Elements of Poetry

Key Concepts and Examples

What is poetry?O No single definitionO Most concentrated and condensed

form of literatureO Intense focus on each word and line

and how they operate together to communicate experiences

O Focus on communicating experiencesO No lesson or moral requiredO Not always beautiful

Where do we begin?O Denotation vs. ConnotationO Literal meaning vs. Figurative

meaningO Figures of speech and figurative

languageO Sound devices and musicalityO Rhythm and meterO Tone and Theme

What do words mean?O Denotation

O Dictionary definition of a word; literal meaning

O ConnotationO Implied or suggested meaning of a wordO Depends upon implication or shared

emotional associationO Example:

O “Greasy” has a negative connotation, independent of dictionary definition

Literal meaning vs. figurative meaning

O Literal MeaningO The simplest, most obvious meaningO Tied to denotation of wordsO “The sky is gray” tells the color of the sky.

O Figurative MeaningO Associational or connotative meaningO Tied to representations, symbolic meaningO “The sky is gray” suggests an ominous,

foreboding atmosphere.

Why are connotation and figurative meaning important?

O Poems do not have only a literal meaning, but they have deeper meanings tied to their connotative or figurative meaning

O Poets use connotations to develop or complicate a poem’s meaning

O William Carlos Williams, “The Red Wheelbarrow”

O Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro”

What is figurative language?

O Language that cannot be taken literally or only literally

O Language that employs figures of speechO Figures of speech – ways of saying

something other than the ordinary way, where you say one thing and mean another

O Examples: “It’s raining cats and dogs” or “I could eat a horse”

Types of figurative languageO Simile

O A comparison of two essentially unlike things using “like” or “as”

O Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”O Metaphor

O A comparison of two essentially unlike things without using words; application of a name or description to something to which it is not literally applicable

O Literal and figurative terms may be named or implied

O Ezra Pound, “In a Station of the Metro”

Types of Figurative Language

O PersonificationO Giving the attributes of a person to an

animal, object, or conceptO Tennyson, “The Eagle”

O ApostropheO Addressing someone absent or dead or

something nonhuman as if that person or thing were present and alive

O Angelou, “Woman Work”

Types of Figurative Language

O HyperboleO Overstatement, exaggeration in the

service of truthO Tennyson, “The Eagle”; Wordsworth,

“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”O Understatement

O Saying less than one meansO Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays”;

Hardy, “The Man He Killed”

Types of Figurative Language

O SymbolO Something that means, suggests more

than what it isO Functions both literally (what the

symbol is) and figuratively (what the symbol represents)

O Yeats, “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”O Hayden, “Those Winter Sundays”O Wordsworth, “I Wandered Lonely as a

Cloud”

What is the relationship between symbols and similes/metaphors?O Similes and metaphors compare two

seemingly unlike thingsO “Some dirty dog stole my wallet”

O Symbols associate two things using literal and figurative meaningO “You can’t teach an old dog new

tricks”

Types of Figurative Language

O ParadoxO A seeming contradiction that is somehow

trueO Valuable for shock effect, attracts attentionO Example: “Poetry is a language that tells

us, through a more or less emotional reaction, something that cannot be said.” Edwin Robinson

O Example: “Cowards die many times before their deaths; / The valiant never taste of death but once.” Shakespeare

Types of Figurative Language

O IronyO When you say or get the opposite of what

you mean or expect O Verbal irony – discrepancy between what

the speaker says and what the speaker means

O Dramatic irony – discrepancy between what the speaker says and what the poem means

O Owen, “Dulce et Decorum Est”O Brooks, “We Real Cool”

Types of Figurative Language

O PunO A play on words; a humorous use of a

single word or sound with two or more implied meanings

O OxymoronO A compact paradox in which two

successive words seemingly contradict one another

O Examples: bittersweet, wild civility, cold heat

Types of Figurative Language

O MetonymyO The use of something closely related

for the thing actually meantO Example: “The pen is mightier than

the sword”O Synecdoche

O A part substituted for the wholeO Yeats “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”

What poetic elements exist?

O ImageryO Words or sequence of words that

represent a sensory experience (sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch)

O Collins, “Introduction to Poetry” and nearly all poems

What poetic elements exist?

O AllusionO A reference to something in history

or previous literatureO Hopkins, “Spring”O Yeats, “No Second Coming”

What sound devices exist?

O Alliteration – repetition of initial consonant sounds

O Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds

O Consonance – repetition of final consonant sounds

O Onomatopoeia – use of words to imitate the sounds they describe

What sound devices exist

O Rhyme – repetition of accented vowel sounds and any succeeding consonant sounds

O Internal rhyme – one or more rhyming words within single line

O End rhyme – rhyming words at end of line

O Approximate rhyme – slant rhyme, words with any kind of sound similarity (alliteration, assonance, and consonance at end of lines)

What sound devices exist?

O Elision – omission of unstressed vowel or syllable to preserve meter

O Anaphora – repetition of opening word of phrase in a series of lines (Angelou, “Woman Work”)

O Refrain – repetition of whole words, phrases, lines, or groups of lines according to fixed pattern (Shakespeare, “Winter”)

What is meter?O Meter – measured pattern of

rhythmic accents in a line of verseO Foot – basic unit of meter, consisting

of one accented syllable plus one or two unaccented syllables

O Iambic (iamb) – metrical foot containing two syllables, first unstressed, second stressed

O Iambic pentameter – five iambic feet

What is rhythm?O Rhythm – natural rise and fall of language

O Corresponds to alternation between accented (stressed) and unaccented (unstressed) syllables

O End-stopped line – end of the line corresponds with natural speech pause

O Run-on line – no natural pause at end of the line; enjambment

O Caesura – a pause for a beat in the rhythm of the verse (within a line)

What poetic forms exist?

O Open vs. ClosedO Open – free from regularity and

consistencyO Closed – follows fixed structure and

pattern (rhyme, length, meter)O Blank verse vs. Free verse

O Blank verse – unrhymed iambic pentameter (Shakespeare’s plays)

O Free verse – no prescribed pattern or structure

What poetic forms exist?

O Stanza – unit of poetic lines, verse paragraphO Couplet – a pair of lines, usually rhymedO Heroic couplet – pair of rhymed lines in

iambic pentameterO Sonnet

O 14 lines, iambic pentameter, prescribed rhymeO English (Shakespearean) sonnet: abab cdcd

efef ggO Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet: abbaabba cdecde

OR cdcdcd

Tone and SubjectO Tone

O The writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward the subject, the reader, or herself of himself

O SubjectO What is the poem about?

Meaning vs. ThemeO Poem’s meaning – the experience it

expressesO What experience does the poem

communicate, and how well does it do so?O Poem’s theme

O The central idea or unifying generalizations implied or stated by a literary work

O Ascertain from the poem itselfO Not simply the subject of the poem, but

what does the poem suggest about a subject

How do we approach poems?

O Six StepsO Read aloud twice – define unknown

words – initial impressions, responses, observations – TP-CASTT analysis – return to initial impressions, responses, observations – evaluate the poem

O TP-CASTTO Title – Paraphrase – Connotations –

Attitude – Shifts– Title – Theme