ELEMENTS OF POETRY

POETRYElements of PoetryPoetic DevicesTypes of PoetryForms of Poetry

Poetry is thoughts that breath and words that burn- Thomas Gray

The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings- Wordsworth

"If I read a book and it makes my body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry- Emily Dickinson

ELEMENTS OF POETRYFORMLINESSTANZASRHYMEPATTERNRHYTHMEUPHONY

FORM

Each poet uses the "form" which will most effectively EXPRESS what he wants to convey to other human beings.Traditional poetry used to follow very strict forms. This kind of poetry is called FREE VERSE. It is most often used in modern times and presents a multitude of possibilities. The poet uses free form to make the poem fit the contents and to express the mood or feeling of his work.

LINES

These are the vehicle of the authors thoughts and ideas. These are the building blocks with which to create a poem. The WORDS of each line proceed as usual from left to right, but they curiously end where the poet wants them to stop. Therefore, you may have some lines that are of equal length and others which are not.Besides the length and margining of the first word in each line, the PUNCTUATION at the end of each is also a major tool for the poet. At times he will want us to make a full stop, other times a gentle or slight pause, and even others perhaps a sudden break, and so on. Ultimately, then, poetry creates sensations, moods, and images in the reader's mind.

STANZAS

The lines in a poem are most often divided into sections looking as some sort of paragraphing. These we call STANZAS. A stanza, therefore, is the grouping of the lines, sort of like a paragraph.One way to identify a stanza is to count the number of lines. Thus:couplet (2 lines)tercet (3 lines)quatrain (4 lines)cinquain (5 lines)sestet (6 lines)(sometimes it's called a sexain)septet (7 lines)octave(8 lines)

RHYME

Rhyme is the SONIC imitation usually of end syllables of words.Two kinds of Rhyme:1. END RHYME In which the words at the end of a given line rhyme. 2. INTERNAL RHYMEThis kind of rhyming is different from end rhyme in that the rhyming takes place somewhere within the line and not at the end. But most of us find it more natural to use rhyming at the end and not in the middle of our poem's lines. Still, the most widely read and enjoyed poetry artfully combines these and other patterns and techniques for the creation of the poems.Ex: (Internal Rhyme)It won't be LONG before my SONG ends the day,And the FLOWERS near the TOWERS reach the sky.

Colonel John McCrae wrote a famous poem called 'In Flanders Fields,' which uses end rhyme to create a rhythmic flow as he expresses his grief over the fallen soldiers who died on Flanders' battlefield during World War I. Here's the first stanza of the poem:

'In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, fly.Scarce heard amid the guns below.

In lines one and two, the words 'blow' and 'row' rhyme, as do the words 'sky' and 'fly' in lines three and four. In line five, the word 'below' rhymes with the first two lines. In order to use end rhyme, one does not need to make every line rhyme. Only two lines need to rhyme in order to create end rhyme, but McCrae chose to use end rhyme multiple times to enhance the musicality of the poem.

PATTERN

Rhyme contributes in creating a pattern when read appropriately. It creates a special effect which results in being pleasant and motivating.

AABBMany poems that follow the AABB pattern are broken into quatrains, which are four line stanzas, where the first and second lines rhyme and the third and fourth lines rhyme. He'll Never KnowI want to run, I want to hideFrom all the pain he caused inside.I want to scream, I want to cry.Why can't I tell him goodbye?

I want to move on, I just can't let go.I love him more than he will ever know.I want to start over, I want to feel free!But this pain will never leave me be.

He hurt me bad, the pain is deep.From all the promises he couldn't keep.All the lies, I heard him say.Are in my head and just won't fade.

How can I forget him, leave the him behind.Erase the memories from my mind.He doesn't love me, and he never will.He will never care how I feel.- Jenifer

ABCBIn an ABCB format, the second and forth lines of the stanza rhyme. The first and third lines do not rhyme with any others.

One More DaySitting sadly on my bedListening to the wild winds blow,Crying bitterly behind my hair,Trying not to let it show.

Knowing that you won't be backYou left without good-byes,Never to mend my broken heart,Letting loose my cries.

Every day I waitedAnd every day I prayed,Hoping God would leave you hereAt least just one more day. Tanya Heasman

ABABIn an ABAB format, the rhyming alternates lines. The first and third rhyme with each other, and the second and fourth rhyme.

