How to understand poetry

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POETRY NOTES

A poem is an essence of expression whereby figurative and rhetorical devices, rhythm and sound are often key elements. There is usually a theme or an idea in mind...friendship for example. Such a wide theme brings with it many aspects such as jealousy, betrayal or inspiration. With these certain aspects in mind, the poet chooses the appropriate words for which to express such thoughts, depending on such qualities as denotation, connotation and their power to conjure certain images.

1. A word that DENOTES is a word that gives the clear and actual meaning of

something. CONNOTES implies a certain value aside from giving the actual meaning

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of something. Words also give you images that you relate to for example either on a visual, auditory, tactile level.

FIGURATIVE DEVICES

. When one gives another name to a certain subject, ie when one equates one thing to a different thing, one is using a METAPHOR as a figure of speech. One could say love is a joke if one wanted to imply that love could play tricks with ones emotions.

. A SIMILE likens one thing to another for example if one states that friendship is like a ship's anchor, because it steadies a person in stormy weather, then one is likening friendship to an anchor.

If one termed something with a word that was closely related to it or that was an

attribute of that particular thing, then one is using METONYMY as a figure of

speech.

Instead of using the word heart one could use the words blood red (as that is the

colour and hence one physical attribute of the heart).

4. SYNECDOCHE substitutes part of something as the name of that thing. This time it might be the muscled wall or chamber that would substitute the word heart as a figure of speech.

5. A SYMBOL is like a metaphor in that it is a figure of speech used to indicate something other that its own meaning. Metaphors however usually involve two things from two very different backgrounds/context. A symbol usually has a close connection with its implied meaning on various levels (ie visual, emotional). Symbols are often floated around faithfully through the years and therefore quite obvious when in use, though private symbols do also abound. The cross in Christian terminology represents a plethora of meaning including love and self-sacrifice.

6. When an object is given the attributes of a human being, that is when it is given a personality of its own, one is using PERSONIFICATION. For example, one could

say of a car, she roared fiercely down the highway.

RHETORICAL DEVICES

7. A phrase that contains two opposing words which seem self contradictory in meaning

is an OXYMORON. egs. A round square or a weak Hercules.

A PARADOX is similar. It is a self contradictory statement which sometimes has

an explanation for its contradiction. eg. A square that has been rounded may have

occurred due to some great physical force. One of the coldest days in summer

could imply one of a person's saddest days that happen to occur during summer.

8. An exaggerated statement such as his stare could stop the world from turning is a

HYPERBOLE. It is used often to enlarge on a fact or an emotion. The opposite of that would be an UNDERSTATEMENT. Such a statement implies that any expression of a fact would be too inadequate, hence, the hurricane merely took my home and business away, but that is all. Merely took is a sarcastic way of expressing one's loss; yet it carries with it a sad tone of surrender.

. There are two categories of IRONY. SITUATIONAL IRONY occurs when something

that goes in contrast to all circumstances and that is either not expected or desired

happens. For example, when a soldier survives a devastating war only to return

home and die from choking over a chicken bone. Someone who uses VERBAL

IRONY is actually using the opposite of a truth. For example, when a tired man

exclaims, Boy, I can climb up and down Mount Everest right now! We often use such irony when we are sarcastic in speech. For example if we tell someone who isn't quite intelligent,

You can pass any examination with flying colours!

In both cases (ie. situational and verbal) , to appreciate its full meaning, one must

know the context, the plight of the speaker/protagonist. In the latter case, we

sometimes have to take note of who is the receiver of that verbal irony.

SOUND VALUES AND FORM (VERSIFICATION)

In poetry, one does not only choose words for their meaning. The sounds of words

also play an important part in both the emotional and intellectual unity of the work.

SOUND EFFECTS in poetry quite often involve the repetition of similar or exact

sounding syllables.

10 . The most common sound effect is that produced by RHYME. This is when two words in a line, phrase or poem sound alike at the end of their syllables. For example, love and dove, or hate and mate. It is almost like two different chords sharing at least two similar tones. When a rhyming word ends on an accented syllable, we get a sort of rhyme that gives the feeling of a strength and of closure, like tasty and pastry . This is known as a masculine rhyme. When the rhyming word ends with one or two unaccented syllables like bacon and taken, there is a sense of movement and continuum in the line and the rhyme is said to be feminine.

11. A lesser recognized method using the sound values of words is ASSONANCE. This

occurs with the use of words that have a similar sounding vowel or vowels. For example, kind and mind or tie and wry. ALLITERATION is the repetition of sounds either at the

beginning of a few words or within the words itself.

1. Just as in music, there are certain words that imitate the sounds of nature. Certain

words also imitate the sounds that they name. eg. Meow, moo and twitter. Such a

device is known as ONOMATOPOEIA. It should be noted that the same effect can be

achieved via the rhythm, alliteration and assonance of words.

In certain ways rhyming, alliteration and assonance produce the feeling of harmony and

balance. Poets use such devices to create patterns of sounds and with such patterns

the reader is often given a feeling of anticipation as well as closure.

