Lyric Poetry Analysis

The Day I Lost You

• Poem expressing intense grief and emotional turmoil following the loss of the speaker's mother.
• Uses vivid imagery and strong emotional language: "My body is quivering," "The pain is excruciating," "My heart is breaking."
• Compares the heart's throbbing to "the sound of the drums / Beaten by a mad musician."

Lyric Poetry

• Expresses the speaker's personal emotions and feelings.
• Combines elements of song lyrics and poetry.
• Often accompanied by musical instruments (harp, lyre).

Features of Lyric Poetry

• Song-like quality.
• Exploration of emotions and personal feelings.
• Use of literary devices to highlight the poet's purpose.

Literary Devices in Poetry

• Meter: Rhythmic pattern of a poem's stanzas, focusing on stressed/unstressed syllables. Iambic meter is an example: unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (duh-DUH).
• Mood: The emotional response the author wants the reader to feel (e.g., hopeful, angry, humorous, cheerful, romantic).
• Tone: The author's attitude toward the subject (e.g., formal, optimistic, encouraging, curious).
• Figures of Speech: Words or phrases used unconventionally to create a specific effect. Includes simile (comparison using "like" or "as"), metaphor (direct comparison), and personification (giving human qualities to non-human things).
• Theme: The central idea explored in the text (examples from text: "Beware of strangers," "Good triumphs over evil").

Forms of Lyric Poetry

• Sonnets: 14-line poem, typically in iambic pentameter (e.g., Shakespeare's sonnets).
• Odes: Formal poems addressing, praising, or giving tribute to a person, thing, place, or idea.
• Elegies: Sad poems often expressing sorrow over someone's death.

Purposes of Writing

• To persuade the reader to agree with a viewpoint or take action.
• To inform the reader about a topic.
• To entertain the reader.