Handout unit Welcome to Shaw Webspace

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 “Poetry lifts the veil from hidden beauty. It makes
 familiar objects be as if they were not familiar and
 creates anew the universe.”     SHELLEY



 Read the poem, preferably aloud, and be aware of your emotional
  reactions to the poem.
 Ask questions: Who is the speaker?
                  What kind of person is he/she?
                  What is he/she saying? What is the message? (THEME)
                  What does the title mean? (WHY?)
                  What parts of the poem are hard to understand?
                  What is being emphasized?
 Read the poem again. Determine: Structure and form.
                                     Vocabulary.
                                     Imagery.
                                     Sound pattern.
                                     Tone.
                                     Purpose.
                                     Effect.
 Consider the whole poem!




 RHYTHM is when the accents of the syllables in the
 words fall at regular intervals like the beat of music.
 These accents are STRESSED and UNSTRESSED.

 Remember: IAMBIC             I will
           TROCHAIC           Do it
           ANAPESTIC          Let us in
                                                            Shakespeare is
           DACTYLIC           Vic to ries                    famous for his use of
                                                             IAMBIC
 The “beat” of poetry “feet” is called METER.                PENTAMETER .
 Two syllables = one foot in poetry.
 MONOMETER         DIMETER        TRIMETER
 TETRAMETER PENTAMETER HEXAMETER ETC.
MELODY uses SOUND DEVICES to enhance the poem.
This is usually seen in the poem’s rhyme.                        RHYME
                                                                  SCHEMES
RHYME: SINGLE        love dove                                    are indicated
                                                                  by the use of
       DOUBLE       napping tapping
                                                                  LETTERS
       TRIPLE        mournfully scornfully                        such as:
                                                                  sound a
         IMPERFECT RHYME: look alike but don’t                    ten      b
                          sound alike                             men       b
                          love    jove                            round a
         INTERNAL RHYME: occurs inside a line
                           Let’s beat the heat.

OTHER SOUND EFFECTS:                                           POETIC LICENCE
                                                                means that a poet is
ASSONANCE:      resemblance of sound in words
                                                                allowed to break rules
               fury fused
                                                                of spelling to make
ONOMATOPOEIA: where words sound like their                      his rhyme or his
               meanings     drip buzz whisper                   meter more perfect.
ALLITERATION:      words beginning with the same                ---soft ----oft’
                  consonant sound                               - hope    - ope’
                  In a summer season, where soft
                  was the sun.


                      A long poem usually consists of a number of lines grouped
                      into sets called STANZAS.
                      RHYMED COUPLET: two lines with identical rhymes
                      QUATRAIN:             four lines
                      QUINTET:              five lines
                      OCTAVE:               eight lines
                      SONNET:              fourteen lines
                      FREE VERSE:           no regular rhythm and rhyme
                                            scheme - Walt Whitman’s poetry
                      BLANK VERSE:          usually iambic pentameter and no
                                           rhyme – Shakespeare’s plays

                       Note how a poet can arrange his poem so you will read it as he
                        wants you to, and so to get its sound and rhythm. SHAPE
                        can enhance the meaning of the poem.
IMAGERY is the use of FIGURES OF SPEECH that represent SENSE experiences.

COMPARISON:
SIMILE:                  two unlike things compared using like or as
                         The man paced like a hungry lion.
METAPHOR:                two unlike things directly compared without using like or as
                         The river is a snake that coils on itself.
PERSONIFICATION:          giving human qualities to things
                         The trees danced in the breeze.
APOSTROPHE:              addressing some abstract object
                         O world! Tell me thy pain.
LITERARY ALLUSIONS: referring metaphorically to persons, places, and things
                    from history or previous literature

EXAGGERATION:
HYPERBOLE:                saying more than is true
                          tonnes of homework
UNDERSTATEMENT:           saying less than is true
                          Losing his job meant he could sleep late.
IRONY:                    saying opposite to what is true
                          War is kind.
OXYMORON:                 two ideas of opposite meaning are combined
                          cruel kindness
ANTITHESIS:               using contrasts for effect
                          Deserts are dry; oceans are wet.
SYNECHDOCHE:              using parts for the whole
                          All hands on deck.
METONYMY:                  substitution of one word for another closely related word
                           The pot’s boiling.




               Never MIX metaphors, such as:
                He threw in the sponge before he hit the jackpot.
               Avoid comparisons that are too obvious or far-fetched.
There are different TYPES depending on the subject and mood of the poet.
1. NARRATIVE:
   EPIC:                  a long poem about a hero
                          Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
  METRICAL ROMANCE: recounts a tragic love story with a set meter
                    King Arthur         Spencer’s Faerie Queen
  BALLAD:           a very short story
                    Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner
  FABLE:                  a short story, usually about animals, with a moral
                          Walter de la Mare
  NOVEL:                  a long story, fiction in poetry form
                          Oliver Lafarge’s Each to the Other
2. LYRIC:
   ODE:                  in praise or memory of someone
   ELEGY:                a lament or in memory of someone
   EPITAPH:              a short elegy to inscribe on a monument
   EPIGRAM:              a satirical poem ending with a witticism
   PASTORAL:             a poem dealing with country life
   SONNET:               a popular form of lyric poetry having fourteen lines
   DRAMATIC LYRIC:       an emotional monologue or dialogue
   SONG:                 a poetic composition put to music

3. DIDACTIC POEMS: for purposes of instruction Horace’s Art of Poetry

4. SATIRICAL POEMS: to attack folly via ridicule Pope’s Rape of the Lock

5. DRAMATIC POEMS: telling a story through speeches of characters



               CLASSICAL:    formal in treatment Samuel Johnson John Milton
               REALISTIC:    candid representation of
                             every day life Walt Whitman
               ROMANTIC:     imaginative, dealing with nature, love,
                             etc. using strict metrical patterns Shelley
               PSYCHOLOGICAL: realistic, concerned with man’s inner thoughts
                             Robert Frost   T.S. Eliot
               ABSTRACT:          highly symbolic, poet’s interpretation is
                                  extremely personal Ginsberg