry can often easily be adapted as song lyrics. While ballads don’t have tight formal constrictions like some other forms of poetry, there are enough distinguishable features to identify them as a form.

●  Tells a story, often using simple language

●  Often romantic, adventurous, or humorous

●  Arranged in groups of 4 lines or quatrains

●  Often uses alternating 4 and 3-beat lines

●  Rhyme scheme is usually ABAB or ABCB

Ode

Another poetry form that traces its origins to Ancient Greece, odes were initially intended to be sung. Nowadays, though no longer sung, the term ode still refers to a type of lyrical poem that addresses and often praises a specific person, thing, or event.

●  The author addresses a person, thing, or event

●  Usually has a solemn, serious tone

●  Explores universal elements of the theme

●  Powerful emotional element, often involving catharsis

Odes written in the classical vein can follow very strict metrical patterns and rhyme schemes. However, many modern odes are written in free verse, involving irregular rhythm and without adherence to a rhyme scheme.

Epic

These long narrative poems recount heroic tales, usually focused on a legendary or mythical figure. Think of works of literature on a grand scale, such as The Odyssey, The Cattle Raid of Cooley, or Beowulf.

●  Employs an objective and omniscient narrator

●  Written in an elevated style

●  Recounts heroic events

●  Grand in scale

Poetic Devices

Though we refer to these devices here as ‘poetic devices, the devices below are not the exclusive domain of poetry alone, many of these are to be found in other writing genres, particularly other creative forms such as short stories, novels, and creative nonfiction.

Many of these devices originate in poetry’s roots as a spoken literary form. They rely on the musicality of words, their rhythm, and rhyme. They focus on various sound effects that the carefully chosen words can create.

Other devices are more concerned with imagery. They forge connections between various ideas and conjure pictures in the readers’ minds. Together, these devices lift poetry into the realm of art.

The following devices are organized into two sections. The first section, titled Sound Devices, deals with alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia, rhyme, and rhythm.

The second section, Figurative Language, deals with metaphor, personification, and simile. These are not meant as an exhaustive list but to indicate the possibilities for these elements of poetry. You can find many more examples of these in our article on figurative language.

Sound Devices

Alliteration

Meaning: This device involves repeating the initial consonant sound of a series of words, often consecutively. Alliteration is most easily explained to students by looking at simple tongue twisters, such as Peter Piper or She Sells Seashells.

Example:

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter

But, the bit of butter Betty Botter bought was bitter

So Betty Botter bought a better bit of butter.

Assonance

Meaning: Similarly to alliteration, assonance involves the repetition of sounds in a series of words, often consecutive words. However, rather than repeating the initial sounds, assonance focuses on the repeated internal vowel sounds.

Example:  We can find many examples of assonance in poetry and song. Here’s an example from the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe: Hear the mellow wedding bells

“Muffled monotonous murmur of matrimony“

In this line, the repetition of the “uh” sound in “muffled,” “monotonous,” “murmur,” and “matrimony” creates an assonant effect, which emphasizes the monotonous and dull sound of the wedding bells.

Consonance

Meaning: Consonance is the consonant-focused counterpart to assonance. It involves the repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or at the end of words, distinguished from alliteration, where the initial sound is repeated.

Example: The crow struck through the thick cloud like a rocket

Meter

Meaning: Meter is like the beat or rhythm in a poem. A pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables makes the poem sound musical and smooth. Think of it like music has a steady beat that makes you tap your foot.

Example: One common type of meter is called iambic pentameter. In iambic pentameter, each line has five groups of two syllables, and the second syllable is stressed or more emphasized. It sounds like “da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM.”

Here’s an example from a famous poem by Shakespeare:

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (Sonnet 18, line 1)

In this line, each group of two syllables has a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one, like “Shall I,” “thee to,” “a sum-,” “mer’s day.” This makes the poem sound nice and rhythmic, almost like a song.

Different types of meter create different rhythms and feelings in poems. Understanding meter can help you appreciate the music and flow of poetry, just like you understand the beat in your favorite songs.

Onomatopoeia

Meaning: Onomatopoeia refers to creating words that sound like what they refer to. For many students, the first introduction to onomatopoeia goes back to learning animal says as an infant. Words such as Oink! Chirp! Woof! and Meow! can all be thought of as onomatopoeic. 

Example: Aside from animal noises, the names of sounds themselves are often onomatopoeic, for example:

Bang!

Thud!

Crash!

Rhyme

Meaning: Rhyme refers to the repetition of sounds in a poem. Various rhyme types are possible; however, in English, we usually use the term rhyme to refer to the repetition of the final sounds in a line or end rhyme. Letters are often used to denote a rhyme scheme. A new letter is ascribed to each of the different sounds. For example, the rhyme scheme is described as ABAB in the following example.

Example:

 The people along the sand

All turn and look one way.

They turn their back on the land.

They look at the sea all day.

[From Neither Out Far Nor In Deep by Robert Frost]

Rhythm

Meaning: Rhythm in poetry involves sound patterning. A lot of classical poetry conforms to a systematic regularity of rhythm, referred to as the poem’s meter. This consists of combining stressed and unstressed syllables to create a constant beat pattern that runs throughout the poem. Each pattern of beats is called a foot. There are various possible combinations of stressed and unstressed syllables, or feet, and these patterns have their names to describe them. While exploring all of these in this article is impossible, we look at one of the more common ones below.

Example:

 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day

[Iambic pentameter, i.e., five metrical feet of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables]

Figurative / Connotative Language in Poetry

Metaphor

Meaning: Metaphors compare things by stating that one thing is something else. Metaphors are used to bring clarity to ideas by forming connections. Often, metaphors reveal implicit similarities between two things or concepts.

Example: We can find lots of examples of metaphors in our everyday speech, for example:

She’s an old flame

Time is money

Life is a rollercoaster

Simile

Meaning: Unlike metaphors that make comparisons by saying one thing is something else, similes work by saying something is similar. They commonly come in two forms. Those that compare using ‘as’ and those that compare using ‘like’.

Example:

 She is as strong as an ox

She sings like a nightingale

Personification

Meaning: Personification is a metaphor where a non-human thing or idea is ascribed to human qualities or abilities. This can be in a single phrase or line or extended as a stanza or the whole poem.

Example:

 The moon was shining sulkily,

Because she thought the sun

Had got no business to be there

After the day was done –

“It’s very rude of him,” she said,

“To come and spoil the fun.”

[From the Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Carroll]