UNIT III

LITERARY POETRY STYLISTICS

Overview

This unit shall discuss the essential concepts and applications of literary poetry
stylistics by reviewing the poetry genres, language, devices/techniques, and meaning in the
light of the stylistic study, by discussing a survey of poetry authors, their unique styles, and
purposes of writing such poems, and by proving examples of stylistic analysis of poetry.

Unit Objectives

At the end of these weeks, the preservice teacher (PST) should be able to:

a. review poetry genres, language, devices/techniques, and meaning in the light of

stylistic study;
b. discuss a survey of poetry authors, their unique styles and purposes of writing such
poems;
c. create stylistic analyses of poetry texts which could be used for G7 to SHS English
Literature.

Expanding Your Knowledge

Review of Poetic Forms and Genres

Poetic Forms

1. Three-line stanzas (tercets)

a. Haiku (hokku, haikai): a Japanese form that Western poets tend to render as
3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.

Example:

the sea darkens -- the voices of the wild ducks are faintly white.
Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694

b. Terza rima: a continuous interlocking rhyme scheme (ababcbcdc...) most

famously used in Dante’s Commedia. Many poets render it in tercets (aba bcb
cdc...).

Example:

O WILD West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being— Thou from whose unseen
presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, [...]
Shelley, “Ode to the West Wind”

c. Blues: tercets in which the second line is a refrain of the first (giving the
singer time to improvise the third).
 d. Villanelle, which poets writing in English render as five tercets and a
quatrain, originated in a French song form with repeated refrains. The
English version is governed by a strict pattern of refrain and rhyme
generated out of the first tercet, so that each subsequent stanza repeats a line
(or two, in the case of the final quatrain) from the first tercet, and the entire
poem is restricted to the two rhyme-sounds introduced in the first tercet.

2. Four-line stanzas (quatrains)

a. Ballad stanza: most commonly, alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter

(4, 3, 4, 3 feet), rhyming abxb, although there are numerous variations. Aside
from the line breaks, a ballad stanza is metrically equivalent to a fourteener
couplet. Note a poem written in ballad stanzas is NOT necessarily a ballad
and vice versa.

Example:

A SLUMBER did my spirit seal; I had no human fears: She seem’d a thing that
could not feel The touch of earthly years. [...] Wordsworth, “A Slumber Did My
Spirit Seal”

b. Heroic Quatrain: iambic pentameter rhyming abab (i.e., alternating heroic

couplets).

Example:

THE CURFEW tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd winds slowly o’er
the lea, The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world
to darkness and to me. Thomas Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”

c. “In Memoriam” stanza: iambic tetrameter quatrains rhyming abba, named

after Tennyson’s long elegy for Arthur Hallam.

Example:

THOUGH beauty be the mark of praise, And yours of whom I sing be such As not
the world can praise too much, Yet ’tis your Virtue now I raise.. Ben Jonson, “An
Elegy”

d. Common or hymn measure alternates tetrameter and trimeter (like a ballad

stanza) and rhymes abab.

e. The pantoum (a variant on the Malaysian, is a series of quatrains rhyming

abab, in which the even-numbered lines (2 and 4) of each quatrain are
repeated as the odd-numbered lines (1 and 3) of the next quatrain.

3. Five-line stanzas (cinquains)

a. Limerick: an anapestic trimeter triplet surrounding an anapestic dimeter

couplet---i.e., the number of feet per line is 3, 3, 2, 2, 3, rhyming aabba.
Limericks often use feminine rhyme, adding to the rollicking comedic effect.

Example:

The Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear (an illustrated collection of

limericks) Wendy Cope, “Waste Land Limericks”
 I Wish that my Room had a Floor! I don’t so Much Care for a Door, But this
Crawling Around Without Touching the Ground Is Getting to be Quite a Bore!
Gelett Burgess, “The Floorless Room”

b. Sapphics: English poets have adapted this quantitative form in many

different ways, although the shortened final line is a reliable indicator. The
traditional English Sapphic consists of lines of 11, 11, 11, and 5 syllables in
falling meters (dactyls and troches), and need not rhyme.

Example:

How happy he, who free from care The rage of courts, and noise of towns;
Contented breaths his native air, In his own grounds. Alexander Pope, “Solitude:
An Ode”

4. Six-line stanzas (sixaines)

a. Venus and Adonis stanza: iambic pentameter lines rhymed ababcc, named
after Shakespeare’s “Venus and Adonis”, which uses this form.

Example:

EVEN as the sun with purple-colour’d face Had ta’en his last leave of the
weeping morn, Rose-cheek’d Adonis hied him to the chase; Hunting he lov’d, but
love he laugh’d to scorn; Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him, And like
a bold- fac’d suitor ’gins to woo him. William Shakespeare, “Venus and Adonis”

b. Tail Rhyme: A medieval verse form in which a “tail” line rhymes to make a
couplet embracing two other couplets, e.g. aabccb. Tail rhyme is often, but
not always, in sestets.

Example:

THREE years she grew in sun and shower, Then Nature said, “A lovelier flower
On earth was never sown; This Child I to myself will take; She shall be mine, and
I will make A Lady of my own. William Wordsworth, “Three Years She Grew in
Sun and Shower”

c. Sestina: six sestets and a tercet, whose pattern is determined by end-word

repetition rather than rhyme or meter. Each sestet repeats, in a spiral pattern
(6, 1, 5, 2, 4, 3), the end-words of the previous sestet; the final tercet orders
the repeated words according to the same spiral pattern but uses two per
line, one in the middle and one at the end.

