WHAT IS POETRY?

Poetry has certain characteristics that make it special. These include...

Poetry uses vivid images and descriptive language to paint a picture in the readers mind. Poetry cuts out all the excess words that you might find in prose, creating its magic with a limited amount of text. Poetry is normally designed to be read out loud - when you read it, do try to hear it as well. Poetry often makes the reader emphasise certain important words, and it usually has a strong rhythm. Poetry may rhyme, but it does not have to.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A POEM

STRUCTURE: When you are analysing a poems structure, ask yourself the following questions: The stanzas. How many are there and how long is each one? Are the verses all the same length or are they different? The Punctuation. Does each verse end with a full stop or not? How does the punctuation affect the flow of the poem? The Rhyme Pattern. Is there a constant rhyme pattern? Does this affect the structure and flow of the poem? The Storyline. Does each verse contain a particular part of the story, or does it run throughout? STORYLINE: When you first read a poem, you are looking for meaning. What is this poem about? Some poems are not about anything - they simply evoke a mood, or an emotion, or a vivid atmosphere. But even these poems can be said to have a story, because the poet is saying something to the reader. When you are analysing a poem, you should avoid saying it is definitely about X or Y. Try instead to interpret its possible meaning or meanings in your analysis. Often, the story in a poem will work on more than one level. There could be the literal level, at which the plot or action of the poem is apparent, but there could also be one or more deeper levels of meaning. When you see a poem for the first time, take the following steps: On your first reading, simply gain a feeling for atmosphere or emotion. Do not try to make sense of it. On your second reading, look to see if there is something happening in the poem. What is the poet or character doing? On your third reading, start to look deeper. Does the poet create a metaphor? Is the poem really about something else? VIEWPOINT: The word viewpoint describes the point of view from which a poem is written. Just as in a novel, a writer might use a first or third person narrative, so with poetry it is important to identify what viewpoint the poet is using. Sometimes, poets will use a real or invented character, to tell their story, while other poems might be written from the poets own perspective. Some poems use a mixture of viewpoints, shifting between them in a way not possible in a novel. Poems that simply describe a place or an emotion might not use either the first or third person narrator. When the poet writes as though he or she is a godlike voice, looking at the world from on high, rather than through a person, this is known as the omniscient viewpoint. The three main types of viewpoint= First Person Viewpoint. This viewpoint is easily identifiable, because the writer talks directly to the reader. Look out for the words I, my, me, and so on. Third Person Viewpoint. In the third person viewpoint, the poet is slightly more distant, talking through a character. Look for the words he, she, him, her, and so on.

Omniscient Viewpoint. With this viewpoint, the poet is even further away from the reader, and from his or her subject. The poem written using this viewpoint might provide a description, without any sense of character.

THEME: Poets use a huge range of themes or subjects in their work. Often, poets will deal with more than one theme in a piece of work. For instance, a poet might deal with the themes of childhood, memories and the natural world, all within one piece of poetry. Remember, when you are analysing poetry, you must comment on the effects or images that are created, as well as simply identifying the themes. RHYME: The English language has many words that rhyme, including homonyms, which are words that sound the same but have a different spelling and meaning, e.g. son and sun. There are various different types of rhyme that you should learn to identify: End Rhyme: words that rhyme at the end of a line. Internal Rhyme: words that rhyme within a line. Half Rhyme: words that almost rhyme, either within or at the end of a line. RHYTHM: Poetry is about sound as well as about creating images. Even if you are not reading a poem out loud, you should still be able to hear it in your head. Rhythm is an important aspect of poetry. As well as changing the way that you say a poem, it can also link to the images that the poet describes. For instance, if a poet were describing a clock ticking, he or she might use short, alliterative words to help echo the sound of the clock. Rhyme and rhythm are inextricably linked, and the use of rhyme will create a certain rhythm naturally within a poem. As well as use of rhyme, other aspects of a poem that will help to create rhythm= The length of the words used. A series of monosyllables will create a very different effect from longer words. The length of the lines. When we are reading a poem, we tend to stop or pause at the end of a line. The use of punctuation. Full stops, commas, semi colons and other forms of punctuation will all have an impact on a poems rhythm. The use of techniques such as alliteration and imagery. These affect the way we say the words and consequently the rhythm of a poem. TONE: The tone of a poem is one of the first things that you will notice it about it as you read. The word tone describes the overall sort of atmosphere and feeling that the poem seems to have. A good way to understand exactly what tone means, is to think of a poem like a song. Ask yourself: if this poem was set to music, what sort of music would it have? For instance, a poem about losing a lover would probably have a sad, emotional music, because this would fit its tone. On the other hand, a poem about a beautiful morning have a more energetic, positive tone.

MOOD AND EMOTION: When you analyse the mood and emotion of a poem, you should think both about the feelings of the poet, and the mood or emotions that the poem creates in you. There are various ways that a poet can create a strong sense of mood or emotion. They could use: Vivid imagery, for instance metaphor, personification or alliteration. Adverbs and adjectives that give the reader a sense of how they are feeling. A subject or theme that automatically evokes strong feeling, e.g. war or love IMAGERY: Imagery is the painting of pictures in the readers mind through the use of language. Because poetry is such a condensed form of language, poets tend to make greater use of imagery than novelists. Images take a variety of forms. They can: Use a comparison between one thing and another, to develop the picture that is created. This type of image includes similes and metaphors. Create sound pictures, by using words that make a sound like the thing that is being described, or that add rhythm to the poem. Examples of this type of imagery include alliteration and onomatopoeia. When you are analysing imagery, it is very important to avoid simply listing the images that the poet uses. For each image you discuss, you should consider: What type of image is being used. Why this particular image is being used. What the effect of this image is on the reader. How the image contributes to the poem as a whole. When you analyse imagery, you should suggest a possible interpretation, rather than stating your ideas as definite. BASIC IMAGERY= Simile: A comparison between two things, using the words like or as as a . Metaphor: A comparison between two things, where one is said to be the other. Alliteration: The use of repeated consonant sounds at the beginnings of words. Used to create a sound picture. MORE ADVANCED TECHNIQUES= Extended Metaphor: A metaphor is extended to run throughout a poem or piece of prose. Onomatopoeia: A word that sounds like the thing it describes, for example ow! or crash! Assonance: The use of repeated vowel sounds to create a sound picture. Personification: Giving human attributes to an inanimate thing.

