The Technique of Poetry

8/2/2019 The Technique of Poetry

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The Technique of Poetry


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To enjoy poetry, one need to know the

craft of the poet.

Yet some knowledge of technique helps

the reader understand how poetry takeson different forms and moods.

The main difference between poetry andprose is the style (language) and form.


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It is possible to enjoy a poem withoutunderstanding its meaning because the delightwe get from reading it is its musical quality.

But to get the meaning of a poem we have toanalyze it first in terms of its elements.

It is also important to know the type of poemswe are reading in order to get the meaning.

We also should consider the period or try to getthe general knowledge of the culturaldevelopments of a certain period and about thepoet in order to understand the poem better.


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Elements of poetry

Form rhythm, meter, stanza, and rhyme Language diction, imagery, figure of speechTone the attitude of the writer towardhis subjects, his readers, and himself

Theme the central idea of view of lifethat the writer explores or experienced inlife


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Rhyme and Pattern

A rhyme is a word or a line that has the same last soundas another word or line.The simplest rhymes have only one syllable, as in just -

must. An example of a line rhyme is William BlakesI was angry with my friend:I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

Of course, many poets use rhymes of more than onesyllable:

mountain-fountain terrible-bearable


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Alliteration and Assonance

Are the names of two kinds of rhyme. Alliteration is the repetition of a certainfirst letter or sound in a group of words.I b etter b rook the loss of b rittle life . . .

Assonance is vowel rhyme.The l o wing herd wind sl o wly o er the sea .. .


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Onomatopoeia

Is neither rhyme nor pattern, but manypoets employ this device to create a

certain effect.Onomatopoeia is the use of words withsounds that suggest the subject.

The moan of doves in immemorial elms, And murmuring of innumerable bees.


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A single line of poetry is called verse . A member of verses grouped together, usuallyfollowing a certain rhyme scheme, form astanza .Stanza vary in length, but in general they have

three, four, six, eight, or nine lines.Poets arrange rhymes in a number of patterns.The pair of Blake rhymes above is a couplet .

A quatrain is a four lines, usually rhymed in oneof four ways: aaaa , abab , aabb , and abba .


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Lines of poems are often organized into

stanzas, which are denominated by thenumber of lines included. Thus a collectionof two lines is a couplet (or distich), threelines a triplet (or tercet), four lines aquatrain, five lines a quintain (orcinquain), six lines a sestet, and eightlines an octet. These lines may or may not

relate to each other by rhyme or rhythm.


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Here is a famous from Stevensons ChildsGarden of Verses. Its rhyme scheme isaabb .When I am grown to mans estate a

I shall be very proud and great, a And tell the other girls and boys b Not to meddle with my toys. b

In an abab rhyme scheme, then, the firstand third lines rhyme, and so do thesecond and fourth.


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Meter

Meter measures the rhythm of a line of poetry.Meter comes from the Greek word metron ,

which means measure. Each line is made up of a number of smallsection, called feet.

Within each foot syllables are accented orunaccented and when they are read aloud, thevoice stresses or does not stress them


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To find out where the accents fall, one scans aline of poetry. A long straight line ( ) indicatesan accented, or long, syllable. A curved line ( )indicates an unaccented, or short, syllable.In English-language poetry five kinds of feet are

most often used. Their names come from theGreek. An iamb (usually called iambic) is a two-syllable foot: one short syllable followed by along syllable:

We went / to town / to day


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A trochee is made up of one long syllable followed by ashort syllable:

Ma ry,/ Ma ry,/ quite con/ tra ry . . .

Dactyls have one long syllable followed by two shortones. Mer ci ful/ heav ens, Im/ blund er ing

Anapetsts dactyls in reverse have three syllable: twoshort ones followed by a long one. The As syr /ian came down /like a wolf


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Two long syllables of equal stress form aspondee :

Stand still ,/ dont move ,/ dont talk

Lines differ in length. A line having onefoot is called monometer; a two-foot lineis dimeter. Some other meters are:

trimeter 3 feet hexameter 6 feettetrameter 4 feet heptameter 7 feetpentameter 5 feet octameter 8 feet


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A line with five iambic feet is callediambic pentameter.Five trochees in one line form trochaicpentameter , and so on,


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* iamb one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable* trochee one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable* dactyl one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables

* anapest two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable* spondee two stressed syllables together* pyrrhic - two unstressed syllables together (rare, usually used to end

dactylic hexameter)

The number of metrical feet in a line are described in Greek terminology asfollows:

* dimeter two feet* trimeter three feet* tetrameter four feet* pentameter five feet* hexameter six feet* heptameter seven feet* octameter eight feet


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The Wind

Who has seen the wind?Neither I nor you;

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?Neither you nor I

But when the trees bow down their headsThe wind is passing by.

(Christina Rossetti)

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The Technique of Poetry