5. Seven-line stanzas (septets)

a. Rhyme royal: seven pentameter lines rhyming

ababbcc Example:

The double sorwe of Troilus to tellen, That was the king Priamus sone of Troye,
In lovinge, how his aventures fellen Fro wo to wele, and after out of Ioye, My
purpos is, er that I parte fro ye. Thesiphone, thou help me for tendyte Thise
woful vers, that wepen as I wryte! Geoffrey Chaucer, Troilus and Criseyde
 6. Eight-line stanzas

a. Ottava rima: pentameter lines rhyming abababcc.

Example:

I WANT a hero: an uncommon want, When every year and month sends forth a
new one, Till, after cloying the gazettes with cant, The age discovers he is not
the true one; Of such as these I should not care to vaunt, I’ll therefore take our
ancient friend, DON JUAN, We all have seen him in the pantomime Sent to the
devil somewhat ere his time. George Gordon Byron, Don Juan

7. Nine-line stanzas

a. Spenserian stanza: 8 lines of iambic pentameter followed by an alexandrine,

rhyming ababbcbcc.

Example:

A Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine, Ycladd in mightie armes and siluer
shielde, Wherein old dints of deepe woundes did remaine, The cruell markes of
many’ a bloody fielde; Yet armes till that time did he neuer wield: His angry
steede did chide his foming bitt, As much disdayning to the curbe to yield: Full
iolly knight he seemd, and faire did sitt, As one for knightly giusts and fierce
encounters fitt. Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene

8. Fourteen-line stanzas

a. A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem, usually divided into an octet and sestet

(Petrarchan) or three quatrains and a couplet (Elizabethan and Spenserian).
A sonnet sequence is a series of sonnets (usually divided by white space,
often separately numbered) that share a related theme.

Poetic Genres

1. Allegory
A narrative with two levels of meaning, one stated and one unstated.

2. Aubade
A song or poem greeting the sunrise, traditionally a lover’s lament that the night’s
passion must come to an end.

3. Ballad
Broadly speaking, the ballad is a genre of folk poetry, usually an orally transmitted
narrative song. The term “ballad” applies to several other kinds of poetry, including
the English ballad stanza, which is a form often associated with the genre.

4. Blazon
A Renaissance genre characterized by a short catalogue-style description, often of
the female body.

5. Cento
A poem composed entirely of lines from other poems.

6. Dirge
A funeral song.
7. Dramatic monologue
This might be called a “closet soliloquy”: a long poem spoken by a character who
often unwittingly reveals his or her hidden desires and actions over the course of
the poem. The “I” of the dramatic monologue is very distinct from the “I” of the
poet’s persona. Robert Browning was a master of this genre.

8. Eclogue
A short pastoral poem; Virgil’s eclogues are one of the first examples of this genre.

9. Ekphrasis
Originally a description of any kind, “ekphrasis” is now almost exclusively applied to
the poetic description of a work of art.

10. Elegy
This genre can be difficult to define, as there are specific types of elegiac poem as
well as a general elegiac mood, but almost all elegies mourn, and seek consolation
for, a loss of some kind: the most common form of elegy is a lyric commemorating
the death of a loved one. Greek elegiac meter, which is one source of what we know
as the elegy today, is not normally associated with loss and mourning.

11. Epic
A long narrative poem that catalogues and celebrates heroic or historic deeds and
events, usually focusing on a single heroic individual.

12. Epigram
A brief and pithy aphoristic observation, often satirical.

13. Epitaph
A tombstone inscription. Several famous poems end with the poet writing his own.
(See, for example, Thomas Gray’s “Elegy in a Country Churchyard” or W.B. Yeats’s
“Under Ben Bulben.”)

14. Epithalamion
A song or poem that celebrates a wedding.

15. Fable
A brief tale about talking animals or objects, usually having a moral or pedagogical
point, which is sometimes explicitly stated at the end. Aesop and la Fontaine are
perhaps the most famous fable-writers.

16. Georgic
The agricultural cousin of pastoral, a georgic is a poem that celebrates rustic labor.

17. Hymn
A song of praise.

18. Invective
A personal, often abusive, denunciation.

19. Lament
An expression of grief.

20. Light verse

Poetry that is mostly for fun: this can mean anything from nonsense verse to folk
songs, but typically there is a comical element to light verse.
21. Lyric
This genre encompasses a large portion of the world’s poetry; in general, lyrics are
fairly brief poems that emphasize musical qualities.

22. Masque
Courtly drama characterized by elaborate costumes and dances, as well as audience
participation.

23. Occasional verse

Poetry written with reference to a particular event.

24. Ode
A long, serious meditation on an elevated subject, an ode can take one of three forms.

25. Paean
A song of joy or triumph.

26. Palinode
A recantation or retraction, usually of an earlier poem.

27. Panegyric
Poem or song in praise of a particular individual or object.

28. Parody
A comic imitation.

29. Pastoral
Originally a poem that depicted an idealized singing competition between
shepherds, “pastoral” has come to denote almost anything to do with a rural setting,
although it also refers to several specific categories of the genre. Associated genres
of varying synonymity are idyll, bucolic, eclogue, andgeorgic.

30. Psalm
A sacred song.

31. Riddle
A puzzling question that relies on allegory or wordplay for its answer. Riddles are
often short, and often include an answer to the question posed, albeit an
unsatisfying one. The riddle of the Sphinx, which Oedipus solved, is a particularly
famous example: “what walks on four legs in the morning, two at midday, and three
in the afternoon?”

