Elements of Poetry

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Elements of Poetry
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• With poetry, we put words together in a creative
  way to express an idea, emotion or image (or even
  to tell a story).

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• Poetry is made up of different elements, each of
  which may or may not be used in a given poem. By
  becoming familiar with the elements of poetry,
  you'll be able to manipulate them more easily and
  improve your writing..

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• Title
• The title is the first thing a reader will see,
  so it's important to get it exactly right. With
  many poems, the title functions as the first line
  of the poem with others, there is no actual
  title, so the poem is known by its first line
  (that line "becomes" the title, in effect). A
  good title can add depth to the poem, or help
  illuminate the meaning for the reader. A bad
  title can be too obvious, too revealing, or
  simply confusing. This small element deserves
  more thought than it usually gets.

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• Imagery
• Almost every poem ever written has imagery in it
  (as do fiction and non-fiction). Imagery is all
  the detail of the senses that make a poem come
  alive for the reader. It includes not only visual
  information (images), but also information from
  the other senses. Imagery can be used simply to
  write about a setting or event, such as a poem
  about the forest, or about a day at the beach.
  Imagery can also be used metaphorically, where
  the detail described refers to something else
  entirely.
• More What is Imagery?

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• Plot
• Did you think that only fiction had plots? Well,
  poems have plots, too. The plot of a poem is the
  underlying idea or impulse that connects all the
  individual ideas or images together and arranges
  them in an effective way. A narrative poem, for
  example, uses plot in much the same way as
  fiction does, in order to tell a story. Other
  kinds of poems might have plots that pose and
  seek to answer questions, that contrast ideal
  images with reality, or that progress through
  images from blurry to sharp.

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• Diction
• All creative writing is written in artificially
  constructed language that is, poetry isn't the
  way we talk every day. The kind of language you
  choose for a poem, its range of vocabulary, is
  its diction. The words you choose--whether you
  use old-fashioned "poetic diction" or something
  that sounds like contemporary street
  slang--affects the impact your poem has. Think
  about what you want your poem to do, what you
  want it to say, when you choose your diction. As
  with many things, consistency is key.

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• Rhythm
• All poetry has rhythm, from the strictest metered
  verse to the loosest free verse. The rhythm of
  poetry is like the beat of music, and if you have
  control over it, you have control over your
  writing. Rhythm is composed mainly of stress (in
  varying levels from none to a lot) and pauses. It
  is what influences how the words are read, rather
  than what the words are. Very often, fixing a
  line that doesn't quite work is a simple as
  examining its rhythm and seeing where it goes
  wrong.

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• Metre
• We mostly think of metre as occurring in rhymed
  poetry, but even unrhymed poetry can be metered.
  Metre is specific patterns of rhythm, and many of
  those patterns have names. It can be a difficult
  element to work with, as too strict a metre can
  make a poem sound staccato and artificial (and
  even annoying). But mastering metre (or at least
  becoming aware of its possibilities) will give
  you an advantage even in your least structured
  work. It's all about how words sound together.

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• Repetition
• Repetition emphasizes whatever it is that's
  repeated, but too much repetition can make a
  great word or phrase seem commonplace. It's a
  matter of balance or moderation. Repetition is
  another one of those elements that we usually
  think of in connection with strict forms of
  poetry, but which is also of great use in less
  structured poems, including free verse. There are
  many possibilities--one can repeat words, phrases
  or whole stanzas, and one can play with the
  location of repeated parts.

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• Rhyme
• Here's one more element that seems to belong to
  poetry in strict forms, but which can be used in
  unstructured poems as well. You probably won't
  want to use rhyme very much in your free verse,
  but the odd pair of rhymed words can have
  interesting effects. Rhyme is a much more
  versatile element than we often assume--did you
  know that there are many different kinds of
  rhyme, each with a somewhat different sound? Not
  only can rhyme be useful, but it can also be a
  lot of fun to play with.

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• Form
• The form of a poem refers to the "rules" of
  metre, rhythm, rhyme and line length that
  determine a poem's shape. Form can be as loose as
  having no rules at all, or as strict as
  specifying a particular pattern of metre and
  rhythm, a specific rhyme scheme, and a certain
  number of syllables per line and lines per stanza
  (and more). Even if you plan to write mainly free
  verse, it's worth becoming familiar with forms.
  You can use parts of the "rules" for one or many
  forms and create something new.

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• Art
• "Art" is a concept that is difficult to define,
  but here, art means something like, "the part of
  poetry writing that is not craft." Craft, is the
  series of techniques you learn to use to
  consciously make your writing better. Art, then,
  is the creative aspect of writing poetry." In
  some ways, it is the most important element of
  poetry, and it's one you either have or don't
  have. Craft you can learn, but art is innate.

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• To become a poet, you begin by reading and
  identifying techniques, craft and art in the
  writings of recognized poets. Find the pieces
  and parts you find appealing, interesting, or
  attractive.
• Pick poems apart to see what makes them tick.
  Then begin to incorporate those techniques into
  you own writing

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