OVERVIEW

1

• OVERVIEW
• THE MUSIC AND FORMS
• OF POETRY

2
WHAT IS A POEM?

• NO UNIVERSALLY AGREED UPON DEFINITION AS TO WHAT
  A POEM IS, BUT ONE ESSENTIAL FACT IS THAT POETRY
  BEGAN AS SONG.

3
POETRY AS SONG

• WHAT MOST DISTINGUISHES POETRY FROM PROSE ARE ITS
  MUSICAL QUALITIES I.E., ITS RHYTHM, SOUND,
  STRUCTURAL PATTERNS.

4
RHYTHM

• LANGUAGE CONSISTS OF A SEQUENCE OF SOUNDS (VOWELS
  CONSONANTS) ORGANIZED INTO SYLLABLES OF VARYING
  EMPHASIS (OR STRESS).

5
RHYTHM (cont.)

• IF A POEMS RHYTHM IS ORGANIZED INTO A RECURRING
  PATTERN, THIS IS CALLED METER.

6
METER

• PROCESS OF ANALYZING A POEMS METER (I.E., OF
  DETERMINING THE PATTERN OF STRESSED UNSTRESSED
  SYLLABLES PER LINE) IS CALLED SCANSION.

7
METER (cont.)

• OF THE FOUR METRICAL SYSTEMS IN ENGLISH POETRY,
  THE MOST COMMON BY FAR IS ACCENTUAL-SYLLABIC
  METER.

8
METER (cont.)

• IN THIS METRICAL SYSTEM THE BASIC RHYTHMIC UNIT
  IS CALLED A FOOT (A COMBINATION OF 2 OR 3
  STRESSED AND/OR UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES).

9
METER (cont.)

• THE FOUR MOST COMMON FEET IN ENGLISH POETRY
• IAMB (adj. IAMBIC)
• unstressed-stressed (UPON, AWARE)
• TROCHEE (adj. TROCHAIC)
• stressed-unstressed (POEM, DELHI)

10
METER (cont.)

• COMMON FEET (cont.)
• ANAPEST (adj. ANAPESTIC)
• unstressed-unstressed-stressed
• (TENNESSEE)
• DACTYL (adj. DACTYLIC)
• stressed-unstressed-unstressed (DELAWARE)

11
METER (cont.)

• FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE RISE OF FREE VERSE IN
  THE 20TH CENTURY, IAMBIC METER WAS THE MOST
  COMMON IN ENGLISH POETRY, CONSIDERED BY MANY TO
  BE THE METER CLOSEST TO EVERYDAY SPEECH.

12
METER (cont.)

• NUMBER OF FEET PER LINE
• 1--MONOMETER
• 2--DIMETER
• 3--TRIMETER
• 4--TETRAMETER
• 5--PENTAMETER
• 6--HEXAMETER
• 7--HEPTAMETER

13
METER (cont.)

• MOST COMMON METRICAL LINE (OR BASE RHYTHM) IN
  ENGLISH POETRY IS IAMBIC PENTAMETER.

14
METER (cont.)

• TOO REGULAR OR OBVIOUS A METER CAN BECOME BORING,
  SO POETS OF-TEN INTRODUCE VARIATIONS INTO THE
  BASE RHYTHM OF A POEM.

15
METER (cont.)

• ITS ALSO IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT SCANSION
  INVOLVES A DEGREE OF INTERPRETATION, B/C THE
  RHYTHM OF A POEM CAN VARY FROM SPEAKER TO SPEAKER
  SITUATION TO SITUATION.

16
RHYTHM (cont.)

• IF A GRAMMATICAL PAUSE OCCURS AT THE END OF A
  LINE, THAT LINE IS SAID TO BE END-STOPPED. IT IS
  THE OPPOSITE OF A RUN-ON LINE, WHERE THERE IS NO
  PAUSE (OR PUNCTUATION) AT THE END.

17
RHYTHM (cont.)

• END-STOPPED LINES TEND TO SLOW DOWN THE PACE OF A
  POEM, WHILE RUN-ON LINES TEND TO SPEED IT UP.

18
COMMON SOUND EFFECTS

• MORE THAN ANY OTHER ELEMENT, RHYME IS WHAT MOST
  PEOPLE ASSOCIATE WITH POETRY.

19
RHYME DEFINED

• RHYME IS THE CORRESPONDENCE, IN TWO OR MORE
  WORDS, BETWEEN A VOWEL SOUND AND ANY SUBSEQUENT
  SOUNDS IN A STRESSED SYLLABLE (SUN/RUN,
  MAY/TODAY).

20
RHYME (cont.)

• RHYME MAY OCCUR AT THE END OF A LINE (END RHYME)
  OR IN THE MIDDLE (INTERNAL RHYME).

21
RHYME (cont.)

• POETS MAY EMPLOY PERFECT (TRUE, EXACT) RHYME, OR
  TAKE POETIC LICENSE AND USE VARIOUS FORMS OF
  IMPERFECT RHYME.

22
IMPERFECT RHYME (cont.)

• AN EXAMPLE OF IMPERFECT RHYME IS SLANT (OFF,
  NEAR, HALF) RHYME.
• USUALLY A MATCH OF CONSONANT SOUNDS FOLLOWING
  DIFFERENT VOWELS (MYTH/MATH, FORCE/FARCE).