32. Romance
An adventure tale, usually set in a mythical or remote locale. Verse forms of the
romance include the Spanish ballad and medieval or chivalric romance.

33. Satire
Ridicule of some kind, usually passing moral judgment.

34. Tragedy
This genre originated in ancient Greek verse drama and received extended
treatment in Aristotle’s Poetics, which made the downfall of the main character one
of the criteria for tragedy. The genre has since expanded to include almost anything
pertaining to a downfall.
35. Verse epistle
A letter written in verse, usually taking as its subject either a philosophical or a
romantic question.

Survey of Poetry Authors and their Unique Styles

1. William Shakespeare

Shakespeare used a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed iambic

pentameter, called blank verse. His plays were composed using blank verse,
although there are passages in all the plays that deviate from the norm and are
composed of other forms of poetry and/or simple prose. Shakespeare’s sonnets are
written in iambic pentameter, with the exception of Sonnet 145, which is written in
iambic tetrameter. Shakespeare’s style of writing and meter choice was typical of
the day, and other writings of the time influenced how he structured his
compositions.

2. Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson has a unique style of writing that many people do not
understand. Two characteristics of her writing that set her apart from other writers
are the use of capitalization and the use of dashes throughout her poems. “She uses
the dash to emphasize, to indicate a missing word or words, or to replace a comma
or period.” Emily Dickinson also capitalizes nouns for no reason. “She leaves out
helping verbs and connecting words; she drops endings from verbs and nouns. It is
not always clear what her pronouns refer to; sometimes, a pronoun refers to a word
that does not appear in the poem. At her best, she achieves breathtaking effects by
compressing language”. Emily Dickinson also changes the function of a word. When
she was all alone in seclusion, she would read Webster’s Dictionary, which is why
her poems use very different words in weird ways. “Dickinson uses identical rhyme
(sane, insane) sparingly. She also uses eye rhyme (though, through), vowel rhymes
(see, buy), imperfect rhymes (time, thin), and suspended rhyme (thing, along)”.
Emily Dickinson has many characteristics in her writings that make her very
different than other poets of her time.

3. Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou’s writing style is very hard to classify because she never used a
specific style of writing or one set rhyming scheme. However, in many of her poems,
she used a type of dialect called Black Secular, which is a form of simplified English,
as well as metaphors that relate back to slavery. She also uses a call and response
form, which creates a form of verbal interaction with the listener and the poet.
These technics are used in her poems, ‘Still, I Rise,’ and ‘Sepia Fashion Show.’ She
wrote her poems in this form, using metaphors that only black people would truly
understand, to protest against the government for banning the teaching of Black
Secular speech in schools, and to exhibit the racism that still had existed in America.
Many also say that Maya’s poems follow a blues-based model in terms of the pattern
of her poems. They often have verses followed by a repeated “chorus” like that of a
song. A few of the poems that reflect this style are ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’
and ‘Phenomenal Women.’ She used this style of writing because, as a black woman
living in America, it is very probable that she grew up listening to blues music and
was heavily influenced by it. She also used this style because the slaves created that
genre of music as a way to express grief and to tell a story, which is what she was
doing with her poetry.
4. Robert Frost

Robert Frost’s writing style can best be described as a mix of 19th-century

tradition combined with 20th-century contemporary technique. Frost was a modern
poet who liked to use conventional form metrics combined with New England
vernacular. His writing style changed gradually over time, becoming more abstract
in his later years. Many experts believe this was largely due to his religious and
political beliefs. Frost used many autobiographical details in his work, often
describing mundane details of New England life. His fondness for New Hampshire is
evident in many of his poems, and he once stated that he believed it to be one of the
two best states in the Union, along with Vermont. His critics often state that his
regionalism is mostly due to his realistic approach, though, and not his political
beliefs. Frost is one of the most well-known poets of all time and received four
Pulitzer Prizes for his works. Much of the poetry Frost wrote later in his life came
from this perspective of being a respected and well-known poet. Frost always wrote
in his own style, never imitating the current trends. He was never known as an
experimental poet but rather used traditional techniques to describe the world as he
saw it, often in simple detail.

5. Langston Hughes

In his writing style, particularly in poetry, Hughes used music, rhythm, and
images which drew on his African-American literary heritage. He used jazz and blue
styles for the structure and subjects of his poems. Hughes and his contemporaries
had different aspirations and goals than that of a typical black middle-class person.
They criticized men such as W. E. B. Dubois for being too assimilationist and also
criticized skin-color prejudices within the black community. Hughes attempted to
portray the “low-life” in his poetry. Readers of his work can find a lot of cadence,
rhythm, and sound from jazz and blues music in his work, which is full of the themes
of loneliness, despair, and humor. His popular poems include “The Blues,” “Still
Here,” “Walkers with the Dawn,” “Ardella,” “I too Sing America,” “Mother to Son,”
Quiet Girl,” “Dream Deferred,” “Acceptance,” “April Rain Song,” “Democracy,” “Negro
Dancers,” “My People,” and “Let America Be America Again.”

6. John Keats

Keats’s diction is highly connotative. His writing style is characterized by

sensual imagery and contains many poetic devices such as alliteration,
personification, assonance, metaphors, and consonance. All of these devices work
together to create rhythm and music in his poems. His most popular poems include
“Ode on Melancholy,” “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” “Ode to Autumn,” “Ode to a
Nightingale,” “La Belle Dame Sans Mercy,” “Imitation of Spenser,” “Hyperion,” and
“Isabella.” Among his sonnets, the most popular are “Bright Stars! Would I were
steadfast as Thou Art,” “When I have Fears that I may Cease to be,” “Endymion,”
“The Eve of St. Agnes,” and “Lamia.”