1. There is another important element that is very much part and palette of making a

poem...rhythm. Rhythm in poetry has a great deal to do with STRESSED (accented)

and UNSTRESSED syllables in words. The syllable ha in the word happy for example,

is stressed while py is not. A stressed syllable or one that is accented is usually

pronounced with a greater emphasis, for a longer duration and in a higher vowel pitch than the non-accented syllable. A stressed syllable is normally marked thus ha while an unstressed syllable is marked thus py. A secondary stressed syllable which carries with it less emphasis is normally marked with a double dash, //. Monosyllabic words are also stressed or unstressed when combined with different words. The meaning of one

verse line or a phrase, however, is the major deciding factor on which syllable and

especially which monosyllabic word is stressed.

When we think of rhythm in poetry we not only ask what syllables are stressed and

unstressed, we also ask how these syllables are distributed. We will probably notice a regular pattern in each verse line whereby there is a regular alternation between

stressed and unstressed syllables. We will begin to notice stress divisions in every

phrase-

The simplest division of a phrase is into an IAMBIC foot which basically consists of one unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. eg. O /

(today)

A TROCHEE is a foot consisting of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented syllable. eg. / O

(happy)

An ANAPEST is a foot made up of two unaccented syllables followed by an accented syllable. eg. O O /

(winter scene)

A DACTYL is a foot made up of one accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables. eg. / O O

(happily)

A SPONDEE would consist of two accented syllables. eg / /

(hey day)

The rhythm of both the iambic and the anapestic meter is quite fast and are both known as the rising meter because of the accent at the end of the foot.

14. A verse or a metrical line can be made up of a different number of syllables. A MONOMETER is a one foot verse line, a TRIMETER is a three foot line, while a PENTAMETER is a five foot verse line. Verses are often described in terms of both the

accentuation as well as the meter structure, a common accentual syllable verse being

the iambic pentameter, a five foot verse line with the first syllable of each foot being

unaccented.

15. So far we have learnt about metrical units but a poem has to be considered in terms of sense units, ie. for what it is saying outright as opposed to its metrical structure. At times certain poems or sections of poems have verse lines that run on to the second verse line. One would thus have to read beyond the metrical units (beyond two or more lines) to get any sense out of what is being said. This RUN-ON (ENJAMBED)line can contain a part of a unit of thought or parts of two units of thought. On the other hand there are also straightforward verse lines known as END STOPPED lines which share the same ending as a sense unit of thought. The end of what is being said ends exactly where the verse line ends as well and this is often marked by punctuation.

There is also the natural pause that occurs within a line known as a CAESURA. It is

often (though not always) present just before a fall in pitch, or right after an accented

syllable as well as in the middle of a sentence. Most importantly caesuras mark the end of a sense unit. Secondary caesuras or pauses also occur in between the main pause of

a verse line and are also quite often found after a stressed syllable. Caesuras that are

regularly placed in each following verse line give a sense of continuum while those that

are irregularly placed can give a sense of unpredictability and surprise.

A rhythmic pattern in a poem thus depends not only on the certain elements with sound values mentioned above but it depends very much so on the metre system and hence

the systems distribution of accentuation.

16. Traditional forms of poetry include

The SONNET contains fourteen iambic pentameter with rhyming schemes

such as -- abba, abba, cde, cde (Italian) / abab,cdcd,efef, gg (English)

The ALEXANDRIAN often has iambic hexameters. (Look up Spenser)

A LYRIC is a short rhyming poem, usually centred around the topic of love or

personal emotions.

A LIMERICK is a comical four or five-line stanza, each having four stresses,

often with an internal rhyme in the third line. (Check out Edward Lear's work)

An ODE is a lyric poem that often gave praise to topics such as friendship, love,

the four seasons and things of beauty.

A BALLAD if often quite long and contains a narrative story just like some country

songs.

A HAIKU is a short three part poem, often containing seventeen syllables.

A BLANK VERSE is made up of unrhymed iambic pentameter ie. unrhymed five-

stress lines which is often duple rhythm. (Found in much of Shakespeare's plays)

More modern forms of poetry

FREE VERSE does not follow any meter system and is unrhymed. It can be quite

rhythmic in various ways eg. by occasional iambic patterns or by rhythms of speech

or rhythms following the poet's thought patterns.

A CONCRETE POEM is one that is shaped or patterned either via its physical

outline or its phonic patterns.

CONTEXTS AND CONCEPTS

A poem should not be simply dissected into synecdoche, symbols or stanzas. It is really

a piece of work that embodies a concept or concepts that utilise all elements of poetical expression as an integral whole. Often it helps to know who the poet is, whom was he/she addressing and in what era (social and political zeitgeist included) was the poem written.

17. Understanding the CONTEXT of the poem helps us to understand what particular

frame of mind the poet might have been in as well as what beliefs the poet might

have held. Historical context tells us the period as well as the zeitgeist of that era.

The time of Wordsworth generated poems expressing faith and love of things made

by a Diety. The end of the 1th century as well as the 0th century brought about an

era of questioning in a troubled modern world. Poets such as E.A Robinson wrote

poems sometimes tinged with doubt eg.Credo while Allen Ginsberg's Howl

reflected an awareness of urban mayhem and isolation.

18. When a poem ties a series of related metaphors or symbols together, forming a certain type of narrative, then an ALLEGORY has been created. For example the words related to elements of the sea implying that life is the sea in Matthew Arnold's

To Marguerite.

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