Intro to Poetry

On a printed page a poem looks different from a prose passage (a page from a novel, say). In a
poem, the individual lines seem to be relatively independent units (and it is no accident that lines
of poetry are identified by a special term: verse). Prose, in contrast, is not made up of verses. In a
prose text, it does not really matter whether the lines are short or long. Apparently, then, what we
have isolated is a 'sufficient condition' (if this text is written in verse then it must be poetry),
possibly even a 'necessary condition' (if this is poetry then it must have verses). Indeed, some
recent approaches use these conditions as their basic assumptions.

The following account, in contrast, builds on a more traditional approach which recognizes an
essential poetical quality even in the absence of versification. Consider the three short passages
quoted below. They may all look like prose, yet the truth is that only one of them is prose, while
two of them come from poetical texts whose versification has been suppressed (credit goes to
Raith 1962: 15 for inventing this experiment). Nevertheless, many people will be able to spot the
difference and identify which is prose and which is poetry:

• In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-dome decree; where Alph, the sacred river, ran
through caverns measureless to man . . .

• If it assume my noble father's person, I'll speak to it though hell itself should gape and bid me
hold my peace.

• And then, thought Clarissa Dalloway, what a morning-- fresh as if issued to children on a
beach.

Most people are reasonably confident to state -- correctly -- that the first two items are poetry
and that the last item is prose. (The first one is the beginning of Coleridge's poem "Kubla Khan";
the second is a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet, a play which is largely written in verse, and
thethird is the beginning of the novel Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.) Apparently, then, the
visual impression that poetry is written in verse, though useful as an initial differentiation, is not
enough. Indeed, many theorists assume that the true differentiating criterion is not a visual but an
auditory one. But how can that be? Because, reading a text, one pronounces it mentally. Reading
the three passages cited above, many people note that the poetical passages have a certain
'rhythm', and this is what interests us in the following. The prose passage from Woolf's novel, in
contrast, has no such rhythm; it is 'rhythmically free’…
STRUCTURE and POETRY

An important method of analyzing a poem is to look at the stanza structure or style of a poem.
Generally speaking, structure has to do with the overall organization of lines and/or the
conventional patterns of sound. Again, many modern poems may not have any identifiable
structure (i.e. they are free verse).

STANZAS: Stanzas are a series of lines grouped together and separated by an empty line from
other stanzas. They are the equivalent of a paragraph in an essay. 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 sestain)
 septet (7 lines)
 octave (8 lines) 

FORM: A poem may or may not have a specific number of lines, rhyme scheme and/or metrical
pattern, but it can still be labeled according to its form or style. Here are the three most
common types of poems according to form:

1. Lyric Poetry: It is any poem with one speaker (not necessarily the poet) who expresses
strong thoughts and feelings. Most poems, especially modern ones, are lyric poems.

2. Narrative Poem: It is a poem that tells a story; its structure resembles the plot line of a story
[i.e. the introduction of conflict and characters, rising action, climax and the denouement].

3. Descriptive Poem: It is a poem that describes the world that surrounds the speaker. It uses
elaborate imagery and adjectives. While emotional, it is more "outward-focused" than lyric
poetry, which is more personal and introspective.

In a sense, almost all poems, whether they have consistent patterns of sound and/or structure, or
are free verse, are in one of the three categories above. Or, of course, they may be a combination
of 2 or 3 of the above styles! Here are some more types of poems that are subtypes of the three
styles above:

Ode: It is usually a lyric poem of moderate length, with a serious subject, an elevated style, and
an elaborate stanza pattern.
Elegy: It is a lyric poem that mourns the dead. [It's not to be confused with a eulogy.]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.

Sonnet: It is a lyric poem consisting of 14 lines and, 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).

Ballad: It is a narrative poem that has a musical rhythm and can be sung. A ballad is usually
organized into quatrains or cinquains, has a simple rhythm structure, and tells the tales of
ordinary people.

Epic: It is a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a legendary or
historical hero.    

Qualities of an Epic Poem:

 narrative poem of great scope; dealing with the founding of a nation or some other
heroic theme requires a dignified theme requires an organic unity requires orderly
progress of the action always has a heroic figure or figures involves supernatural
forces
 written in deliberately ceremonial style
  

Other types of poems include:

Haiku: It has an unrhymed verse form having three lines (a tercet) and usually 5,7,5 syllables,
respectively. It's usually considered a lyric poem.