7. Lord Byron

Lord Byron was a leading figure of the Romantic Movement. His specific
ideas about life and nature benefitted the world of literature. Marked by Hudibrastic
verse, blank verse, allusive imagery, heroic couplets, and complex structures, his
diverse literary pieces won global acclaim. However, his early work, Fugitive Pieces,
brought him to the center of criticism, but his later works made inroads into the
literary world. He successfully used blank verse and satire in his pieces to explore
the ideas of love and nature. Although he is known as a romantic poet, his poems,
“The Prisoner of Chillon” and “Darkness” where attempts to discuss reality as it
is without adding
 fictional elements. The recurring themes in most of his pieces are nature, the folly of
love, realism in literature, liberty and the power of art.

8. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry is considered as one of the leading Americans to pen down his

emotions and thoughts, using a unique style. Instead of writing in straightforward
and plain words, he preferred using various styles and forms in his poetry, including
free verse and hexameter. His published works exhibit great versatility; he wrote
epic poems, sonnets, and ballads using heroic couplets, trochaic forms, blank verse,
and other literary elements. In most of his early works, he worked on the principle
of didacticism. However, his later works deal with religious beliefs, moral and
cultural values. He also used allegory in his writings. Regarding literary devices,
Henry often turns toward imagery, similes, metaphors, internal dialogues, and
sound devices. The recurring themes in most of his writings are man and the natural
world, life and death, art and culture, and sufferings.

9. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson enjoyed a successful literary life. During his childhood,
his mother and aunt introduced him to the great literary figures, a move that later
played a pivotal role in his writing career. He has beautifully portrayed his ideas in
his literary pieces. He developed his own philosophy with an interest in nature,
literature, and religion, which remained evident in most of his transcendentalist
writings. Unlike British Romanticism, transcendentalism in America worked on a
principle that a fundamental continuity exists between nature, the divine, and man.
Emerson, in his philosophical writings, focuses on self-reliance, man’s relation to
God, and relentless optimism. However, his poetry is considered harsh and didactic.
Marked with the use of motifs, symbolism, imagery, and allusions, his poetry has
also won universal recognition. The recurring themes in most of his writings are
spirituality, nature, individualism, originality versus imitation, and philosophy of
life.

10.Walt Whitman

After establishing his career, first as a journalist and then as a poet, he added
more to the world of literature. Despite having challenges in life, he secured a
noteworthy place in the list of great poets on account of his lucid style and
thoughtful ideas. The demise of his parents and the cruelty of the Civil war provided
him with an insight to feel the irreparable loss of life. Therefore, he elaborated on
the ideas of loss, death, suffering in his poetry. The notable themes in most of his
poems are love, freedom, beauty, man, and the natural world. Regarding literary
devices, he often turns to visual imagery, similes, metaphors, and sound devices.
Besides these devices, he successfully used the cataloging technique in his texts to
display his great insight into the consciousness of human thought.

Poetic Language

All writing makes use of figurative language. Yet, the language of poetry
focuses specifically on discovering meaning based on the way that certain
combinations of words sound, as well as the way that groups of words appear on the
page. Poetic language is fundamentally figurative; figurative language is a language
used in a nonliteral manner, as in words or phrases that convey meaning beyond or
in addition to the dictionary definition of those words. For example, the statement
“The town judge is intelligent” is a direct description. However, the sentence “The
town judge holds the keys to the kingdom of knowledge” offers a similar description
yet with added layers of creative images and associative meaning that connects with
other symbols of power (keys, kingdom); it also uses alliteration (repetition of
consonants) to create rhythm and pattern.

Below are the types of figurative language and a full description of common
forms of poetic language.

Common Type of Figurative Language:

1. Apostrophe — A direct address to a person or object not literally listening; ex:

“Oh, Great Mother Nature, how you test our spirit…”

2. Allusion — Reference to a well-known object, character, or event, sometimes

from another literary work.

3. Hyperbole — Exaggeration used for emphasis.

4. Imagery — Words, and phrases that appeal to the senses, particularly sight.

5. Metaphor — A direct comparison of two seemingly dissimilar items (does

not use the words like or as ).

6. Onomatopoeia — A word that imitates the sound of the object the word
represents.

7. Personification — The attribution of human characteristics to nonhuman

places or things.

8. Simile — A comparison of two seemingly dissimilar items using like or as.

Rhythm & Meter

Rhythm is the pattern of stresses within a line of verse. All spoken word has a
rhythm formed by stressed and unstressed syllables. When you write words in a
sentence, you will notice patterns forming.

In poetry, pre-measured patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables are

called meters.

1. Stressed syllables - long sounding

2. Unstressed syllables - short sounding

Meters are the pattern of feet within a sentence.

Feet are individual units of rhythm made up of patterns of syllables. A

sentence is made up of one or more feet.

There are five rhythms in poetry:

Foot Type Pattern Example Rhythm

Iamb unstressed/stressed Today buh BUH
Trochee stressed/unstressed Trochee BUH buh
Spondee stressed/stressed Hip Hop BUH BUH
Anapest unstressed/unstressed/stressed Metaphor buh buh BUH
Dactyl stressed/unstressed/unstressed Syllable BUH buh buh
 To form a line of verse, a poet can use repetitions of feet:

1. Monometer - 1 foot
2. Dimeter - 2 feet
3. Trimeter - 3 feet
4. Tetrameter - 4 feet
5. Pentameter - 5 feet
6. Hexameter - 6 feet

Rhythm is a natural effect within poetry. The meter of a sentence and which
feet are used to make that sentence are what gives the poem its effect and flow.

