Elements of Poetry

Elements of Poetry is the title of this new topic of ours. As students of Philippine literature, it is a must that you acquire considerable mastery of the elements of poetry. On this topic, we will cover the elements of poetry as we read sample poems produce during the Spanish period. The diversified literary genres produced during the Pre-Spanish period have been made more colorful and interesting with the influx of Christianity ideas and doctrines. However, the endemic literary pieces were either burned or destroyed by the Spanish friars thinking that these were the works of evil. Interestingly, some of these works found their way through as embedded and integrated in the Spanish-era literary works such as poems and songs. So, hang on as we continue our journey together.

Intended learning outcomes

At the completion of this topic, you should be able to:

1. explain the different elements of poetry;
2. identify and cite examples of each element found in a literary piece.

What are the Elements of Poetry?

The Elements of Poetry are the very reasons there is distinction between a prose and poetry. When we speak about poetry or poems, we think of difficult words and hidden meaning as well as rhymes and rhythms. Well, you are most correct! Poems are specialized ways of communicating one’s thoughts on a particular topic or idea. To understand more a poem is to examine the elements that make it a poem.

The following are the three elements of poetry, the so-called “3S,”and we shall deal with them one after the other:

1. Sense of the Poem
2. Sound of the Poem
3. Structure of the Poem

1. Sense of the Poem

When we say “sense of the poem,” we refer to the meaning or message the poem wants to convey. This pertains to the picture the painter wants to portray in his painting. In other words, this is exactly the reason why the poem was composed. To let the poet share his thought and ideas, the poet makes use of the following tools:

1. Connotation and Denotation
2. Figurative language
   1. Figures of speech
   2. Imagery

1.1. Connotation and Denotation

Oftentimes, the words used by the poet in crafting the poetry are not used in their literal sense of the word. Predominantly, he is using the connotation of such word. We define connotation as the suggested or implied meaning associated with the word beyond its denotation or dictionary meaning of such word.

1.2. Figurative language

Figurative language refers to a specialized language used for descriptive effect in order to convey ideas or emotion which are not literally true but express some truth beyond the literal level. This is one of the most indispensable tools poets  must have in their arsenal.

1.2.A. Figure of speech

Figure of speech is specific device or a kind of figurative language that uses words, phrases and sentences in a non-literal definition which gives meanings or abstractions in the meaning being conveyed. Some common examples include the following, although we will have separate thorough discussion on this topic somewhere okay.

1. Simile is a comparison of two unlike things which possess something in common using the expressions “as” and “like.” Example: “Your love is like a river, that flows down through my veins…” ~ Alamid, “Your Love”
2. Metaphor is a direct comparison of two unlike things which possess something in common without using any expression at all. Example: “Your body is a wonderland…” ~ John Mayer, “Your body is a wonderland”
3. Personification is the giving of human attributes to the inanimate objects or things which make them behave as if they are real human beings. Example: “The leaves sway and dance in unison as the wind murmurs the song.”
4. Hyperbole is the exaggeration of meaning to produce an effect. Example: “Cry me a river…” ~ Justin Timberlake, “Cry me a river”

1.2.B. Imagery

Another poetic tool employed by poets in their craft is the skillful use of imagery. We define imagery as the use of sensory details or descriptions that appeal to one or more of the five senses when one comes across with such words. Imagery means to use figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses. Usually it is thought that imagery makes use of particular words that create visual representation of ideas in our minds. The word imagery is associated with mental pictures.

Some examples of uses of imagery include:

“On a starry winter night in Portugal,

Where the ocean kissed the southern shore,

There a dream I never thought would come to pass,

Came and went like time spent through an hourglass.”

~ Teena Marie, “Portuguese Love”

2. Sound of the poem

When we say the “sound of the poem,” we are referring to the tone and melody or rhythm or the words created as we read or recite the poem. Hence, poems are meant to be sung or recited. To achieve a specific tone, a poem must use a repetitive pattern to establish a tone color. Hence, in poetry, repetition and consistency spell the “sound” of the poem. The sound of the poem may be explained by studying the following:

1. Alliteration
2. Assonance
3. Consonance
4. Rhyme
   1. Internal
   2. Terminal
   3. Masculine
   4. Feminine
5. Rhyme scheme

2.1. Alliteration is the repetition of similar sound within a line of a poem. It is derived from Latin’s “Latira ” which means “letters of alphabet”. It is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series.

“Full fathom five, thy father lies…”  ~ William Shakespeare

This line is alliterative because the same first letter of words (f) occurs close together and produces alliteration in the sentence. An important point to remember here is that alliteration does not depend on letters but on sounds. So the phrase not knotty is alliterative, but cigarette chase is not.

2.2. Assonance is the repetition of similar accented vowel sounds. Assonance takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel sound but start with different consonant sounds.

“He gives his harness bells a shake…” ~ Robert Frost, “Stopping by the woods…”

The same vowel sound of the short vowel (e) repeats itself in almost all the words excluding the definite article.

2.3. Consonance refers to repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase. This repetition often takes place in quick succession.

“She ate seven sandwiches on a sunny Sunday last year.”

2.4 Rhyme is the repetition of the same stressed vowel sounds and any succeeding sounds in two or more words within a line or stanza of a poem.

“I think that I shall never see,

A poem as lovely as a tree.