Healing LoveOh Great God, You alone can easeThe pounding of my troubled heartOnly with You I am at peaceFor You make all my fears depart

Comfort me with Your blazing loveAnd pacify my worried soulYour grace of love from up aboveIs healing love that makes me whole

Cast away all my doubts and fearsAnd lift my downcast spirit, LordPlease let my heart be brought to cheerBy Your comforting love and Word

My body and mind may be frailBut your healing love keeps me strongYour love will never ever failSo to me, nothing will go wrong- Jocelyn S. Ongdico

And it is rhyme which is one of the contributors to the pattern created in reading or writing a poem:

SQUEEZE ... TEASE;RUN ... FUN;DEMONSTRATE ... WHAT SHE ATE.Another contributor to pattern is the number of syllables, as can be seen in the third set of the examples given right above. DE-MONS-TRATE as imitated by WHAT-SHE-ATE. Still another element which contributes to pattern is the accommodation and distribution of the lines. The reader is thus led or even forced into following a given pattern, and BEAT.

But the ultimate creator of pattern is the combination of the STRESSED SYLLABLES IN ANY PARTICULAR LINE of a poem.

RHYTHM

This brings us to the topic of RHYTHM, perhaps the pivot point of all the elements, because it is rhythm which creates the pleasant gliding effect when we read a poem. It helps us as readers to travel along the lines of the poem with a certain enjoyable tempo created by the components of rhythm.

Counting-Out Rhyme

Silver bark of beech , and sallowBark of yellow birch and yellow Twig of willow.

Stripe of green in moosewood maple,Colour seen in leaf of apples,Bark of popple.

Wood of popple pale as moonbeam,Wood of oak for yoke and bran-beam,Wood of hornbeam.

Silver bark of beech, and hollowStem of elder, tall and yellowTwig of willow.-Edna St. Vincent Millay

MeterThe systematic regularity in rhythm; thissystematicrhythm (or sound pattern) is usually identified by examining thetypeof "foot"and thenumberof feet.

1. Poetic Foot:The traditional line of metered poetry contains a number of rhythmical units, which are calledfeet. The feet in a line are distinguished as a recurring pattern oftwo or three syllables("apple" has 2 syllables, "banana" has 3 syllables, etc.). The pattern, or foot, is designated according to thenumberof syllables contained, and therelationshipin each foot between the strong and weak syllables.Thus:

__ =a stressed (or strong, orLOUD) syllableU = an unstressed (orweak, orquiet) syllable

In other words, any line of poetry with a systematic rhythm has a certain number of feet, andeach foothastwo or three syllableswith aconstant beat pattern.a. Iamb (Iambic) - weak syllable followed by strong syllable. [Note that the pattern is sometimes fairly hard tomaintain, as in the third foot.]

b. Trochee (Trochaic): strong syllable followed by a weak syllable.

c. Anapest (Anapestic): two weak syllables followed by a strong syllable.e.g.In herroomat theprowof thehouseWhere lightbreaks, and thewindows aretossed...

From "The Writer", by Richard Wilbur

d. Dactyl (Dactylic): a strong syllable followed by two weak syllables.

Here's another (silly) example of dactylic rhythm.DDDAwas an /archer, who /shotat a /frogDDDBwas a /butcher, and /hada great /dogDDDCwas a /captain, all /covered with /laceDDDDwas a /drunkard, and /hada red /face.e. Spondee (Spondaic): two strong syllables (not common as lines, but appears as a foot). A spondee usually appears at the end of a line.

2. The Number of Feet: The second part of meter is the number of feet contained in a line.Thus:one foot=monometertwo feet=dimeterthree feet=trimeterfour feet=tetrameterfive feet=pentametersix feet=hexameter (when hexameter is in iambic rhythm, it is called an alexandrine)

Poems with an identifiable meter are therefore identified by the type of feet (e.g. iambic) and the number of feet in a line (e.g. pentameter).The following line is iambic pentameter because it (1) has five feet [pentameter], and (2) each foot has two syllables with the stress on the second syllable [iambic].Thattime| ofyear| thoumayst| inme| beholdThus, you will hear meter identified as iambic pentameter, trochaic tetrameter, and so on.

3. Irregularity:Many metered poems in English avoid perfectly regular rhythm because it is monotonous. Irregularities in rhythm add interest and emphasis to the lines. In this line:The first foot substitutes a trochee for an iamb. Thus, the basic iambic pentameter is varied with the opening trochee.