Glossary of Poetry Techniques

(Source: Australian Association for the Teaching of English)

Alliteration
Alliteration is a literary device that repeats the same letter or sound at the
beginning of words; these words are closely connected. Alliteration is used to create
rhythm and mood.

Allusion
Allusion is an expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it
explicitly; an indirect or passing reference.

Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in a phrase or sentence

Calligram
Calligram refers to a concrete ‘shape’ poem that uses repetition of words or lines to
form the shape.

Conceit
Conceit refers to an extended metaphor, which builds on a metaphorical comparison
between two things and explores its different facets throughout the poem or a
section of the poem.

Confessional Poetry
Confessional Poetry is the poetry of the “I.” According to the Academy of American
poets in their blog, Poets.org, “This style of writing emerged in the late 1950s and
early 1960s and is associated with poets such as Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne
Sexton, and W. D. Snodgrass… Private experiences with and feelings about death,
trauma, depression, and relationships were addressed in this type of poetry, often in
an autobiographical manner.”

Connotation
Connotation is when a word prompts additional associations beyond its simple
dictionary definition.

Couplet
Couplet refers is a successive pair of lines in a poem. The pair of lines that comprise a
couplet generally rhyme with each other and contain the same meter.

Double Couplet
The repetition of sounds to create a rhyming pattern- AABB. Double couplets within
a quatrain may be used to create a strong positive rhythm. In poetry, a couplet is a
pair of lines in a verse. Typically, they rhyme and have the same meter or rhythm.
They make up a unit or complete thought.

Dramatic monologue
Dramatic monologue is a poem spoken by one person to another person; the
listener is implied. These poems deploy voice: the use of first-person, “I” and second
person, “you” in this poem.

Emotive Language
Emotive Language is a way of writing where the author deliberately choices his/her
words carefully to create and evoke emotion within the reader. It is about word
choice, which can evoke different reactions, such as sadness or joy. Upon reading,
the reader begins to feel or have their senses awaken as the words impact on their
emotional levels.

Enjambment
- (in verse) the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line,
couplet, or stanza. It is used to quicken the pace for the reader/listening or create a
sense of urgency.

Epigraph
Epigraph is a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a text intended to suggest
its theme.

First Person Point of View

First Person Point of View is where the story is narrated by one character at a time.
This character may be speaking about him or herself or sharing events that he or
she is experiencing.

Free verse
Free verse is a style of poetry that does not have a regular rhyme scheme or rhythm.

Hyperbole
Hyperbole refers to exaggerated claims or statements not meant to be taken literally,
often utilized for dramatic or poetic effect.

Imagery
Imagery is the use of words to create images in the reader’s mind based on the five
senses of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. It can also relate to emotion (how
one feels inside) and involve the use of descriptive language to paint a picture using
words.

Imagism
Imagism is a style of poetry that uses precise language and painting clear pictures
with words.

Intertextuality
Intertextuality is an interpretation of the way in which one text influences another
text. This can be a direct borrowing such as a quotation or plagiarism, or slightly
more indirect such as parody, pastiche, allusion, or translation.

Metaphor
Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or
action to which it is not literally applicable.
Meter
Meter is a stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in verse or within the lines of a
poem. Stressed syllables tend to be longer and unstressed shorter. In simple
language, meter is a poetic device that serves as a linguistic sound pattern for the
verses, as it gives poetry a rhythmical and melodious sound.

Mood
Mood refers to inducing or suggesting a particular feeling or state of mind.

Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is where the formation of a word from a sound associated with what
is named (e.g., cuckoo, sizzle).

Pantoum
Pantoum refers to a poem that features repeating, interwoven lines with a specific
line structure.

Personification
Personification is a literary device often used in poetry where human characteristics
are applied to make inanimate things, objects, or even animals enlivened.

Punctuation
Punctuation is the marks, such as full stop, comma, and brackets, used in writing to
separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning.

Quatrain
Quatrain is a literary device that contributes to the structure of a poem. It is a four-
line stanza employing a very tight rhyme scheme.

Refrain
Refrain is a repeated line or lines used as a cohesive device in music and poetry. In
this case, single words have been carried over from one line to another to tie ideas
together. Underline the repeated words and note their effect on the reading.

Repetition
Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same sounds, words, or phrases a few
times to make an idea clearer. Repetition is used to emphasize a feeling or idea,
create rhythm and familiarity, and/or develop a sense of urgency.

Rhyme
Rhyme occurs when words are placed in a way that emphasizes the repetition of
sounds (particularly vowel sounds). End rhyme occurs when the last words in two
or more lines of poetry rhyme. Internal rhyme occurs when two or more words in a
single line rhyme.

Rhyme scheme
Rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song.
Conventionally, each rhyming sound is given a successive letter of the alphabet so
that a rhyme scheme could be abab cdcd, or, if in rhyming couplets, aa bb cc…

Semiotics
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols - and these are culturally created and
interpreted. Signs can connote meanings beyond themselves and can also be read at
a literal level.
Sensory imagery
Sensory imagery is any description that involves one or more of the five senses --
touch, sight, taste, smell, and hearing. Poetry that is rich in sensory detail helps the
reader perfectly envision or experience the scene the poet is describing.

