Poetry
Poets on Poetry
"What oft was thought, but ne‘er so well
expressed."
(Alexander Pope, 1688-1744, from An
Essay on Criticism, 1709/11)
poetry should form a mirror of reality and
represent general truth in a clear elevated
style
Poets on Poetry
"Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful
feelings: it takes its origins from emotion
recollected in tranquillity."
(William Wordsworth, 1770-1850, from Preface to
Lyrical Ballads, 1800)
Poets on Poetry
"Poetry is language charged with meaning to the
utmost possible degree."
(Ezra Pound, 1885-1972)
Poets on Poetry
"A poem is true if it hangs together. Information
points to something else. A poem points to nothing
but itself."
(E.M. Forster, "Anonymity: An Enquiry",
Two Cheers for Democracy, 1951)
Poets on Poetry
"A poem should not mean. But be."
(Archibald MacLeish, "Ars Poetica", 1926)
What is Poetry?
Poetry is one of the oldest forms of artistic
expression and it seems to originate in a human
impulse that reaches for expression in joy, grief,
doubt, hope, loneliness, etc.
William Carlos Williams
This Is Just to Say
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
What is Poetry?
language cast in verse
a subjective first-person persona or voice
brevity, concentration, reduction
an unusual use of words and phrases
suggestive imagery
rhythm, metre
repetition of sounds
lines grouped in stanzas
specialized language
aesthetic self-referentiality
Communication in Poetry
external communication of the poem
↓
composition – literary conventions
↓
internal communication of the poem
lyrical I / persona / voice → you
dramatic monologue
implicit sender → implicit addressee/
receiver
real author → real reader
Michael Drayton (1563-1631)
(NAEL 1:967-68)
Since there’s no help, come, let us kiss and part;
Nay, I have done, you get no more of me,
And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart
That thus so cleanly I myself can free
Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,
And when we meet at any time again,
Be it not seen in either of our brows
That we one jot of former love retain.
Now at the last gasp of love’s latest breath,
When, his pulse failing, passion speechless lies,
When faith is kneeling by his bed of death,
And innocence is closing up his eyes;
Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,
From death to life thou mightst him yet recover.
Rhetoric:
The art of using language so as to persuade or
influence others; the body of rules to be
observed by a speaker in order to achieve
effective or eloquent expression.
Orig., elegance or eloquence of language. Later,
language calculated to persuade or to impress.
specialized language
figurative language vs. literal language
Rhetorical Devices
Schemes Tropes
(Satzfiguren) (Wortfiguren)
Tropes (Wortfiguren)
Rhetorical tropes are devices of figurative
language.
They represent a deviation from
the common or main significance of a word or
phrase (semantic figures)
or include specific appeals to the audience
(pragmatic figures).
Tropes (Wortfiguren)
allegory metonymy
antithesis oxymoron
apostrophe paradox
emphasis pun (paranomasia)
euphemism periphrasis
hyperbole (circumlocution)
irony personification
litotes simile → conceit
(understatement) symbol
metaphor synecdoche
Example: Simile
primum secundum
comparandum comparandum
tertium comparationis
e.g. This tofu-steak is like paper-maché
Example: Metaphor
Comparison view: indirect comparison without
‚like‘ or ‚as‘
e.g. There‘s daggers in men‘s hearts ...
(Shakespeare, Macbeth)
Substitution view: a word or phrase from one
semantic field is replaced by an expression
denoting an analogous circumstance in a
different semantic field
e.g. „The chairman plowed through the
discussion.“
Example: Metaphor
Interaction view:
Tenor Vehicle (I.A. Richards)
Frame Focus (Max Black)
e.g. Max Black: „The chairman plowed through
the discussion.“
e.g. „Here comes eye-candy man.“
Example: Metaphor
Tenor Vehicle
(handsome man) (eye-candy man)
tertium comparationis
(well-built, good-looking, nice to look
at)
Example: Metonymy
replaces one concept by another that is closely
related to it
it does not explore new meanings like metaphor
but varies the focus within the same reference
e.g. the crown as symbol of status replaces the
Queen: „the crown decides to kill off half the
swan population.“
e.g. name of a place stands for its inhabitants:
„Manchester welcomes the champions.“
e.g. the container refers to the content: „have one
more glass.“
Example: Synecdoche
uses the part for the whole
pars pro toto
or the whole for the part
totum pro parte
e.g. a roof over one‘s head (part for the whole)
e.g. Man is selfish and cruel. (singular instead of
plural)
e.g. the wholly kind (material stands for the object)
Sources/ Reference:
Chris Baldick. Oxford Concise Dictionary of
Literary Terms. Oxford and New York: Oxford
UP, 2004
J. A. Cuddon. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary
Terms and Literary Theory. London: Penguin
Books, 1998.
Michael Meyer. English and American
Literatures. Tübingen and Basel: A. Francke,
2004.