4. Blank Verse:Any poetry thatdoeshaveaset metrical pattern (usually iambic pentameter), butdoesnothaverhyme, is blank verse. Shakespeare frequently used unrhymed iambic pentameter in his plays; his works are an early example of blank verse.

5. Free Verse:Most modern poetry no longer follows strict rules of meterorrhyme, especially throughout an entire poem. Free verse, frankly, has no rules about meterorrhyme whatsoever! [In other words, blank versehasrhythm, butnorhyme, while free verse hasneitherrhythmnorrhyme.] So, you may find it difficult to find regular iambic pentameter in a modern poem, though you might find it in particular lines. Modern poets do like to throw in the occasional line or phrase of metered poetry, particularly if theyre trying to create a certain effect. Free verse can also apply to a lack of a formal verse structure.

EUPHONY

EUPHONY is simply the combination of agreeable and melodious sounds which make a poem pleasant to listen to. It is the nice- sounding tone of a poem when read. This is the reason why a poem is never as effective as when read aloud -- simply because poetry in general deals a lot with the euphonic sounds contained within it. EUPHONY is perhaps one ultimate aim of poetry. The esthete -- the beautiful. It is poetry which allows mankind to express such beauty from within. Poetry itself is beauty created.

POETIC DEVICESALLITERATIONREPETITIONONOPMATOPOEIAINVERSIONFIGURE OF SPEECHIMAGERYVARIETYASSONANCE

ALLITERATIONThe purposeful repetition of a consonant sound in two or more consecutive words, usually at the beginning of such words.

Poem:"The Raven" by Edgar Allan PoeExample:Once upon a midnight drearywhile I ponderedweak andweary(1);rare andradiant maiden (11); And thesilkensad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain (notice thedeft use of consonanceas well) (13);Deep into thatdarkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, /Doubting,dreamingdreams no mortal everdared todream before (19-20).

Analysis:One purpose of alliteration is to draw attention to specific words. When combined with other sound devices--rhyme, assonance, consonance, rhythm, meter, for example--the effect multiplies. In line 1, Poe repeats thewsound, with the last example beingweary.Wearyalso happens to end a couplet, drawing added emphasis to it. The critical reader and thinker, therefore must ask himself, why? The narrator could be weary with life, the reason for which is given throughout the poem; Poe may emphasize the narrator's weariness as a clue that perhaps he's fallen asleep and the entire episode is a dream or an hallucination.

REPETITIONa) Repetition of WORDS/ IDEAS/ or, IMAGES;b) ANAPHORA:The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines or stanzas.Tomorrow when the sun comes out,Tomorrow when the birds sing out,Tomorrow it will come to be,Tomorrow, when you'll come to me.c) ANADIPLOSIS:The repetition of a word or phrase at the end of one line and at the beginning of the next; or, at the end of the last line in a stanza or verse, and at the beginning of the next stanza.She will never come to this my land,To this my land where I belong.

ONOMATOPOEIA

The use of words which imitate the sounds they stand for.BEACH ORCHESTRA

The waves are racingTowards the shoreBooming crashingmore more more!The sand is crunching beaneth my feetBoom crash crunch crunchI march to the beatSandcastles topplingUmbrellas whisking byStorm clouds brewingLand meets sky

Booming wavesBiting windsFull grey cloudsLet the storm begin.

-

INVERSIONa) ANASTROPHE:To the sea she went,Without smiling they parted,b) HYSTERON-PROTERON (the last first):Then came the thunder.Out she went.Fear she felt.

FIGURES OF SPEECHSIMILEMETAPHORPERSONIFICATIONHYPERBOLESYNECDOCHEMYTONYMYSYMBOLALLEGORYIRONY

SimileMetaphoris the rhetorical term used to designate the most elementary form of resemblances: most similes are introduced by "like" or "as." These comparisons are usually between dissimilar situations or objects that have something in common, such as "My love is like a red, red rose.

- leaves out "like" or "as" and implies a direct comparison between objects or situations. "All flesh is grass."

Storm At Sea

CRASHING waves... SMASHING seas...Bringing sailors to their knees.As they struggle to save their lives,Hoping and praying help arrives.

The stormy seas as dark as coal,Preventing the sailors from reaching their goal.Battered and bruised, but still they fight...Staring ahead into the dead of night.Rocking and rolling as they try to stand...Hoping against hope that they soon reach land.