Simile
Simile is a literary device that compares one thing with another using like or as.
Similes are used to create to help create an image and enable you to better visualize
the image.

Symbolism
Symbolism is used when the poet invites the reader to see something standing for
something else, e.g., an object or word to represent an abstract idea.

Tone
Tone is a general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.

How to Find the Meaning in a Poem

Students often approach poetry like a puzzle that needs to be solved as

quickly as possible. However, to find the deeper meaning of a poem, the reader
needs to closely examine the imagery, the figurative language, the ending lines, and
the social context of the poem. Try to experience the poem from the author’s point
of view by listening to a powerful reading of the poem. When a poem is experienced
from several angles, the deeper meaning is revealed.

1. Examine the Title

Because poetry is condensed language, the title is often a critical clue

to the overall meaning. The titles of poems also provide the background
needed to understand a poem, including the setting and the point of view.
“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes is an example of a poem in which the
title gives the reader important information. From the title, the reader can
infer that the mother is the speaker of the poem; the advice in the poem, to
keep going regardless of hardship, is being given to her son. Poem titles,
while sometimes attention-grabbing, also provide crucial information and
should be considered closely.

2. Explore the Images

The foundation of all poetry is imagery: sight, sound, taste, touch, and
smell. By examining the imagery in a poem and looking for similarities and
differences, the reader will discover the meaning of the poem. Read the poem
slowly and examine the imagery. Remember, the lines in poems may extend
to the next line if no punctuation is present. Keep a chart to track the various
images, and then review the overall list. Pay close attention to repeated lines
because they are often closely linked to the poem’s meaning. For example,
“Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas repeats the visual
image with each stanza: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” The dark
and light imagery, along with this famous image, clearly relate the poem’s
meaning: All humans should resist defeat, and ultimately death. A careful
reading of a poem, focusing on the imagery, will reveal the meaning to
readers.
3. Unlock Figurative Language

Figurative language is often synonymous with poetic language. Poetry

contains a good deal of figurative language that is often at the center of the
poem’s meaning. Sometimes, an entire poem is built around one extended
comparison. For example, “A Poison Tree” by William Blake is a narrative
poem that centers around the image of a poisoned tree that produces a
poison apple and eventually kills the speaker’s enemy. This slow-growing
tree and the fruit it produces are being compared to the slow-growing anger
and desire for revenge that the speaker is experiencing. Frequently, poems
use a central metaphor or image to convey the message. Carefully examine
any figurative language in the poem, especially if the comparison is in the
title or repeated throughout the poem.

4. Examine the Ending

The last few lines of a poem often summarize the author’s point and
make a final statement. If you are struggling to find meaning in a poem, re-
examine the final few lines. Just as with an essay, poems often end by
summarizing main points and directly stating themes. Shakespeare’s sonnets,
for example, typically end with a couplet that summarizes the overall
message. Sonnet 18 famously compares a lover and a summer day. The final
couplet, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see / So long lives this, and
this gives life to thee,” sums up the speaker’s message that the beauty of
women surpasses the beauty of passing summer. The ending of a poem will
often tie together the imagery and clearly state the author’s purpose.

5. Connect to the Author and Time Period

The context of a poem sheds light on the overall meaning of the

words. The time period and biography of a poet will give insight that may be
hard to decipher just by reading the poem out of context. A good example is
the famous poem “Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe. This narrative poem
describes the untimely death of a beautiful woman. A close look at Poe’s life
reveals that he lost several women close to him, including his mother,
stepmother, and beloved wife. The poem is also Poe’s last known work and
one of Poe’s only poems with a positive message: that the speaker and
Annabel Lee will be reunited after death. When in doubt about the meaning
of a poem, research the poet and his era for missing clues.
 Stylistics Analysis on Poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer
By Jomel B. Manuel

Abstract
This paper aims to analyze Joyce Kilmer’s poem entitled “Trees” for the perspective
of stylistic analysis. The analysis is made under the aspects of phonological, morphological,
graphological, and lexico-syntactic levels. This research is helpful in understanding the
basic concepts, literal and hidden meanings of the poem.

Index Terms. graphological level, lexico-syntactic level, morphological level, phonological

level, stylistics

I. Introduction

Style is the basic feature of any literary piece of writing. This gives uniqueness to
every writer. Through one’s style, s/he can convey more the message to the readers. This
shows that what makes one understandable and effective in expressing the message
he/she wanted to convey would depend on how he/she dresses up his/her thoughts.

Furthermore, Leech (1969) said that personality of the writer is connected with his
particular style. It reveals that how a person effectively and beautifully depicts his ideas
and thoughts. It describes the way of person’s speaking and writing. It is derived from the
Latin word “elocutio” which means “style” and means “lexis” in Greek.

Style is an aspect of language that deals with choices of diction, phrases, sentences
and linguistic materials that are consistent and harmonious with the subject matter (Lawal,
1997). Style is involved in both, spoken and written, literary and nonliterary types of
language. However, it is particularly associated with written form of the literary texts.

Different scholars have come up with different views or definitions about stylistics.
According to Freeman (1971), stylistics is a sub-discipline which started in the second half
of the 20th century. Leech and Short (1981) , on the other, defined stylistics as the
linguistic study of style, is rarely undertaken for its own sake, simply as an exercise in
describing what use is made of language. According to Widdowson (1975), stylistics is the
study of literary discourse from a linguistic orientation which differs stylistics from the
literary criticism and considers linguistics as its linking techniques.