Analysing poetry part 2

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You should have a general idea by now of what you believe the poem to be about, its themes and the mood or tone of the piece. This is more or less what you need to know. Re-read the poem, (you should have read the poem at least four or five times by now) is there anything that you notice about the poem? What stands out as particularly interesting about it? Write these things down. Don't worry too much if you can't think of much. What you think is what matters. In order to demonstrate your understanding of the poem you will need to be able to describe in some detail how the poet has achieved the expression of the themes through the mood and tone and language techniques of the poem. In this topic we will go through some of these techniques and their significance to poetry.

Structure
The questions that you will need to ask of your poems in terms of structure will have to do with conventional structures and stanza lengths and regularity. You will then need to decide what impact the structure has on a poem. We will go into more detail as we analyse a variety of poetic forms in the coming topics.

Rhythm or movement
Many poems use a regular rhythm. In many poems this rhythm is quite easily defined You may study blank verse and free verse and wonder why this is any different from prose. The answer is simply that the poet uses rhythm and meter in order to shape meaning. It is often useful to read the poem aloud so that you can hear where different accents and different rhythms have been used. Consider the appropriateness for the subject matter in each of these phrases: 1. The long, slow, tedious, mathematics lesson Dragged on and on and on. 2. Square roots, sin and cosine, quadratics It's lunchtime! Read each one out loud. Notice the different emphasis and rhythm of each. In Example 1, the rhythm is regular (meaning that it does not change) and tedious - this suits the subject matter. The rhythm of Example 2 is much brighter and snappier, implying that the lesson flew past. This is merely one example of the effect that poetry can have and we will discuss rhythm more in this topic. What you should take from it in this context is that poetry is not merely a passage that rhymes but passages whose words, rhyme, rhythm and meter match the subject matter and, more often than not, influence meaning.

Language & Poetic Devices

Important Poetry Techniques

Technique Alliteration Assonance Consonance Hyperbole Imagery

Explanation Words that start with the same sound to create emphasis and at times dramatic impact A repetition of vowel sounds within syllables with changing consonants Repetition of consonants anywhere within words The use of exaggeration often to create an impact on readers Elements in poetry that can spark off our senses (sight, sound, smell, feeling, taste) as we read. It can often create a very vivid description When a comparison is made between 2 things. Although sometimes similar to a simile, most times it is much more hidden and harder to detect on the surface

Examples Breathing-taking beauty of the belle Please bake me a date cake Gloomy woman She ate a mountain of food in just a few minutes The dark (sight) pungent (smell) enclosure

Metaphor

His Herculean strength sent the spectators into awe The apple never falls far from the tree (how children are similar to their parents) The buzz of the bee... When the cat meowed... The gloomy weather The beautiful building Her smile was as bright as the sun He was strong like Hercules Tone example (non-exhaustive list): Anger Comic Condemning Depressed Detached Happiness Serious

Onomatopoeia Personification

A word imitating a sound

Inanimate objects being given human qualities. Personification has become very common in a daily language use When 2 items are compared with one another with the use of like as Reflect the way in which the poet expresses his ideas. Often this is detected through his use of words / images, etc

Simile Tone

Connotation
A connotation is when a part of a text, or even a single word, implies (makes something understood without expressing it directly) a value or meaning beyond the literal. Take for example these three simple sentences: 1. The building was very tall. 2. The building was monstrous. 3. The building was towering.

All three sentences mean the same thing literally. However, the word 'monstrous' has connotations of the building being scary and imposing and the word 'towering' may connote that the building was impressive in its size. In poetry, connotations are very important. Look for words that connote particular things as they change the emphasis of the text. Copy down or underline any words that you think are particularly relevant to the poem's subject matter, theme or mood. In this list you will also need to copy down any words that stand out to you - words that are striking and words that might be deliberately dull.

Repetition
Some poetry contain repetition. This may include repetition of sound, syllable, words, phrases, lines, stanzas. Poets often use repetition to draw our attention to certain aspects in the poem and to create a particular emphasis that adds meaning to the poem.

Repetition is found extensively in free verse, which does not have a traditional, recognizable metrical pattern. Repetition in free verse includes parallelism (repetition of a grammar pattern) and the repetition of important words and phrases.

Examples of repetition
Example 1 Bavarian gentians, big and dark, only dark

darkening the day-time, torch-like with the smoking blossoms of Pluto's gloom,
ribbed and torch-like, with their blaze of darkness spread blue down flattening into points, flattened under the sweep of white day torch-flower of the blue-smoking darkness, Pluto's dark-blue daze, black lamps from the halls of Dis, burning dark blue,

giving off darkness, blue darkness, as Demeter's pale lamps give off light, lead me then, lead the way.
D. H. Lawrence's "Bavarian Gentians" Example 2 Because I do not hope to turn again Because I do not hope Because I do not hope to turn... T. S. Eliot's Ash-Wednesday Have you seen any other examples of repetition? Repetition is so obvious and everpresent that we sometimes forget its importance. Keep repetition in mind as you analyse any poetry you read.