Learning about Poetry

Per la IVDa.s. 2015/2016

Form, language and sound devices

In the very first part of the syllabus we will focus on the form and language of poetry. The theme will be life and death.

FORM = The form or layout of a poem refers to how it appears on the page.

If the question is: Does the poem have a traditional form? Actually, you have to say what is traditional and what you find unusual.

Form (1)

1. First of all look at the grouping of lines. (a) How many stanzas are there?(b) Is there a connection between the division of

the poem into a certain number of stanzas and the content?

(c) Do you remember the stanza names? Be precises!

- 2 lines of poetry = couplet- 3 lines of poetry = tercet

Form (2)

- 4 lines of poetry = quatrain- 5 lines of poetry = quintet/quintain- 6 lines of poetry = sestet- 7 lines of poetry = septet- 8 lines of poetry = octave

Form (3)

2. After that, you can focus on the lines of verse. In general the first letter of the first word in

each line is a capital letter. If so, you can say/write that the poem makes a traditional use of capitalisation as each line starts with a capital letter.

3. The next step is to notice is the poem is aligned or indented.

Form (4)• Here an example of alignment:

Hal Summers, My Old Cat (1961)My old cat is dead,Who would butt me with his head.He had the sleekest fur.He had the blackest purr.[…]

• Here an example of indentation:Roger McGough, Trouble the Tortoise (1997)

I’m a teenage tortoiseA tearaway, a rebel

I live life in the fast laneMy middle name is Trouble […]

Form (5)

4. Then you should have a look at the end of each line and say whether it somehow enhances the meaning.

a) Lines can end with a clear pause given by a sense unit provided by both grammar and punctuation (however, sometimes, lines that bear a comma are ausestrictly end-stopped becausethe comma could mark a list of items)

b) Others are run-on-lines, in which the sense and the grammar run forward into the next line.

Language1. To analyse the language, you must learn the names of the main figures of speech and their definitions.- Metaphor = when something with similar characteristics is used to describe the original. - Simile = when something with similar characteristics is compared to the original, using ‘as’ or ‘like’.- Metonymy = when something is described with words which refer to a quality or feature of that thing.- Synecdoche = when a part of soemthing is used torefer to the whole thing.- Irony = when the words express the contrary of what is really meant.- Paradox = a statement which seems to be contradictory but which is shown to be true.- Hyperbole = an exaggeration for effect not to be taken literally.- Ellipsis = omission of a word.- Anaphora = repetition of a word or words in an initial position.- Epistrophe= repetition of a word or words in a final position. - Tautology = unnecessary repetition of the same idea in different words.- Onomatopoeia= a word imitating a real sound.- Syn(a)esthesia= an expression which appeals to more than one sense.- Rhetorical question= a question which does not expect an answer because it is self-evident. - Personification = the attribution of animate qualities to an inanimate object.2. Poetry can also appeal to the senses of the reader by using sensuous language or references. (you must

remember the five senses: touch, taste, sight, hearing, smell).

Sound devices: rhyme, rhythm, repetition

Rhyme: this is the most obvious sound feature of many poems. What do you know about rhyme? Which of the following words rhyme?

go implied end affirmation side head led do know destination friend lead need through Words rhyme perfectly when the final stressed

vowel and any other sounds which follow have the same sound.

RhymeLearn some new words to speak about rhyme.- Couplet = two successive end-rhymes forming an aa or aabb or aabbcc rhyme scheme, for

example: cat/mat.- Triplet = three successive end-rhymes forming an aaa or aaabbb or aaabbbccc rhyme scheme, for

example: cat/mat/that.- Alternate (or cross) rhyme = end-rhymes which form an abab rhyme scheme, for ex.:

frog/that/dog.- Enclosed (or chiasmic or arch) rhyme = end-rhymes which form an abba or abccba rhyme

scheme, for ex.: cat/frog/dog/cat.- Single rhyme = end-rhymes which form an abcb rhyme scheme, for ex.: cat/dog/sheep/frog- Chain rhyme = when the rhyme scheme continues and links the stanzas of a poem.- Eye or (printer’s) rhyme = when the words’ endings are written in the same way but do not have

the same sound: ex. cough and though.- Holorhyme = when a whole line of poetry rhymes with the previous line.- Near (or imperfect or half-) rhyme = when not all the final sounds are the same, for ex.: breath

and deaf; fish and dash; smiling and falling.- Free verse = with no regular rhymes (or metre or line-length), it depends on the natural rhythms

of speech.

AnalysisLangston Hughes, Dreams (1932)

Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreamsFor when dreams goLife is a barren fieldFrozen with snow.

Analyse the poem then answer the following question: What are your dreams for this school year? Are they sweet dreams, future

aspirations, flight of fantasy or the impossible?