According to Simpson (2004), stylistics is a method of textual interpretation in

which primacy of place is assigned to language. He mentioned further that the reason why
language is so important to stylistics is because the various forms, patterns, and levels that
constitute linguistic structure are an important index of the function of the text.
Undoubtedly, to do stylistics is to explore language and to explore language creativity in
language use.

In Stylistic Analysis, we make use of linguistic description to investigate how spoken

or written language communicates meaning in a variety of contexts (Coxon,1993).
Meanwhile, Simpson (2004) stated three basic principles in stylistic analysis. It should be
rigorous, retrievable, and replicable. Rigorous means that it should be based on an explicit
framework of analysis. Stylistic analysis is not the end-product of a disorganized sequence
of ad hoc and impressionistic comments, but instead underpinned by structured models of
language and discourse that explain how we process and understand various patterns of
language. Retrievable means that the analysis is organized through explicit terms and
criteria, the meanings of which are agreed upon by other students of stylistics. Although
precise definitions for some aspects of language have proved difficult to pin down exactly,
there is a consensus of agreement about what most terms in stylistics mean. Replicable
means that the methods should be sufficiently transparent as to allow other stylisticians to
verify them, either by testing them on the same text or by applying them beyond that text.
 II. Levels of Stylistic Analysis

Stylistic analysis could be conducted by means of the levels of analysis. The levels of
stylistic analysis are identified as follows:

1. Phonological Level. This deals with the study of sound patterns of a given
language, rules of pronunciations, the rhyming scheme and utterance of the
words in the sentence. Phonological devices are rhyme elements, alliteration,
consonance, and assonance.

2. Graphological Level. This deals with the formalized rules of writing. Leech
(1969) claims that graphology exceeds orthography which refers to the
whole writing system; punctuation, paragraphing and spacing. In short, it
deals with the systematic formation, structure and punctuation in the
sentence.

3. Morphological Level. This deals with the construction of the words by adding
prefixes and suffixes to the root words. The main aim of this level is to study
and analyze the words, internal structure of sentence and their formation. To
find out foregrounding and the deviation, clauses, phrases, words, nouns and
verbs are to be distinguished.

4. Lexico-Syntax Level. It is the combination of two different words” Lexis” and

“syntax”. Lexis means the vocabulary which is used in a language or in any
writing for any purpose. On the other, syntax means ‘sentence construction’:
how words group together to make phrases and sentences. According to
Tallerman(1998). Lexicosyntactic choices are obtained through devices such
as piling of usual collocates, unusual collocates, archaic, words, particular
parts of speech, and figures of speech.

Thus, close analysis of lexis, syntax, morphological, phonological, and graphological

features of a text helps us uncover and appreciate the layers, patterns, and levels that
constitute stylistic description.

III. Analysis of the Poem

On Phonological Level

Couplet

I think I shall never

see A poem lovely as a
tree

The poem uses a literary device called couplet. A couplet is two lines of poetry.
Kilmer uses six different couplets. Most of the couplets are usually connected with rhyming
end words.

Rhyme

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast

Rhyme is likewise of word sounds. Prest and breast have like sounds, therefore, are
rhyming words.
Rhyme scheme

The rhyme scheme of the poem is aa, bb, cc, dd, ee, aa. This happens because the
final words of the first couplet have same sounds (see, tree), second couplet (prest, breast),
third couplet (day, pray), fourth couplet (wear, hair), fifth couplet (lain, rain), while the last
couplet has the same sound with the first couplet (me, tree).

Alliteration

A nest of robins in her hair; (Line 8)

And lifts and leafy arms to pray. (Line 6)

The words her and hair in Line 8 begin with the letter h, while the words lifts and
leafy in Line 6 begin with the letter l. The poet uses alliteration to produce a beautiful effect
on the reader.

Assonance

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast. (Line 4)

The poet uses poetry device assonance. This is the repetition of a vowel sound
within a line in poetry. In the poem, the words against, earth’s, breast in Line 4 have similar
vowel sound e. This provides tone and musical color.

Consonance

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast. (Line 4)

A tree that may in summer wear (Line 7)

The words against, sweet, and breast in Line 4 end with t sound. Further in Line 7,
the words summer and wear have the final sound of r.

Repetition

A poem lovely as a tree

A tree whose hungry mouth is
prest A tree that looks at God all
day
A tree that may in summer
wear But only God can make a
tree.

The word tree is repeated five times (5x). This emphasizes how the poet
appreciates and praises trees.

Rhythm

I think I that I I shall ne I ver see I

x/ Ix/ Ix/ Ix/ I

The line shows a clear pattern of iambic feet; since each line has four feet, this
rhythm is called iambic tetrameter. The iambic means the unstressed syllable is followed
by the stressed one. Unstressed is represented by [x], and stressed is represented by[/].
Iambic [x/].
On Graphological Level

Period/Full-stop(.)

A poem as lovely as a tree. (Line 2)

Who intimately lives with rain. (Line
10) But only God can make a tree. (12)

In the poem, period or full-stop is used thrice, as can be seen in Line 2, 10, and 12.
Period or full-stop is used to end a complete thought, not necessarily the end of a stanza; it
is also used to end the whole poem.

Semi-colon(;)

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; (Line 4)

And lifts her leafy arms to pray; (Line 6)
A nest of robins in her hair; (Line 8)
Upon whose bosom snow has lain; (Line 9)

It is evident that in the poem, the semi-colon is used 4 times, as can be seen in Line
4, 6, 8, and 9. It was used by the poet for a longer pause than a comma but not as long as of
the period or full-stop.

