Poetry - Elements & Types PDF

Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty. "(Edgar Allan Poe) ### B. ELEMENTS OF POETRY Formal Elements 1. Line -- basic unit of poetry 2. Stanza -- a group of lines 3. Rhythm -- the patterned recurrence, within a certain range of regularity, of specific language features, usually featu...

Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty. "(Edgar Allan Poe) ### B. ELEMENTS OF POETRY Formal Elements 1. Line -- basic unit of poetry 2. Stanza -- a group of lines 3. Rhythm -- the patterned recurrence, within a certain range of regularity, of specific language features, usually features of sound and is readily discriminate by the ear and the mind 4. Meter -- the recurrence of regular units of stressed and unstressed syllables 5. Stress -- occurs when one syllable is emphasized more than the otherEnglish poetry employs five basic meters: o Iambic meter (unstressed/stressed) o Trochaic meter (stressed/unstressed) o Spondaic meter (stressed/stressed) o Anapestic meter (unstressed/unstressed/ stressed)o ### Sound Elements 1. Alliteration -- the repetition of the beginning sound in closely associated words or syllables 2. Assonance -- the repetition of similar vowel sounds, especially in stressed syllables 3. - Perfect rhyme -- final vowel and consonant sounds must be the same - Imperfect Rhyme (Consonance) -- the final consonant sounds in two words are the same but the preceding vowels are different - Eye rhyme -- rhyme that appears to be perfect rhyme, but is either half rhyme or no rhyme 4. Onomatopoeia -- the use of words whose sound suggests their meanings ### Other Elements 1. Imagery -- words and phrases that describe the concrete experience of the five senses. Generally defined by J.A. Cuddon as "the use of language to represent objects, actions, feelings, thoughts, ideas, states of mind and any sensory or extra-sensory experience" (413). 2. **Figures of Speech** -- expressions that use words to achieve effects beyond the ordinary language. A.F. Scott defines figures of speech as the "expression of the imagination to deviation from ordinary usage for the sake of ornament" (108). - Simile - Metaphor - Personification o Hyperbole o Irony - Litotes o Metonymy o Synecdoche o Paradox o Oxymoron o Allusion o Apostrophe 3. Persona -- the speaker of the poem 4. Tone -- conveys the speaker's attitude toward his or her subject or audience 5. Diction-- word choice that determines the level of language; also includes word order 6. Theme -- main point or idea C. TYPES OF POETRY ------------------ 1. Lyric -- a brief poem with a single speaker who expresses his or her feeling on a subject a. Song -- short lyric poem intended to be sung b. Ode -- relatively long lyric poem that is serious poem of formal diction, often addresses to some significant c. object that has stimulated the poet's imagination d. Elegy -- a mournful poem or lament, usually a meditation on the death of someone important to e. Sonnet -- a poem with 14 lines in one of several rhyme schemes f. Simple lyric -- any short poem where the verse is especially musical or where there is a marked subjective or emotional tone; includes all those lyric poems that don't belong under the other 2. Narrative Poetry -- tells a story; usually longer than a lyric poem, though it need not be extensiveBasic types: g. Ballad -- one of the oldest verse forms originally composed for singing or recitation. The ballad told a simple refrain, and was handed through generations h. Epic -- is a long, narrative in poem that retells the heroic journey of a person, or a group of persons; elements include superhuman deeds, fabulous adventures, highly stylized language, and a blending of lyrical and dramatic traditions i. Metrical Romance -- recounts the quest undertaken by a single knight in order to gain a lady\'s favor; central theme is courtly love, with tournaments fought and dragons and monsters slain for the damsel's sake; stresses the chivalric ideals of courage, loyalty, honor, mercifulness to an opponent, and exquisite and manners. j. Metrical Tale -- a narrative poem which is written in verse that relates to real or imaginary event in simple, straight forward language, from a wide range of subjects, characters, life experiences, and emotional situations; characters are ordinary people, concerned with ordinary events; has simple structure and tells of a single incident; narrative is told by a known author with characters, setting, plot and theme k. Idyll -- a narrative poem treating an epic, romantic, or tragic theme