Senior High School Department

CREATIVE WRITING
UNIT 2 – POETRY
“Poetry is the clear expression of mixed feelings.” –
W.H.
POETRY–This is a rhythmical composition of words Audenan attitude, designed to surprise and delight,
expressing
and arouse an emotional response. It is defined as a kind of language that “It says more and it says more than
ordinary language does.”

POEM–It comes from the Latin word “poema”, meaning something composed or created. It is a composition
characterized by compact language in which the words are well-chosen for their sound and their suggestive
power as well as their meaning.

IMPORTANCE OF POETRY
 Poetry is vital language. Poetry relies on the writer’s feelings, history and perceptions, so every person has
the background needed to write poems.
 Poetry is ancient. The most primitive people have used it, and the most civilized man has cultivated it.
 Poetry is the literary vehicle which is not only an aid to living but a means of living.

ELEMENTS OF POETRY (1. Stanza 2. Tone and Mood 3. Theme 4. Persona 5. Symbolism)
1. STANZA
A division of a poem created by arranging the lines into a unit and is similar to a paragraph in prose.
Characteristics of Stanza
a. Line: A line of poetry is not like a sentence. Just because the words are one line, it doesn’t mean that
the complete thought is finished.
 Caesura: In a poem, the punctuation is somewhere else other than at the end of a line of poetry.
 Enjambment: When the idea or phrase in a poem is carried over from one line into the next.
b. Rhythm: This is the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in each line. Rhythm helps to
distinguish poetry from prose and it gives a poem its sound.
c. Rhyme Scheme: The pattern of poems which have the repetition of the same or similar sounds at the end of two or
more words most often at the ends of lines. It means that the last words or sounds of the lines match with each other in
some form.
Types of Stanza
a. Couplet: This is a stanza consisting of two lines that rhyme.
b. Tercets/Triplet: These are stanzas of three lines.
c. Quatrain: This is a stanza consisting of four lines.
-Alternating Quatrain–It is a four line stanza rhyming – abab.
-Envelope Stanza–It is a quatrain with the rhyme scheme – abba.
d. Quintet (5) g. Sestet (6) h. Septet (7) i. Octave (8)
2. TONE &MOOD
TONE: It is the attitude of the author toward the writing and the readers. It is achieved through word
choice, sentence construction, and word order. It may be objective or subjective. A writer’s tone can
be serious, satirical, sarcastic, solemn, etc.
MOOD: It is the general atmosphere created by the author’s words. It is the feeling that the readers
get from reading the work. Examples: joyful, gloomy, frightening, mysterious, etc.
3. THEME-It talks about the central idea, the thought behind what the poet wants to convey. A theme can
be anything from a description about a person or thing, a thought or even a story.
4. PERSONA/SPEAKER- This may be considered the poem’s “voice”. The author’s point of view
concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker, or “teller” of the story or poem.
5. SYMBOLISM-This technique often conveys feelings, thoughts and ideas using symbols. A symbol in
poetry can stand for anything and makes the reader take a systematic approach which helps him/her
look at things in a different light.
Common Symbols:
 Sleep=death.
 Dreams=future or fate.
 Seasons=ages (spring-youth, summer-prime of life, autumn-middle age, winter-old age or death)
 Water=birth or purification.
 Forests=places of testing or challenge
 Colors=often linked to emotions
FORMS AND KINDS OF POETRY
“I sit before You now Lord, and want to learn from You.
My heart is open to hear from You in Your Words.”
Prepared: Ms. Ma. Rebecca S. Olorvida
SHS Humanities, Faculty Member
 Senior High School Department

FORMS OF POETRY (a. Narrative b. Lyric d. Dramatic)

a. NARRATIVE POETRY: A poetry that tells a story.
1. Epic: This is an extended narrative of heroic adventures and exploits usually under supernatural control.
2. Ballad: This is the shortest and simplest narrative poem. It is used to be a song accompanying a dance.