Bleary eyed from lack of sleep.Down in their cabins, huddled like sheep.As they're rocking and rolling down beneath,Weary sailors above resist with gritted teeth.

Hours later, as the storm starts to dissipate,It leaves a calm tranquil sea in it wake.The veteran sailors know the battle is over and they have won...As they contemplate other storms yet to come...

By Amar Qamar

Source:http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/storm-at-sea

Synecdocheis a form of metaphor, which in mentioning an important (and attached) part signifies the whole (e.g. "hands" for labor).

Examples: Boots on the groundrefers to soldiersNew wheelsrefers to a new carAsk for her handrefers to asking a woman to marrySuitscan refer to businesspeoplePlasticcan refer to credit cardsThe White Housecan refer to statements made by individuals within the United States government

Metonymyis similar to synecdoche; it's a form of metaphor allowing an object closely associated (but unattached) with a object or situation to stand for the thing itself (e.g. the crown or throne for a king or the bench for the judicial system).Example: The given lines are fromShakespeares Julies Caesar Act I.Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.Mark Anthony uses ears to say that he wants the people present there to listen to him attentively. It is a metonymy because the word ears replaces the concept of attention.

Symbolis like a simile or metaphor with the first term left out. "My love is like a red, red rose" is a simile. If, through persistent identification of the rose with the beloved woman, we may come to associate the rose with her and her particular virtues. At this point, the rose would become a symbol.

My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold

My heart leaps up when I beholdA rainbow in the skySpring and daisies means youth in Sara Teasdales Wild Asters:In the spring, I asked the daisiesIf his words were true,And the clever, clear-eyed daisiesAlways knew.Brown and barren means growing old in Sara Teasdales Wild Asters:Now the fields are brown and barren,Bitter autumn blows,Bitter autumn means death in Sara Teasdales Wild Asters:Now the fields are brown and barren,Bitter autumn blows,And of all the stupid astersNot one knows.- William Wordsworths

Allegory- can be defined as a one to one correspondence between a series of abstract ideas and a series of images or pictures presented in the form of a story or a narrative. For example, George Orwell'sAnimal Farmis an extended allegory that represents the Russian Revolution through a fable of a farm and its rebellious animals.

1. Animal Farm, written by GeorgeOrwell, is an allegory that uses animals on a farm to describe the overthrow of the last of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the Communist Revolution of Russia before WW I. The actions of the animals on the farm are used to expose the greed and corruption of the revolution. It also describes how powerful people can change the ideology of a society. One of the cardinal rules on the farm for the animals is:All animals are equalbut a few are more equal than others.The animals on the farm represent different sections of Russian society after the revolution.For instance, the pigs represent those who came to power following the revolution; Mr. Jones the owner of the farm represents the overthrown Tsar Nicholas II; while Boxer the horse, represents the laborer class etc. The use of allegory in the novel allows Orwell to make his position clear about the Russian Revolution and expose its evils.

Personificationoccurs when you treat abstractions or inanimate objects as human, that is, giving them human attributes, powers, or feelings (e.g., "nature wept" or "the wind whispered many truths to me").

Look at the human characteristics used by Howard Nemerov in his poem The Vacuum. Also notice how personification reveals the speakers attitude toward housekeeping.

The Vacuum

The house is quiet nowThe vacuum cleaner sulks in the corner closet,Its bag limp as a stopped lung, its mouthGrinning into the floor, maybe at my Slovenly life, my dog-dead youth.

Ive lived this way long enough,But when my old woman died her soulWent into that vacuum cleaner, and I cant bearTo see the bag swell like a belly, eating the dustAnd the woolen mice, and begin to howl

Because there is old filth everywhereShe used to crawl, in corner and under the stair.I know now how life is cheap as dirt,And still the hungry, angry heartHangs on and howls, biting at air.

Ironytakes many forms. Most basically, irony is a figure of speech in which actual intent is expressed through words that carry the opposite meaning.Paradox: usually a literal contradiction of terms or situationsSituational Irony: an unmailed letterDramatic Irony: audience has more information or greater perspective than the charactersVerbal Irony: saying one thing but meaning anotherOverstatement (hyperbole)Understatement (meiosis)SarcasmIrony may be a positive or negative force. It is most valuable as a mode of perception that assists the poet to see around and behind opposed attitudes, and to see the often conflicting interpretations that come from our examination of life.