Comma (,)

A tree that looks at God all day, (Line 5)

Poems are made by fools like me, (Line
11)

In the poem, the comma is used twice, as can be seen in Lines 5 and 11. The poet
employs comma for short pause and to separate sentential elements in the poem.

On Morphological Level

Affixation (suffix)

A poem as lovely as a tree. (Line 2)

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest (Line 3)
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; (Line 4)
A tree that looks at God all day, (Line 5)
And lifts her leafy arms to pray; (Line
6) A nest of robins in her hair; (Line 8)
Who intimately lives with rain. (Line 10)
Poems are made by fools like me, (Line 11)

It is seen that the poet uses only suffixes. As gleaned above, derivational suffixes
such words lovely, hungry, flowing, leafy, intimately and inflectional morphemes which
include earth’s, looks, lifts, arms, robins, lives, poems, fools are used in the poem.

This reveals that the poet uses only morpheme/s added to the end of a word to
create another word; that is, deflates or change the tense or number of a word, that is;
inflectional.
On Lexical-Syntax Level

Personification

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest (Line 3)

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; (Line
4) A tree that looks at God all day. (Line 5)
And lifts her leafy arms to pray. (Line 6)
A tree that may in Summer wear (Line
7) A nest of robins in her hair; (Line 8)

The poet articulates his thoughts through the use of personification. Personification
is a figure of speech in which human attributes are conferred upon things that are not
human. In the poem, the words hungry mouth (Line 3), breast (Line 4), looks (Line 5), arms
(Line 6), wear (Line 7), hair (Line 8) are used in which human attributes.

In the poem, Kilmer personifies a tree in different ways. This shows that its
extensive use of this figure of speech displays that the tree is alive. Clearly, it shows how
people should praise God.

Simile

A poem lovely as a tree (Line 2)

Poems are made by fools like me, (Line 11)

The poet uses the literary device simile. Simile is a comparison between two unlike
objects using the words like or as. In the poem, Kilmer uses the word as in Line 2, while the
word like is also used in Line 11.

In the poem, simile is the great device used to give the reader something to compare
an object to which gives the object a greater effect.

IV. CONCLUSION

The poet uses simple words and phrases to make it understandable and to clarify
his intentions. By using different literary devices such as simile and personification, the
poet makes the poem more effective to convey his message and to show the beauty of God’s
creation. Thus, “TREE” is a poem which shows the poet’s religious faith and world’s nature
beauty. Stylistics, by this analysis, has shown that there is a distinction between poetic and
nonpoetic language as a means of defining literature, language manipulated in ways that
signal it as different from ordinary language.
 APPENDIX

TREES
by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never

see A poem as lovely as a
tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer
wear A nest of robins in her
hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has
lain; Who intimately lives with
rain. Poems are made by fools like
me, But only God can make a tree.

REFERENCES
[1] Coxon, Rosemary. (1993). A Level English. London: BPP Ltd
[2] Freeman, D.C. (ed.) (1971). Linguistics and Literary Style. New YorK: Holt,
Rinehart & Winston.
[3] Lawal, R.A.(1997). Pragmatics in Stylistics: A Speech Act Analysis of Soyinka’s 5.
Telephone Conversation, R.A. Lawal (ed.) Stylistics in Theory and Practice. Ilorin:
Paragon Books.
[4] Leech, G. (1969). A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry. London: Longman.
[5] Leech, G. and Short, M.H.(1981). Style in Fiction: A Linguistic Introduction to
English Fictional Prose. London: Longman.
[6] Simpson, Paul. (2004). Stylistics. New York, London: Routledge
[7] Tallerman, M. (1998). Language in Literature-An Introduction to Stylistics, U.K &
London: Hodder Education.
[8] Widdowson, H.G. (1975). Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature.London:
Longman Group Ltd.
[9] http:www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=123271
[10]https://www.reference.com/art-literature/meaning-poem-trees-joyce-kilmer-
38bf2ae04525dd4#
Synthesizing Your Knowledge

ACTIVITY 1

Directions: Choose a song and analyze it, focusing on the genres and characteristics of
poetry.

ACTIVITY 2

Directions: Create a stylistic analysis of poetry text which could be used for G7 to SHS
English Literature. Use the four levels of stylistic analysis (phonological level,
graphological level, morphological level, lexico-syntax level) as your
framework.

ACTIVITY 3

Directions: Discuss your stylistic analysis’s suitability for English literature learners
(according to grade level and/or age).

References

Burke, M. (2018). The Routledge handbook of stylistics. Routledge.

Glossary of poetic genres. (2021). https://poetry.harvard.edu/glossary-poetic-genres.

Glossary of Poetry Techniques. AATE. (2021).

https://www.aate.org.au/resources/pages/glossary-of-poetry-techniques.

Hoover, D. L. (2007). Stylistics: prospect & retrospect. Rodopi.

Key to Poetic Forms. (2021). https://poetry.harvard.edu/key-to-poetic-forms.

Leech, G. N., & Short, M. (2015). Style in fiction: a linguistic introduction to English
fictional prose. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.

Nørgaard, N., Montoro Rocío, & Busse, B. (2010). Key terms in stylistics. Continuum.

Palgrave Macmillan. (2014). Literature and stylistics for language learners: theory and
practice.

Simpson, P. (2014). Stylistics: a resource book for students. Routledge.