Poetry is a patterned form of verbal or written

expression of ideas in concentrated, imaginative, and

rhythmical terms that often contain elements of sense,
sound and structure and it is written in verses.
 It is considered as the
oldest literary form and is
considered as the most
difficult and most
sophisticated of all literary
genre.

Elements of Poetry
A. Sense of the Poem
1. Denotation vs. Connotation
Denotation is the dictionary meaning of the word while
Connotation is the suggested or implied meaning/s
associated with the word beyond its dictionary definition.

2. Imagery
Imagery is the use of sensory details or descriptions
that appeal to one or more of the five senses: sight,
hearing, touch, taste, and smell. These are otherwise
known as "senses of the mind."

3. Figurative Language
Is a language used for descriptive effect in
order to convey ideas or emotions which are not literally
true but express some truth beyond the literal level.
A figure of speech is a word or phrase that is used in
a non- literal way to create an effect. This effect may be
rhetorical as in the deliberate arrangement of words to
achieve something poetic, or imagery as in the use of
language to suggest a visual picture or make an idea
more vivid.
Kinds of Figures of Speech
1. Simile - is a figure of speech in which two essentially
dissimilar objects or concepts are expressly compared with
one another through the use of “like” or “as.”
2. Metaphor - is a figure of speech that makes a comparison
between two unlike things. As a literary device, metaphor
creates implicit comparisons without the express use of “like”
or “as.”
3. Onomatopoeia - is defined as a word which imitates the
natural sounds of a thing. It creates a sound effect that
mimics the thing described, making the description more
expressive and interesting.
4. Personification – endows human qualities or abilities to
inanimate objects or abstractions.
5. Apostrophe – addressing an absent person or thing that
is an abstract, inanimate or inexistent.
6. Hyperbole – is the use of exaggeration for the purpose of
emphasis or exaggerated effect.
7. Alliteration – initial consonant sound is repeated.
8. Synecdoche - a figure of speech in which
a part of something is used to represent the whole.
9. Metonymy - is a figure of speech in which one object or
idea takes the place of another with which it has a close
association.
10. Oxymoron - is a figure of speech pairing two words
together that are opposing and/or contradictory.
11. Paradox - is a statement that appears at
first to be contradictory, but upon reflection then
makes sense.

B. Sound of a Poem

1. Tone Color is achieved through repetition.

a. Repetition of Single Sounds

Alliteration is the repetition of similar and

accented sounds at the beginning of words.
In a somer seson, whan soft was the sonne...
— Piers Plowman
 Assonance is the repetition of similar
accented vowel sounds.
Thou still unravished bride of
quietness, Thou foster child of
silence and slow time.
– Ode on a Grecian Urn

Consonance is the repetition of similar

consonant sound typically within or at the end
of words.
"Out of this house" — said rider to reader
"Yours never will" — said farer to fearer
"They're looking for you" — said hearer
to horror, "As he left them there, as he
left them there.
— O Where Are You Going

Rhyme is the repetition of the same stressed

vowel sounds and any succeeding sounds in
two or more words.
I think that I shall
never see A poem
as lovely as a
tree.
— Trees
 Types of Rhyme
Internal Rhyme - rhyme within the line
Terminal Rhyme - rhyme found at the end of the line

Rhyme Scheme is the pattern of rhyme form that ends a

stanza or a poem. The rhyme scheme is designated by the
assignment of a different letter of the alphabet to each new
rhyme
 Helen, thy beauty is to me a
Like those Nicean barks of yore, b
That gently, o’er a perfumed sea, a
The weary, way-worn wanderer bore b
To his own native shore b

– To Helen

b. Repetition of Words

My dreams are dreams of thee, fair maid.

— Rural Maid
c. Repetition of Sentences or Phrases

I dream that one day our voices will be heard

I dream that one day our hope becomes worth.

— Paraiso

1. Rhythm is the pattern of beats created by the arrangement of stressed and

unstressed syllables, which gives musical quality and adds emphasis to certain
words and thus helps convey the meaning of the poem. The effect is derived
from the sounds
employed, the varying pitches, stresses, volumes, and
durations.

2. Meter is a regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables that give a line
of poetry a more or less predictable rhythm. Its unit of measure is termed as
"foot" which usually contains an accented syllable and one or two unaccented
syllables.

Name of Foot Pattern of Accent

Iambic Unaccented, Accented

 Trochaic Accented, Unaccented

Anapestic Unaccented, Unaccented, Accented

Dactylic Accented, Unaccented, Unaccented

Spondaic Accented, Accented

Foot is the basic unit of meter consisting of a group of two or three

syllables.
Scansion is the process of determining the prevailing foot in a line of
poetry, identifying the types and sequence of different feet. It is also
the process of measuring verse; that is, marking
accented and unaccented syllables, dividing the lines into feet, identifying
the metrical pattern and noting significant variations from the pattern.
A. Structure of a Poem is the manner in which words are
arranged and parts are organized to form a whole poem.

1. Word and its Order is the grouping and choosing of words

in verses where more often, poets arrange them in the
unnatural order to achieve an effect.
2. Syntax is an effect achieved where words are fractured to
have a desired effect.

3. Ellipsis is the omission of words or several words that

clearly identify the understanding of an expression.

4. Punctuation is the use of meaningful symbol/s that help/s

provide meaning clues.

Structure also refers to the way the poem is organized.

This corresponds to the different types.
Types of Poetry

a. Narrative Poem is a poem that tells a story.

b. Lyric Poem is descriptive or expository in nature where the
poet is concerned mainly with presenting a scene in words,
conveying sensory richness of his subject, or the revelation of
ideas or emotions.
c. Dramatic Poem is a poem where a story is told through
the verse dialogue of the characters and a narrator.
Structure also talks about:

1. Poem Appreciation is achieved not only when one has

comprehended the plain sense or information communicated
by the poem; it is also achieved if the attitude and feeling
conveyed are captured, together with the larger meaning of
the work, which is only possible when the tone and symbolic
meanings are discerned.
2. Tone is the writer's attitude toward his subject, mood, and
moral view. It is the feeling that the poem has created in the
reader. It is communicated by the writer's or speaker's
attitude toward his subject, his imagined audience, or
himself. It is the emotional coloring of the work which is
indicated by the inflection of the speaker's voice.
3. Symbol is an image that becomes so suggestive that it
takes on much more meaning than its descriptive value. It
urges the reader to look beyond literal significance of the
poem's statement of action: the connotations of the words,
repetition, placement, or other indications of emphasis. It is
considered as the richest and at the same time the most
difficult of all the poetical figures.