We come across the following lines inShakespeares Romeo and Juliet, Act I, Scene V.Go ask his name: if he be married.My grave is like to be my wedding bed.Juliet commands her nurse to find out who Romeo was and says if he were married, then her wedding bed would be her grave. It is a verbal irony because the audience knows that she is going to die on her wedding bed.

IMAGERYThe use of language, sensory language, language which stimulates the reader's imagination. The use of the sensory language which serves to transmit or invoke the same or similar images in the reader's mind.

Those Winter SundaysSundays too my father got up earlyand put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,then with cracked hands that achedfrom labor in the weekday weather madebanked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

Id wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.When the rooms were warm, hed call,and slowly I would rise and dress,fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,who had driven out the coldand polished my good shoes as well.What did I know, what did I know of loves austere and lonely offices?Robert Hayden

VARIETYThe use of variety in length of lines, rhythm, rhyme, distribution of lines and words, and anything else which adds to the EFFECTIVENESS of the poem. Variety may be used to create humor, depression, or many other moods or sensations. The effective poet learns to use variety whenever and wherever it serves his purposes of expression and externalization of internal experiences.

AssonanceTakes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds.

Mensell theweddingbells.

The same vowel sound of the short vowel -e- repeats itself in almost all the words excluding the definite article. The words do share the same vowel sounds but start with different consonant sounds unlikealliterationthat involvesrepetitionof the same consonant sounds.

TYPES of POETRYNARRATIVELYRIC/DESCRIPTIVEHUMOROUS

NARRATIVEThere are many kinds or types of poems. Some describe what poets see; some what they remember; and others what they perceive through other senses. But other poems are intended to tell a story. These are called NARRATIVE POEMS. Just like the regular stories which you read in your literature courses, a narrative poem also has the same basic elements. It has a setting, one or more characters in it, usually a conflict, a plot which builds up to a climax, and even a conclusion, oftentimes. The story which the narrative poem tells can also be about almost anything.

On Being HumanAngelic minds, they say, by simple intelligence Behold the Forms of nature.They discern Unerringly the Archtypes, all the verities Which mortals lack or indirectly learn.

Transparent in primordial truth, unvarying, Pure Earthness and right Stonehood from their clear, High eminence are seen; unveiled, the seminal Huge Principles appear.

The Tree-ness of the tree they know-the meaning of Arboreal life, how from earth's salty lap The solar beam uplifts it; all the holiness Enacted by leaves' fall and rising sap; But never an angel knows the knife-edged severance Of sun from shadow where the trees begin, The blessed cool at every pore caressing us -An angel has no skin.

They see the Form of Air; but mortals breathing it Drink the whole summer down into the breast.The lavish pinks, the field new-mown, the ravishing Sea-smells, the wood-fire smoke that whispers Rest.

The tremor on the rippled pool of memory That from each smell in widening circles goes, The pleasure and the pang --can angels measure it? An angel has no nose.

The nourishing of life, and how it flourishes On death, and why, they utterly know; but not The hill-born, earthy spring, the dark cold bilberries.

The ripe peach from the southern wall still hot Full-bellied tankards foamy-topped, the delicate Half-lyric lamb, a new loaf's billowy curves, Nor porridge, nor the tingling taste of oranges.

An angel has no nerves.

Far richer they! I know the senses' witchery Guards us like air, from heavens too big to see; Imminent death to man that barb'd sublimity And dazzling edge of beauty unsheathed would be.

Yet here, within this tiny, charmed interior, This parlour of the brain, their Maker shares With living men some secrets in a privacy Forever ours, not theirs.

LYRIC/DESCRIPTIVELYRIC poetry, also called DESCRIPTIVE poetry, is a very personal kind of poetry. It is usually brief, melodic, and very expressive. It is descriptive in essence, and conveys IMPRESSIONS, FEELINGS, EMOTIONS, SENSATIONS, and very personal and INTIMATE VIEWS concerning an experience. Lyric or Descriptive poetry may touch such themes as: nature, beauty, love and friendship, the joy of life, death, patriotism, and the like.

