Poetry Analysis: Forms and Elements

• Poetry involves analyzing various elements to understand its meaning and structure.

Poem Forms

• Form is the overall structure, including lines, stanzas, rhyme, and rhythm.
• Lines act as the foundational units, with breaks and punctuation shaping rhythm and meaning.
• Stanzas are line groupings that organize ideas and add structure, similar to paragraphs.

Poetic Elements

• Sound devices impact a poem's auditory qualities through elements like rhythm and rhyme.
• Rhythm refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed beats.
• Rhyme is the repetition of sounds, often at the ends of lines.
• Meter is the poem's rhythmic structure, such as iambic pentameter.
• Rhyme scheme represents the pattern of rhymes (e.g., ABAB).
• Scansion is the analysis of a poem's rhythmic patterns.
• Repetition involves repeating words, phrases, or sounds for emphasis.
• Alliteration uses repeated consonant sounds at the start of words.
• Assonance uses repeated vowel sounds within words.
• Consonance uses repeated consonant sounds, especially at the ends of words.
• Imagery and figurative language enhance a poem's descriptive and expressive qualities.
• Diction is the choice of words used.
• Imagery is descriptive language that evokes mental pictures.
• Figurative language uses non-literal expressions.
  • Simile compares things using "like" or "as."
  • Metaphor makes direct comparisons, not using "like" or "as."
  • Personification gives human qualities to non-human elements.
  • Hyperbole uses exaggeration.
• Speaker is the voice that narrates the poem.

Types of Poem

• Traditional poems adhere to fixed rules, like specific rhyme or rhythm patterns.
  • Traditional forms are epic, sonnet, haiku, and limerick.
• Organic poems lack fixed rules and may have irregular rhyme or rhythm.

Shakespearean Sonnet

• Fourteen lines are written in iambic pentameter with a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.
• Quatrain: A four-line stanza, often with a specific rhyme scheme (e.g., ABAB).
• Couplet: A two-line stanza, usually with rhyming lines (e.g., AA).

"Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer

• Relates a humorous story about a baseball game where the star player, Casey, strikes out.
• Highlights sports' unpredictability and the fleeting nature of fame.
• It uses a narrative structure with rhymed quatrains (ABAB rhyme scheme).
• Sound devices create a rhythmic feel.
  • Constant use of rhyme
  • Repetition of "Casey" emphasizes his importance.
  • Alliteration, like "the bulging eyes," creates a smooth flow.
  • Written in anapestic meter with a lively, fast-paced feel.

"Spring is like a perhaps hand" by E. E. Cummings

• Compares spring to a "perhaps hand," showing its uncertainty.
• Employs playful language to capture spring's subtle, unpredictable nature.
• It is an organic poem without a strict rhyme scheme or meter.
• Irregular line lengths contribute to its free-flowing style.
• The metaphor of spring as a "perhaps hand" creates a vivid image of spring's gradual arrival.
• Figurative language use:
  • Comparing spring to an uncertain gesture through metaphor.
  • Giving spring human-like qualities using personification.
  • A simile directly compares spring's uncertainty to an unsure gesture.

"Today" by Billy Collins

• Reflects on the beauty of the present moment.
• Captures the wonder and significance of ordinary moments.
• Encourages appreciating the present.
• Organic form without fixed rhyme or meter makes it conversational.
• Repeating "Today" reinforces living in the present.
  • Gentle rhythm created by alliteration, using "t" sounds.
• Imagery of simple, everyday moments evokes peace and beauty.
• Uses unexpected images, with the use of metaphor, to highlight the richness of ordinary life.
• Personifies "today," treating it as something to savor.

Paragraph Structure

• TS (Topic Sentence): States the paragraph's main idea.
• CD (Concrete Detail): Offers evidence to support the topic sentence (e.g., quotes, facts).
• CM (Commentary): Explains how the concrete detail supports the topic sentence.
• CM (Commentary): Provides further explanation or expansion on the idea.
• Clear structure for focused paragraphs with a main point, supporting details, and analysis.