23
IMPERFECT RHYMES (cont.)

• EYE RHYMES ARE WORDS WHOSE ENDINGS ARE SPELLED
  THE SAME BUT THAT OVER TIME HAVE COME TO BE
  PRONOUNCED DIFFERENTLY (E.G., LOVE, PROVE).

24
SOUND EFFECTS (cont.)

• ASSONANCE
• REPETITION OF IDENTICAL OR SIMILAR VOWEL SOUNDS
  FOLLOWED BY DIFF-ERENT CONSONANTS (LAKE/FATE,
  KILL/ KISS).

25
SOUND EFFECTS (cont.)

• ALLITERATION
• USUALLY THE REPETITION OF INITIAL CONSONANT (OR
  VOWEL) SOUNDS IN A SEQUENCE OF NEARBY WORDS (EX.
  THE FAIR BREEZE BLEW, THE WHITE FOAM FLEW).

26
SOUND EFFECTS (cont.)

• ONOMATOPOEIA
• USE OF WORDS THAT IMITATE SOUNDS OR THAT MATCH
  THE SOUND WITH THE SENSE OF THE WORD (E.G.,
  SPLASH, ZIP, CRACK).

27
MAJOR TYPES OF POETRY

• ONE USEFUL WAY OF THINKING ABOUT POETRY IS IN
  TERMS OF THREE BROAD CATEGORIES
• NARRATIVE POEMS
• DRAMATIC POEMS
• LYRIC POEMS

28
TYPES OF POETRY (cont.)

• NARRATIVE POEMS TELL STORIES, STRESS ACTION. THIS
  CATEGORY INCLUDES EPICS (SUCH AS BEOWULF)
  BALLADS (LIKE SIR PATRICK SPENCE).

29
TYPES OF POETRY (cont.)

• DRAMATIC POEMS ARE EITHER MONOLOGUES OR DIALOGUES
  WRIT-TEN IN THE VOICE OF A CHARACTER OR
  CHARACTERS CREATED BY THE POET.

30
DRAMATIC POEMS (cont.)

• EXAMPLES INCLUDE DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES SUCH AS
  BROWN-INGS MY LAST DUCHESS AND TENNYSONS
  ULYSSES.

31
TYPES OF POETRY (cont.)

• LYRIC POEMS EXPRESS THE THOUGHTS OR EMOTIONS OF A
  SINGLE SPEAKER WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE THE POET
  HIM- OR HERSELF.

32
LYRIC POEMS (cont.)

• THIS IS THE BROADEST CATEGORY OF POEMS AND
  INCLUDES SONNETS, ODES, AND ELEGIES, AMONG
  OTHERS.

33
BASIC FORMS OF POETRY

• BLANK VERSE
• UNRHYMED IAMBIC PENTAMETER THE VERSE FORM
  CLOSEST TO THE RHYTHMS OF EVERYDAY ENGLISH SPEECH.

34
BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.)

• COUPLET
• A TWO-LINE UNIT OF VERSE, USUALLY LINKED BY
  RHYME.
• TERCET
• A STANZA OF THREE LINES TRADITION-ALLY LINKED W/
  A SINGLE RHYME.

35
BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.)

• QUATRAIN
• A STANZA OF FOUR LINES, RHYMED OR UNRHYMED.
• THE MOST COMMON STANZA FORM IN ENGLISH POETRY.

36
QUATRAIN (cont.)

• MOST COMMON TYPE OF QUATRAIN IS THE BALLAD
  STANZA, IN WHICH LINES OF IAMBIC TETRAMETER
  ALTERNATE W/ IAMBIC TRIMETER, RHYMING ABCB (OR
  ABAB).

37
BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.)

• SONNET
• ONE OF THE OLDEST MOST WIDELY USED VERSE FORMS
  IN ENGLISH.
• TRADITIONALLY A 14-LINE LYRIC POEM IN IAMBIC
  PENTAMETER W/ AN INTRI-CATE RHYME SCHEME.

38
SONNET (cont.)

• ENGLISH SONNET
• CONSISTS OF THREE QUATRAINS (RHYM-ING ABAB CDCD
  EFEF) A COUPLET (RHYMING GG) THAT PROVIDES A
  COMMENTARY OR CONCLUSION.

39
THE FORMS OF POETRY (cont.)

• UNLIKE CLOSED FORM POEMS SUCH AS SONNETS, OPEN
  FORM (OR FREE VERSE) POEMS MAKE LITTLE OR NO USE
  OF TRADITIONAL RHYME ME-TER, ARE NOT WRITTEN
  ACCORDING TO ANY ESTABLISHED RULES OF
  VERSIFICATION.

40
POETIC SYNTAX

• READERS OF POETRY MUST BE ALERT TO HOW POETS
  OFTEN EXERCISE POETIC LICENSE WHEN IT COMES TO
  THE RULES GOVERNING EVERYDAY SPEECH (E.G., BY
  INVERTING NORMAL WORD ORDER), THUS POSING A
  CHAL-LENGE FOR READERS.