Dying(aka I heard a fly buzz when I died )

I heard a fly buzz when I died;The stillness round my formWas like the stillness in the airBetween the heaves of storm.byEmilyDickinson

HUMOROUSIt is probable that you, as student of literature, have never really stopped to think how versatile poetry is. But it is because poetry is so FLEXIBLE, so PLASTIC, that there are so many varieties of poetry in the world or nation. The plasticity of poetry makes it possible therefore for author's to bend and shape this kind of written expression to suit their needs or purposes.It is no wonder then that some poets should choose HUMOR as their main purpose in writing a poem.

A BUBBLEMRS. Mehitable Marcia MooreWas a dame of superior mind,With a gown which, modestly fitting before,Was greatly puffed up behind.

The bustle she wore was ingeniously plannedWith an inspiration bright:It magnified seven diameters andWas remarkably nice and light.

It was made of rubber and edged with laceAnd riveted all with brass,And the whole immense interior spaceInflated with hydrogen gas.The ladies all said when she hove in viewLike the round and rising moon:"She's a stuck up thing!" which was partly true,And men called her the Captive Balloon.

To Manhattan Beach for a bath one dayShe went and she said: "O dear!If I leave ofthiswhat will people say?I shall look so uncommonly queer!

"So a costume she had accordingly madeTo take it all nicely in,And when she appeared in that suit arrayed,She was greeted with many a grin.

Proudly and happily looking around,She waded out into the wet;But the water was very, very profound,And her feet and her forehead met!

As her bubble drifted away from the shore,On the glassy billows borne,All cried: "Why, where is Mehitable Moore?I saw her go in, I'll be sworn!

"Then the bulb it swelled as the sun grew hot,Till it burst with a sullen roar,And the sea like oil closed over the spot--Farewell, O Mehitable Moore!

- by: Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

FORMS of POETRYLIMERICKHAIKUBALLADFREE VERSEEPICSONNETELEGYODE

LIMERICKA LIMERICK is a special type of poem intended to be humorous. It consists of five lines only. It is usually a nonsense verse which often concerns something ridiculous. But even so, it follows a regular and distinctive pattern.

HAIKU

This is a traditional form of poetry which originated in Japan. In form, it is apparently a very simplistic sort of poetry, but the truth is that it is an art trying to create Haiku poetry with the beauty and effectiveness it requires. Haiku poetry consists of only THREE lines in all.The first line of the Haiku poem must have FIVE syllables; the second line must have SEVEN syllables; and finally, the third must consist of another FIVE, just like the first. (5/7/5). Thus, the Haiku poet is obliged to describe as vividly as possible, in only seventeen syllables, a picture or IMAGE or SCENE which beautifully forms sharply in the reader's mind.

What is the Structure of a Haiku Poem?A Haiku consists of 3 lines and 17syllables.Each line has a set number of syllables see below:Line 1 5 syllablesLine 2 7 syllablesLine 3 5 syllablesAn Example of a Haiku Poem(5)The sky is so blue.(7)The sun is so warm up high.(5)I love the summer.Haiku poems don't need torhyme, but for more of a challenge some poets try to rhyme lines 1 and 3.

BALLAD

One of the oldest types of poetry is a special kind of Narrative poem known as the BALLAD. The Ballad tells a story and happens to be quite lengthy. As a rule, a Ballad is concerned with a sharp CONFLICT and with deep HUMAN EMOTION. Once in a great while, though, a ballad here and there will deal with the funnier side of life. But, as a rule ballads dealt with love, honor, courage, and death.The BALLAD STANZA contains FOUR LINES. The FOURTH line rhymes with the SECOND. The FIRST and THIRD lines usually have FOUR ACCENTED SYLLABLES while the SECOND and FOURTH have THREE each.

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,That a maiden lived whom you may knowBy the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thoughtThan to love and be loved by me.

Shewas a child andIwas a child,In this kingdom by the sea,But we loved with a love that was more than love I and my Annabel Lee With a love that the wingd seraphs of HeavenCoveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,In this kingdom by the sea,A wind blew out of a cloud by nightChilling my Annabel Lee;So that her high-born kinsmen cameAnd bore her away from me,To shut her up, in a sepulchreIn this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,Went envying her and me;Yes! that was the reason (as all men know,In this kingdom by the sea)That the wind came out of the cloud, chillingAnd killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the loveOf those who were older than we Of many far wiser than we And neither the angels in Heaven aboveNor the demons down under the seaCan ever dissever my soul from the soulOf the beautiful Annabel Lee:

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreamsOf the beautiful Annabel Lee;And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyesOf the beautiful Annabel Lee;And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the sideOf my darling, my darling, my life and my brideIn her sepulchre there by the sea In her tomb by the side of the sea.