Limerick: It has a very structured poem, usually humorous & composed of five lines (a
cinquain), in an aabba rhyming pattern; beat must be anapestic (weak, weak, strong) with 3 feet
in lines 1, 2, & 5 and 2 feet in lines 3 & 4. It's usually a narrative poem based upon a short and
often ribald anecdote.
SOUND PATTERNS

Three other elements of poetry are rhyme scheme, meter (ie. regular rhythm) and word sounds
(like alliteration). These are sometimes collectively called sound play because they take
advantage of the performative, spoken nature of poetry.
 

RHYME

Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds. In poetry, the most common kind of rhyme is the end
rhyme, which occurs at the end of two or more lines. It is usually identified with lower case
letters, and a new letter is used to identify each new end sound. Take a look at the rhyme scheme
for the following poem :

I saw a fairy in the wood,

He was dressed all in green.
He drew his sword while I just stood,
And realized I'd been seen.
 

The rhyme scheme of the poem is abab.

Internal rhyme occurs in the middle of a line, as in these lines from Coleridge, "In mist or
cloud, on mast or shroud" or "Whiles all the night through fog-smoke white" ("The Ancient
Mariner"). Remember that most modern poems do not have rhyme.

Meter: the systematic regularity in rhythm; this systematic rhythm (or sound pattern) is usually
identified by examining the type of "foot" and the number of feet.

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

__ = a stressed (or strong, or LOUD) syllable

U = an unstressed (or weak, or quiet) syllable
 

In other words, any line of poetry with a systematic rhythm has a certain number of feet, and
each foot has two or three syllables with a constant beat pattern .

a.     Iamb (Iambic) - weak syllable followed by strong syllable. [Note that the pattern is
sometimes fairly hard to maintain, 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 her room at the prow of the house
Where light breaks, and the windows are tossed...

From "The Writer", by Richard Wilbur

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

DD

Here's another (silly) example of dactylic rhythm.

DDDA was an / archer, who / shot at a / frog
DDDB was a / butcher, and / had a great / dog
DDDC was a / captain, all / covered with / lace
DDDD was a / drunkard, and / had a 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=monometer
two feet=dimeter
three feet=trimeter
four feet=tetrameter
five feet=pentameter
six 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].

That time | of year | thou mayst | in me | behold

Thus, 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 that does have a set metrical pattern (usually iambic pentameter),
but does not have rhyme, 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 meter or rhyme, especially
throughout an entire poem. Free verse has no rules about meter or rhyme whatsoever. In other
words, blank verse has rhythm, but no rhyme, while free verse has neither rhythm nor rhyme.
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 they’re trying to create a certain effect. Free verse can also apply
to a lack of a formal verse structure.

To maintain a consistent meter, a poet has to choose words that fit. For example, if a poet wants
to write iambic poetry, s/he has to choose words that have a naturally iambic rhythm. Words like
betray and persuade will work in an iambic poem because they are naturally iambic. They sound
silly any other way. However, candle and muscle will work best in a trochaic poem, because
their natural emphasis is on the first syllable. (However, a poet can use trochaic words if s/he
places a one syllable word in front of them. This often leads to poetic feet ending in the middle
of words - after one syllable - rather than the end.) It's not surprising that most modern poetry is
not metered, because it is very restrictive and demanding.
Determining meter is usually a process of elimination. Start reading everything in iambic by
emphasizing every second syllable. 80 to 90% of metered poetry is iambic. If it sounds silly or
strange, because many of the poem's words do not sound natural, then try trochaic, anapestic or
dactylic rhythms. If none of these sounds natural, then you probably do not have metered poetry
at all (ie. it's free verse).

If there are some lines that sound metered, but some that don't, the poem has an irregular
rhythm.

