ENGII- Freeman- Poetry Student Notes
I.
There are three main types of poetry:
A. Narrative poetry tells a story and has a plot, characters, and a setting. It
includes epics, long poems about the feats of gods or heroes, and ballads,
songlike poems with short stanzas and a refrain. The speaker tells a story from
a particular point of view.
B. Dramatic poetry tells a story using a character’s own thoughts or spoken
statements.
C. Lyric poetry expresses the feelings of a single speaker.
II.
Graphic Elements
A. Punctuation- marks such as commas show the reader where to slow down or
pause
B. Line length- can help determine whether a poem has a flowing sound or a
short, choppy sound
C. Word position- can show relationships between words or idea
III.
Prosody-The patterns of rhythm and sound used in poetry.
A. RHYME involves matching sounds of words. As melody is to music, so is
RHYME to poetry. The sounds of vowels are what create most rhymes. To scan a
poem for rhyme, you assign a single alphabetical letter, starting with a to the
sound of the last word in the line. Whatever the first sound or end rhyme is, mark
it "A." If the next word has the same vowel sound (tree, sea or tree, see), mark
the next line "A." IF the next line has a different vowel sound, mark it "B." Lines
with the same end vowel sound, the same rhyme, get the same letter.
Example: The first four lines of Byron's "She Walks in Beauty":
She walks in beauty like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes.
a
b
a
b
In this case a and b are both exact rhymes. Any pattern of lines that alternate in this way
form an example of alternate rhyme. When any line rhymes with the very next line, that
is called a couplet. If three lines in a row rhyme, that's a triplet.
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B. METER-If rhyme is like melody, meter is the aspect of time, involving rhythm
and accents of poetry. Whereas musicians represent time and beat with a time
signature, like 4/4, 3/4, or 6/8, readers of poetry record the beat of poetic words
by dividing them into kinds of FEET based on lengths of syllables, and locations
of spoken accents.
Here are the major kinds of POETIC FEET: A foot can match one single
word, or it can span several words.


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
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IV.
iamb any two syllables, usually a single word but not always,
whose accent is on the second syllable. Example = upon, arise
trochee any two syllables, usually a single word but not always,
word whose accent is on the first syllable. Example = virtue,
further
anapest any three syllables, usually a single word but not always,
word whose accent is on the third syllable. Example = intervene
dactyl any three syllables, usually a single word but not always,
word whose accent is on the first syllable. Example = tenderly
spondee any two syllables, sometimes a single word but not
always, with strong accent on the first and second syllable.
Example (in this case no one word, but a series of words in this
line: The long day wanes, the slow moon climbs. The words "day
wanes" form a spondee.
pyrrhic any two syllables, often across words, with each syllable
unstressed/unaccented
Poems can be categorized by form or structure include
A. Haiku, poems of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables;
Example:
(1) I am first with five
(5 unrhymed syllables)
(2) Then seven in the middle -- (7 unrhymed syllables)
(3) Five again to end.
(5 unrhymed syllables)
Since Haikus are such short poems, they are usually written about things
that are recognizable to the reader such as animals and seasons.
http://www.kidzone.ws/poetry/haiku.htm
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B. Tanka, poems of five unrhymed lines of five, seven, five, seven, and
seven syllables;
The first and third lines of tanka contain five syllables. The second,
fourth, and fifth lines have seven syllables. (The number of
syllables can vary when a tanka is translated into English.) Thus,
the syllable pattern is 5-7-5-7-7.
Example: (1) The flowing river
(2) Twists and turns and runs away
(3) Thinking of the sea
(4) Through the forests light and dark
(5) At last kissing salty waves.
(5)
(7)
(5)
(7)
(7)
The briefness of the tanka helps poets focus on a single strong image or
idea. In this example, the poet concentrates on a river’s journey through
varied landscapes as it flows toward and empties into the ocean.
C. Free Verse, which has neither a set pattern of rhythm nor rhyme;
Disappointments by Vivian Gilbert Zabel
(1) Every life has a room
(2) where memories are stored:
(3) A box of special occasions here,
(4) Shelves of shared laughter there.
(5) But back in the shadows
(6) Lurks a trunk locked tight,
(7) Not to be opened and searched.
(8) There hide disappointments
(9) Which darken every heart.
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-free-verse-poems.html
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English II
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D. Sonnets, fourteen-line lyric poems with formal patterns of rhyme, rhythm,
and line structure.
1. In a Shakespearean sonnet, the lines are grouped into three
quatrains (groups of four lines) and a couplet, a pair of
rhymed lines. The rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, efef, gg. This
form is so common in English poetry and was so identified
with William Shakespeare, and the time period during which
he lived, that these sonnets are also called English sonnets or
Elizabethan sonnets.