Edgar Allan Poe (1849)

FREE VERSEThe poet uses free form to make the poem fit the contents and to express the mood or feeling of his intentions or purposes. The length of the lines is irregular, the indentation of the lines may also vary from one to the next, it does use rhythm, but it seldom uses end rhyme nor regular stanzas. Capitalization of the first letter in each line and proper nouns is unorthodox or conveniently changed. Punctuation is equally affected, and the distribution of the lines and words is entirely in the hands of the writer. Most poetry we read today, therefore, is Free Verse.

After the Sea-Ship

After the Sea-Shipafter the whistling winds;After the white-gray sails, taut to their spars and ropes,Below, a myriad, myriad waves, hastening, lifting up their necks,Tending in ceaseless flow toward the track of the ship:Waves of the ocean, bubbling and gurgling, blithely prying,Waves, undulating wavesliquid, uneven, emulous waves,Toward that whirling current, laughing and buoyant, with curves,Where the great Vessel, sailing and tacking, displaced the surface;by Walt Whitman

EPICIt is a longnarrativepoem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a legendary or historical hero.

The Iliad (800 BCE)Iliadis another example of an epic. It was written by the popular Greek poet, Homer. It relates the story of the Trojan wars, involving themes of courage, boldness,lovefor ones country andnostalgiaof family. However, it describes many legends related to the siege of Troy, the events took place before the siege, the gathering of the warriors prior to the siege and the causes of the war. Later, the epic foretold the looming death of Achilles and the destruction of Troy. The style of narration is grand, and suits an epic poem the reason that it is still one the most celebrated work of antiquity.

SONNETIt is alyricpoem consisting of14 linesand, in the English version, is usually written in iambic pentameter. There are two basic kinds of sonnets: the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet and the Shakespearean (or Elizabethan/English) sonnet. The Italian/Petrarchan sonnet is named after Petrarch, an Italian Renaissance poet. The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines).The Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains (four lines each) and a concluding couplet (two lines). The Petrarchan sonnet tends to divide the thought into two parts (argument and conclusion); the Shakespearean, into four (the final couplet is the summary).

A Shakespearean sonnet is generally written in an iambic pentameter, there are 10 syllables in each line. Therhythmof the lines must be as below:

From fairest creatures we desire increase,That therebybeautys rose might never die.But as the riper should by time decease,His tender heir might bear his memory:But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,Feedst thy lights flame with self-substantial fuel,Making a famine where abundance lies,Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.Thou that art now the worlds fresh ornamentAnd only herald to the gaudy spring,Within thine own bud buriest thy contentAnd, tender churl, makst waste in niggarding.Pity the world, or else this glutton be,To eat the worlds due, by the grave and thee

-WilliamShakespeare

ELEGYIt is alyricpoem that mourns the dead. [It's not to be confused with aeulogy.]It has no set metric or stanzaic pattern, but it usually begins by reminiscing about the dead person, then laments the reason for the death, and then resolves the grief by concluding that death leads to immortality. It often uses "apostrophe" (calling out to the dead person) as a literary technique. It can have a fairly formal style, and sound similar to an ode.

O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:But O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding drops of red,Where on the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills; 10For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding;For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;Here Captain! dear father!This arm beneath your head;It is some dream that on the deck,You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won; 20Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!But I, with mournful tread,Walk the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.

- WALT WITMAN

ODEIt is usually alyricpoem of moderate length, with a serious subject, an elevated style, and an elaborate stanza pattern.The Ship of State(Odes I, 14)Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) (65-8 B.C.)

On Ship! New billows sweep thee outSeaward. What wilt thou? Hold the port, be stoutSee'st not thy mastHow rent by stiff Southwestern blast?Thy side, of rowers how forlorn?Thine hull, with groaning yards, with rigging torn,Can ill sustainThe fierce, and ever fiercer main;Thy gods, no more than sails entire,From whom yet once they need might aid require,Oh Pontic Pine,The first of woodland stocks is thine.Yet race and name are but as dust,Not painted sterns gave storm-tost seamen trust;Unless thou dareTo be the sport of storms, beware.O fold at best a weary weight,A yearning care and constant strain of late,O shun the seasThat girt those glittering Cyclades