WORD SOUNDS
 
Another type of sound play is the emphasis on individual sounds and words:

Alliteration: the repetition of initial sounds on the same line or stanza - Big bad Bob bounced
bravely.
Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds (anywhere in the middle or end of a line or stanza) -
Tilting at windmills
Consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds (anywhere in the middle or end of a line or
stanza) - And all the air a solemn stillness holds. (T. Gray)
Onomatopoeia: words that sound like that which they describe - Boom! Crash! Pow! Quack!
Moo! Caress...
Repetition: the repetition of entire lines or phrases to emphasize key thematic ideas.
Parallel Stucture: a form of repetition where the order of verbs and nouns is repeated; it may
involve exact words, but it more importantly repeats sentence structure - "I came, I saw, I
conquered".

MEANING and POETRY

I said earlier that poetry is not always about hidden or indirect meanings (sometimes called
meaning play). Nevertheless, if often is a major part of poetry, so here some of the important
things to remember:

CONCRETENESS and PARTICULARITY

In general, poetry deals with particular things in concrete language, since our emotions most
readily respond to these things. From the poem's particular situation, the reader may then
generalize; the generalities arise by implication from the particular. In other words, a poem is
most often concrete and particular; the "message," if there is any, is general and abstract; it's
implied by the images.

Images, in turn, suggest meanings beyond the mere identity of the specific object. Poetry "plays"
with meaning when it identifies resemblances or makes comparisons between things; common
examples of this "figurative" comparison include:
  ticking of clock = mortality
 hardness of steel = determination 
 white = peace or purity

Such terms as connotation, simile, metaphor, allegory, and symbol are aspects of this
comparison. Such expressions are generally called figurative or metaphorical language.

DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

Word meanings are not only restricted to dictionary meanings. The full meaning of a word
includes both the dictionary definition and the special meanings and associations a word takes in
a given phrase or expression. For example, a tiger is a carnivorous animal of the cat family. This
is the literal or denotative meaning. But we have certain associations with the word: sinuous
movement, jungle violence, and aggression. These are the suggestive, figurative or connotative
meanings.

 
FIGURATIVE/CONNOTATIVE DEVICES

1. Simile is 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."
2. A metaphor leaves out "like" or "as" and implies a direct comparison between objects or
situations. "All flesh is grass."
3. Synecdoche is a form of metaphor, which in mentioning an important (and attached) part
signifies the whole (e.g. "hands" for labour).
4. Metonymy is 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).
5. A symbol is 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.
6. 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's Animal Farm is an extended allegory that represents the
Russian Revolution through a fable of a farm and its rebellious animals.
7. Personification occurs 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").
8. Irony takes many forms. Most basically, irony is a figure of speech in which actual intent
is expressed through words that carry the opposite meaning.

o Paradox: usually a literal contradiction of terms or situations

o Situational Irony: an unmailed letter
 o Dramatic Irony: audience has more information or greater perspective than the
characters
o Verbal Irony: saying one thing but meaning another
 Overstatement (hyperbole)
 Understatement (meiosis)
 Sarcasm

Irony 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. 

 
POETRY AS A LANGUAGE OF INDIRECTION

Thus, if we recognize that much of the essential quality of our experience is more complex than a
simple denotative statement can describe, then we must recognize the value of the poet's need to
search for a language agile enough to capture the complexity of that experience. Consider this
four-line stanza:

O Western wind, when wilt thou blow

That the small rain down can rain?
Christ, that my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again!

The center of the poem is the lover's desire to be reunited with his beloved (lines 3 and 4). But
the full meaning of the poem depends on the first two lines also. Obviously, the lover associates
his grief with the wind and rain, but the poet leaves to implication, to indirection, just how the
lover's situation and the wind and rain are related. We note that they are related in several ways:
the need for experiencing and manifesting love is an inherent need, like nature's need for rain; in
a word, love, like the wind and rain, is natural. Secondly, the lover is living in a kind of drought
or arid state that can only be slaked by the soothing presence of the beloved. Thirdly, the rising
of the wind and the coming of the rain can neither be controlled nor foretold exactly, and human
affairs, like the lover's predicament, are subject to the same sort of chance.

Undoubtedly, too, there are associations with specific words, like "Western" or "small rain" that
the reader is only half aware of but which nonetheless contribute to meaning. These associations
or connotations afford a few indirections that enrich the entire poem. For example, "small rain"
at once describes the kind of rain that the lover wants to fall and suggests the joy and peace of
lover's tears, and "small" alone might suggest the daintiness or femininity of the beloved.