Example: Shakespearean sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
First QUATRAIN
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Image or example #1
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
A
B
A
B
Second QUATRAIN
Image or example #2
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
C
D
C
D
Third QUATRAIN
Image or example #3
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
E
F
E
F
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
G
G
COUPLET
Commentary on the
preceding ideas
Beyond their specific rhyme scheme and formula for content, sonnets also
follow a strict rhythmic pattern called iambic pentameter. An iamb is a
poetic foot with one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, as
in the word again. Pentameter is verse written in five-foot lines. In a
sonnet, each line contains five unaccented and five accented syllables in
the pattern “da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM.”
Shall I / com PARE/ thee TO / a SUM / mer’s DAY?
Thou ART / more LOVE / ly AND / more TEM / per ATE
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2. Another common sonnet form is known as the Italian sonnet,
or the Petrarchan sonnet, named for the Italian poet Petrarch.
In this format, the sonnet’s 14 lines are split into an octet, or a
group of eight lines, and a sestet, or a group of six lines. The
octet follows a set rhyme scheme of abba abba, but the sestet
may vary in its rhyme scheme. For example, it might have a
pattern of cdecde, or ccddee, or cddcdd. The point here is that
the poem is divided into two sections by the two differing
rhyme groups.
http://users.scc.spokane.edu/jroth/courses/literature%20131/poetry%20chest%20files/sonnets%20made%20easy.htm
The first 8 lines,
the octave,
develop the
situation/question
The last 6 lines,
the sestet,
provide the
resolution
Example: My college life has left me without sleep.
I study every night locked in my room.
The walls at times feel almost like a tomb;
The loneliness doth cause my soul to weep.
Great tears of sadness flow from eyes that keep
Returning to the text where answers loom,
Enshrouded in a chapter like a womb,
My eyes throughout the words do futilely creep.
I must a Big Mac eat or I will die
Of hunger gnawing at my fragile mind
That cannot read another word of this.
I also want a piece of apple pie
That Ronald has so patiently refined.
I must these eat or I will be a mess
A
B
B
A
A
B
B
A
C
D
E
C
D
E
http://users.scc.spokane.edu/jroth/courses/literature%20131/poetry%20chest%20files/sonnets%20made%20easy.htm
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Freeman
English II
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E. A villanelle is a nineteen-line form with a pattern of repeated lines and a
specific rhyme scheme.
•
•
The lines of a villanelle are grouped into five three-line stanzas
and one four-line stanza. The lines rhyme aba, aba, aba, aba,
aba, abaa.
This deliberate repetition can create a chanting effect
“Do not go Gentle into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
Line 3 is repeated in
lines 9, 15, and 19.
Line 1 is repeated in
lines 6, 12, and 18.
(1) Do not go gentle into that good night,
(2) Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
(3) Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
A
B
A
(4) Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
(5) Because their words had forked no lightning they
(6) Do not go gentle into that good night.
A
B
A
(7) Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
(8) Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
(9) Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
A
B
A
(10) Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
(11) And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
(12) Do not go gentle into that good night.
A
B
A
(13) Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
(14) Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
(15) Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
A
B
A
(16) And you, my father, there on the sad height,
(17) Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
(18) Do not go gentle into that good night.
(19) Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
A
B
A
A
https://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377
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V.
Devices
A. Figurative language to make comparisons.
o Similes use like or as to compare unlike things;
o metaphors speak of one thing in terms of another;
o personification gives human traits to nonhuman things
Dreams by Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
(personification)
(metaphor)
(repetition)
(personification)
(metaphor)
Its theme is to never give up.
Add a third stanza to this poem that includes a simile and repetition.
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B. Imagery to create vivid impressions, or images.
o Images are developed using sensory language, which relates to the
senses of sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing, and movement.
C. Sound devices to achieve a musical quality.
o rhythm, the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables of words in
sequence (an ordered pattern of rhythm is meter);
o rhyme, the repetition of identical or similar sounds in the last syllables
of words;
o alliteration, the repetition of the initial consonant sounds of words;
o assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close to
each other;
o consonance, the repetition of consonants in words that are close to
each other and contain different vowels.
D. Allusions, which are references to a well-known person, place, event, or
literary work.
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A. DIRECTIONS: Read the description of each element of poetry. Then, write its
definition. Choose from the terms in boldface type in the preceding passage.
_______________ 1. a comparison that speaks of one thing in terms of another
_______________ 2. the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in sequence
_______________ 3. a long narrative poem about the accomplishments of a hero
_______________ 4. a poem without rhyme or a set pattern of rhythm
_______________ 5. the repetition of similar sounds in the last syllables of words
_______________ 6. nonhuman things described as having human traits
_______________ 7. vivid impressions that relate to the senses
_______________ 8. a fourteen-line lyric poem
B. DIRECTIONS: Read this poem. Then, describe the form it takes and the devices it
uses.
The snow fell all night / A blanket bringing no warmth / Winter has arrived.
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ANSWERS
Learning About Poetry
A. 1. metaphor
2. rhythm
3. epic
4. free verse
5. rhyme
6. personification
7. imagery
8. sonnet
B. It is a haiku. It uses imagery (blanket appeals to the sense of sight; no warmth appeals to the
sense of touch), metaphor (the snow is described as a blanket), and alliteration (blanket bringing;
warmth / Winter).
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English II
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