ENGLISH LITERATURE

POEMS (BY ARTHUR WHOSPER )

WHAT IS A POEM.

--Is a piece of writing arranged in

stanza and verses expressing
thoughts and feelings with the help
of sound and rhythm.
TYPES OF POEMS.

--poetry can be classified into

different genres which include
lyrical, panegyric
epic,dirge,sonnet,narrative and
Occasional.

1.LYRICAL

-Short poems usually to do with

love.
2.OCCASIONAL.

--Poem for a specific occasion.

3.EPIC.

--Long poem dedicated to a

legendary or historical Figure.

4.PANEGYRIC.

--Its poem praising a person dead or

living.

5.SONNET

--Traditional poems during

Shakespeares Time arranged in
patterns of 8 and 6 or 4,4,4 and 6.

6.DRAMATIC POETRY.

--Poems with element of drama. Two

personas in the poem dialoguing
showing a conflict situation.
HOW POEMS DIFFER FROM OTHER
GENRES.

--Poems differ from other genres

because of many things such as
language, performance structure,
sound effects and figures of
speech.Poem language
concentrated in expression and the
structure is in stanzas,lives,syntax
and rhyme.
When it comes to performance
,poems can be recited,
dramatized,sung or even danced to
.poems are also rich in sound
effects such as assonance
,Consonance ,euphony ,alliteration,
rhym and also rhyme. poem also
differ from other genres due to great
usage of imagery
,metaphors,similes, symbolism,
irony and paradox.

HOW TO ANALYSE A POEM.

--Read and understand the poem

title .The title of a poem usually
gives a clue on what the poem talks
about .However, some titles are non
literall which means they may have
deep meaning .It is the
responsibility of a student to
scrutinize the title whether its literal
or non literal.

Read the poem more than once,As a

student, you have to read the poem
more than once. First to find out
what the poem talks about and links
it with the title. Second to find the
poetic devices. Third to find the
mood of the poem.

Attempt the Questions,When

attempting the questions read the
questions and understand them. do
not forget to give reference of the
poem. A good answer is well
supported with examples from the
poem itself.
IMPORTANT POETIC DEVICES.

(A) SIMILE.

--Its a comparison USING (as or like)

EXAMPLE.

--John Johnson is AS strong AS

horse.

-Oliver Mkandawire walks LIKE a

mayor of Chicago.

(b)METAPHOR.

--Its a comparison WITHOUT using

(as or like)
EXAMPLE.

Mteka chimwemwe is an ANgel.

Kandiero Aze is a Lion.

(c)PERSONIFICATION(UMUNTHU)

--Is a technic of giving human

behaviour to an object, creature or
plant .

EXAMPLE.

-The wind whispers as it passes the

tree.

-When Love DIES ,children suffer.

(d)RHYME.

--Words that end with s similar

sound usually at the end of poem
lines next to each other.

EXAMPLE.

--We played the TUNE.

--OF love in JUNE.

(e)ALLITERATION.

Words following each other with the

same initial cluster or consonant in
a line of a poem.

EXAMPLE.

--Francis' Friend, Fainted For a week

in France.

(f)HYPERBOLE.

-Deliberate exaggeration of ideas or

statements in a poem.

EXAMPLE.
My Rose,though your are far.

My love RAIDS ON STARS EACH

night to come to you.

Your BREASTS STILL STANDING

LIKE MOUNT MULANJE.

Make me green to think that others

admire them during my absence.
(g)IRONY.

Words or phrases or actions saying

the opposite of what is intended.

EXAMPLE.
When the leader rides a lion

Followers silently edge away.

The coming of rights made us

Throw away life and invite death

To dine with our children.

(h)POEM STRUCTURE.

The structure of a poem is made up

of a stanza and lines.

EXAMPLE.

--Some poems have equal number

of lines in each stanza of a poem.

-Some poems have varying number

of lines in each stanza of a poem.

-Some poems have just one long

stanza such a poem addresses a
serious problem like death or
celebrates a very important event
like wedding or graduation
ceremony.

(I)RHETORIC QUESTIONS(mafunso
opanda Mayankho )

--These are questions that need no

answers.They usually provoke
thinking.
EXAMPLE.

When Will death leave us?

Our voices faded away.

Our tears dried -up

Yet we still mourn very day.

Who can deliver us from this

monster?
(j)IMAGERY.

Is the technic of creating a mental

picture in the mind of a reader of the
poem.
EXAMPLE.

The shovels scooped dark brown

soil

And dust escape to the clouds

As we prepare Chakufa's eternal

bed.

OTHERS IMPORTANT THINGS TO

KNOW IN POETRY.
(a)POET.

-The writer of a poem.

(b)PERSONA.

-The voice in the poem or person in

the poem.

(c)MOOD.

-The feelings of the poem.It can be

Somber--very dark or very happy.

-Miid can either be good or bad or

happy, Sorrowful or Joyful.

(d)SETTING.

-The time and place where and when

the poem took place.
(e)SUBJECT MATTER.

-Is the theme of a poem. What the

poem is all about .

(f)LITERAL.

-The direct meaning of the poem

nothing hidden.

(g)FIGURATIVE.

-The indirect meaning of the poem

usually hidden meaning. It is called
NON LITERAL.

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