At the end of the unit, it is expected that you can write a short poem highlighting the

structure of poetry.

Poetry has remained a vital part of art and culture. Like other forms of literature,
poetry is made to express thoughts and emotions in a creative and imaginative way. It
conveys thoughts and feelings, describes a scene or tells a story in a concentrated, lyrical
arrangement of words. In this unit, we will explore on the elements of poetry based on the
following partitions: structure, sound and meaning. This particular lesson will highlight the
poetry according to structure namely stanza and form.

Lesson 1: Elements of Poetry (Structure)

One significant way to analyse poems is by looking into the stanza structure and the
form of the poem. Generally speaking, structure refers to the overall organization of lines
and/or the conventional patterns of sound. However, various modern poems may not have
particular structure.

A. Stanza
Stanzas refer to series of lines grouped together and separated by a space from
other stanzas. They correspond to a paragraph in an essay. Identifying the stanza is done by
counting the number of lines. The following are some of the terms used to refer to the
number of stanzas: monostich (1 line) couplet (2 lines), tercet (3 lines), quatrain (4 lines),
cinquain (5 lines), sestet (6 lines) (sometimes it's called a sexain), septet (7 lines), octave (8
lines).

For example, the excerpt,

“I do not like green eggs and ham.
I do not like them Sam I am.
consists of two lines. Hence, the stanza is called couplet.

B. Form
In many cases, a poem may not have specific lines or stanza, and metrical pattern;
however, it can still be labelled according to its form or style. Here, we will discuss the three
most common types of poetry according to form are: lyric, descriptive and narrative. We will
also include other popular types of poetry.

1. Lyric Poetry
Lyric poetry is any poem with one speaker (not necessarily the poet) who expresses
strong thoughts and feelings. Most poems, especially modern ones, are lyric poems.
Below are some types of lyric poetry.
a. Ode
An ode is a lyric poem that praises an individual, an idea or an event. The length
is usually moderate, the subject is serious, the style is elevated and the stanza
pattern is elaborate. In Ancient Greece, odes were originally accompanied by
music. In fact, the word “ode” comes from the Greek word aeidein, which means
to sing or to dance.

Example: “Ode to the West Wind” by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Scatter, as from an unextinguish’d hearth

Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
Be through my lips to unawaken’d earth
The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

b. Elegy
An elegy is written with a purpose to “mourn the dead”. It usually begins by
reminiscing about the dead person, then weeps for the reason of death, and then
resolves the grief by concluding that death leads to immortality. It has no set
stanza or metrical pattern. It often uses "apostrophe" as a literary technique.

Example: Excerpt from Walt Whitman’s “O Captain, My Captain”

(written following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln)

O Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-
crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.

c. Sonnet
Sonnet is a lyric poem consisting of 14 lines and, in the English version, is
usually written in iambic pentameter. The three basic kinds of sonnets are:

o Italian/Petrarchan sonnet is named after Petrarch, an Italian Renaissance

poet. The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an octave (eight lines) and a sestet
(six lines). It tends to divide the thought into two parts (argument and
conclusion). The rhyming pattern is ABBA ABBA CDECDE, or some accepted
sestet such as CDCCDC, CDDCDE or CDCDCD

On His Blindness by John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent, A
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide, B
And that one talent which is death to hide B
 Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent A
To serve therewith my Maker, and present A
My true account, lest He returning chide; B
“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?” B
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent A
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need C
Either man’s work or His own gifts. Who best D
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state E
Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed, C
And post o’er land and ocean without rest; D
They also serve who only stand and wait.” E

o Shakespearean sonnet consists of three quatrains (four lines each) and a

concluding couplet (two lines). The final couplet is the summary. The rhyming
pattern is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

Two households, both alike in dignity, A
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, B
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, A
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. B
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes C
A pair of star-cross’d lovers take their life; D
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows C
Do with their death bury their parents’ strife. D
The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love, E
And the continuance of their parents’ rage, F
Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove, E
Is now the two hours’ traffic of our stage; F
The which if you with patient ears attend, G
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. G

o Spenserian sonnet is divided into three quatrains, or segments of four lines,

followed by a rhyming couplet. The rhyming pattern is usually ABAB BCBC
CDCD EE.

Amoretti #75 by Edmund Spenser

One day I wrote her name upon the strand, A
But came the waves and washed it away: B
Again I write it with a second hand, A
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. B
Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay, B
A mortal thing so to immortalize, C
For I myself shall like to this decay, B
And eek my name be wiped out likewise. C
Not so, (quod I) let baser things devise C
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: D
My verse, your virtues rare shall eternize, C
 And in the heavens write your glorious name. D
Where when as death shall all the world subdue, E
Our love shall live, and later life renew. E

2. Narrative Poetry
Narrative poetry is a poem that tells a story; its structure resembles the plot
line of a story [i.e. the introduction of conflict and characters, rising action, climax and
the denouement. The most common types of narrative poetry are ballad and epic.

a. Ballad
Ballad is a narrative poem that has a musical rhythm and can be sung. A
ballad is usually organized into quatrains or cinquains, has a simple rhythm
structure, and tells the tales of ordinary people.

Example: Excerpt from “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

b. Epic
Epic is a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a
legendary or historical hero. Examples of epic include Iliad by Homer, Beowulf,
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Metamorphoses by Ovid and many more.

3. Descriptive Poetry
Descriptive poetry is a poem that describes the world that surrounds the
speaker. It uses elaborate imagery and adjectives. While emotional, it is more
"outward-focused" than lyric poetry, which is more personal and introspective.

Example: Excerpt from William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

4. Other Forms
a. Haiku
Haiku has an unrhymed verse form having three lines (a tercet) and usually 5,7,5
syllables, respectively. It is usually considered a lyric poem.

Example: “By the Old Temple” by Matsuo Bashō

By the old temple,
peach blossoms;
a man treading rice.
 b. Limerick
Limerick has a very structured poem, usually humorous & composed of five lines
(a cinquain), in an AABBA rhyming pattern; beat must be anapestic (weak, weak,
strong) with 3 feet in lines 1, 2, & 5 and 2 feet in lines 3 & 4. It is usually a
narrative poem based upon a short and often ribald anecdote.

Example: “A Poem” by Dixon Lanier Merritt

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill can hold more than his beli-can.
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week
But I’m damned if I see how the heli-can

Now, study the following poem in preparation for the activity during the synchronous
class via Google Meet.

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; _____

Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; _____
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; _____
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. _____

I have seen roses damask’d, red and white, _____

But no such roses see I in her cheeks; _____
And in some perfumes is there more delight _____
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. _____

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know _____

That music hath a far more pleasing sound; _____
I grant I never saw a goddess go; _____
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: _____

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare _____

As any she belied with false compare. _____