b. LYRIC POETRY: This form mainly evokes the feelings and emotions of the writer toward the chosen.
These are melodic in nature and originally sung.
1. Folk Songs: These are short poems intended to be sung in a specific place.
2. Sonnet: It is a lyric poem of 14 iambic pentameter lines with formal rhyme scheme.
2 types:
 English/Shakespearean: Divided into 3 quatrains and a concluding couplet. (abab, cdcd, efef,gg)
 Italian/Petrarchan: Divided into Octet (abbaabba) and Sestet (cdecde)
3. Ode: It is exalted in tone and expresses lofty praise for some person, place, object, or event.
4. Psalm: This is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary and contains philosophy in life.
5. Elegy: This is a poem expressing lamentation for dead or loss of a loved one.
6. Song: This usually measure 12 syllables to express feelings, attitude, and experience.

c. DRAMATIC POETRY: This is a form of poetry that exhibits the elements of drama – dialogue and characterization.
1. Monologue: It is a speech spoken by one character, usually in a play. A character delivering a
monologue may be speaking to other characters in the play or to the audience.
2. Soliloquy: It is where the character speaks his thoughts out loud, to himself. This literary device
allows the audience to know what the character is thinking, though the other characters are not
present and therefore do not know this information.
3. Speech Choir: It is also called choral speaking. It is where groups recite speeches or poem in
unison, often with elements of choreography and costuming to help bring the speech to life.
4. Spoken Word: A modern twist on traditional poetry, spoken word is an oral art that focuses on word
play and rhyme to tell a story – like rap but without music. Spoken word poems frequently refer to
issues of social justice, politics, race, and community.

KINDS OF POETRY (a. Japanese Haiku b. Haibun c. Tanka or Wanka d. Sestina c. Vilanelle d. Tanaga)
a. JAPANESE HAIKU: A short poem with 3 lines and a syllable count of 5-7-5; contains elements such as
kigo (seasonal reference) and ikireji (“cutting word” placed between juxtaposed imagery)
b. HAIBUN: A type of poem that is comparable to the essence of a travel journal. It combines prose and
poetry; the prose serves to vividly describe the location or scene, while poetry is meant to capture the
atmosphere or “feeling” associated with the scene.
c. TANKA OR WANKA: A Japanese short poem with 5 lines following a syllable count 5-7-5-7-7
d. SESTINA: A 6 verses with 6 lines, each following an alternating end-word pattern
e. VILLANELLE: A 19-line poem of 5 tercets and a quatrain; the poem has 2 refrains and 2 rhyme
patterns repeated throughout, involving the alternate repetition of the first and third lines of first tercet.
f. TANAGA: A Filipino poetic form of 4 lines with 7 syllables each, all of which rhyme together.

OTHER FORMS OF POETRY (a. Shape b. Riddle c. Clerihew d. Acrostic c. Cinquain d. Epitaph)

a. SHAPE POETRY: It is a type of poetry where the words and lines of the poem are set to form the figure
o shape usually of its subject.
b. RIDDLE POETRY: It provides a description of its subject that is done in a poetic way. It leaves the
readers as they need to guess for the answer.
c. CLERIHEW POETRY: It is named after its developer Edward Clerihew Bently. It is usually a humorous
poem that is composed of 4 lines and mainly intended to describe a person.
d. ACROSTIC: It is a creative composition in verse in which the initial letters of each line or phrase are taken from a word.
e. CINQUAIN: It is a poem composes of five (5) lines in which in lines has a certain number of words.
f. EPITAPH: This is a short commemorative inscription (usually a poem or a saying) on a tombstone
intended for a deceased person. It can be written in serious or humorous form.

“I sit before You now Lord, and want to learn from You.
My heart is open to hear from You in Your Words.”
Prepared: Ms. Ma. Rebecca S. Olorvida
SHS Humanities, Faculty Member