~ Joyce Kilmer, “Trees”

A rhyme is a tool utilizing repeating patterns that brings rhythm or musicality in poems which differentiate them from prose which is plain. There are types of rhymes commonly employed by poets namely: Internal, Terminal, Masculine and Feminine. We will take a closer look at them one-by-one.

2.4.A. Internal Rhyme is the rhyme within the line.

“Just turn meloose let me straddle my old saddle…” ~ Cole Porter

2.4.B. Terminal Rhyme is the found at the end of the lines.

“Once upon a midnight dreary,

While I pondered weak and weary…” ~ Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven”

2.4.C. Masculine Rhyme occurs when the last stressed syllable of the rhyming words match exactly.

“The play’s the thing,

Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King” ~ William Shakespeare, “Hamlet”

2.4.D. Feminine Rhyme is involved when two consecutive syllables of the rhyming words, with the first syllable is stressed.

“The horse were prancing,

As the clowns were dancing.”

2.5. Rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme form that ends a stanza or an entire poem. The rhyme scheme is designated  by the assignment of letters of the alphabet to each new rhyme.

“Helen, thy beauty is to me                                  – a

Like those Nicean barks of yore,                         – b

That gently, o’er a perfumed sea,                        – a

The weary, way-worn wanderer bore                – b

To his own native shore.”                                    – b

~ Edgar Allan Poe, “To Helen”

On this particular stanza, Edgar Allan Poe, in his poem entitled “To Helen,” utilized the rhyme scheme ababb. Lyric poems such as sonnets, odes and elegies use a specific rhyme scheme. Petrarchan sonnets use the rhyme scheme abba, abba, cde, cde; while Shakespearean sonnets employ abab, cdcd, efef, gg rhyme scheme.

3. Structure of the poem

When we talk about structure of the poem, we refer it to the way the poem is written. Poets have their own unique way of writing their crafts. In this lesson, we will take a peek at how a poem is “structured” or made.

We discussed earlier that rhythm is an important tool employed by poets in highlighting the “sound” of their poems. Technically, rhythm is the pattern of beats created by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables. It gives musical quality and adds emphasis to certain words and thus helps convey the meaning of the poem. The effect is derived from the sounds employed, the varying pitches, stresses, volumes and durations. All these and more are being analyzed and studied in a branch of study called scansion, which is the analysis of a poem’s form and structure.

We begin our scansion by talking about the foot. Foot is the basic building block of poetry. A foot usually contains an accented syllable and one or two unaccented syllables.  Unstressed syllables are indicated with a (˘) and stressed syllables with a (´). This feet of syllables combine to create patterns called meter. We figure this pattern out by counting the stressed and unstressed syllables in a line.

There are five (5) common foot patterns, namely:

    FOOT PATTERNS    SYMBOL      SYLLABLE PATTERNS                             SAMPLE WORDS

1. iamb                ˘ ´              unaccented, accented                            (to day) (be cause)
2. trochee           ´ ˘              accented, unaccented                             (ha ppy) (light ly)
3. anapest           ˘ ˘ ´          unaccented, unaccented, accented      (ob vi ous) (re gu lar)
4. dactyl              ´ ´ ˘          accented, unaccented, unaccented      (cig a rette) (in ter rupt)
5. spondee          ´ ´             accented, accented                                 (down town) (slip shod)

With this in mind, a poetic foot can have names depending on what foot pattern is present. It can be iambic, trochaic, anapestic, dactylic, or spondaic foot. Now, these feet combine to form what we call a poetic line. A poetic line is measured and named by the number of feet it contains within a line.

NUMBER OF FOOT PER LINE                       POETIC LINE NAME

• 1 foot                                                  monometer
• 2 feet                                                  dimeter
• 3 feet                                                  trimeter
• 4 feet                                                  tetrameter
• 5 feet                                                  pentameter
• 6 feet                                                  hexameter
• 7 feet                                                  heptameter
• 8 feet                                                  octameter

Now, as a poetic line is formed, it now defines the technical description of a poem. For example, a sonnet is technically defined as “a lyric poem with 14 iambic pentameter line;” where it must have 14 lines, where each line is composed of 5 meters of unaccented and accented feet (iambs) each. Let us take a look at the first line of William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18.”

Shall-I   /   com-pare  /   thee-to  /   a-sum   /   mer’s day?  / 

(Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?)

Moving on, the lines of a poem make a stanza or verse. A stanza is defined as  the product of syllables forming a feet, feet forming a line, and lines forming a stanza. Therefore, the following are the names of stanzas based on the number of lines they contain.

NUMBER OF LINES                                  NAME OF STANZAS

• 1 line                                            a line
• 2 lines                                          couplet
• 3 lines                                          tercet
• 4 lines                                          quadruplet
• 5 lines                                          cinquain
• 6 lines                                          sestet
• 7 lines                                          septet
• 8 lines                                          octave

Now, think of poems which satisfies various specifications that you already know. Try analyzing such poem using the 3 S concepts. Enjoy!

References

• Soriano-Baldonado, Rizza. (2013). Readings from World Literatures:  Understanding People’s Culture, Traditions and Beliefs:  A Task-Based Approach.  Quezon City: Great Books Publishing.
• Vinuya, Remedios V. (2012). Philippine Literature:  A Statement of Ourselves. Metro Manila: Grandbooks Publishing, Inc.
• www.literarydevices.net
• http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-imagery.html#3QZPLwcq29yWC1mg.99