HUMSS- Creative Writing

Lesson 4 & 5 - Elements of Poetry

ELEMENTS OF POETRY are a set of devices used to make a poem. It is an indispensable part of the organization
of a good poem. Exploring these formal elements helps us to comprehend more deeply a poem’s meaning and the nuances
that enhance that meaning.
BASIC ELEMENTS OF POETRY:
1. Speaker 7. Tone
2. Audience 8. Imagery
3. Content 9. Diction
4. Theme 10. Figures of Speech
5. Structure 11. Sound- Effect Devices
6. Shape and Form 12. Rhythm

1. SPEAKER – is the created narrative voice of the poem i.e the person or persona the reader is supposed to
imagine talking or speaking in the poem.

2. AUDIENCE – is the person or people to whom the speaker is speaking. Identifying the audience within a poem
helps you understand the poem better. There are different people the speaker can address in the poem: the speaker
can address another character in the poem; the speaker can address a character who is not present or is dead; or
the speaker can address you , the reader.
3. CONTENT - is the subject or the idea or the thing that the poem concerns or represents. Poetry often tells a story,
describes a scene, event, or feeling, or otherwise comments on the human predicament. The content is contained
in description, narration, and assertion.

4. THEME – relates to the general idea or ideas continuously developed throughout the poem. It is a thought or an
idea the poet presents to the reader that maybe deep, difficult to understand, or even moralistic.

5. STRUCTURE
The structure used in poems varies with different types of poetry. Some structural elements include the line and
stanza.
a. Line – is a unit of language into which a poem is divided, which operates on principles which are distinct
from and not necessarily coincident with grammatical structures such as the sentence or single clauses in
sentences.
b. Enjambment – is the running – over of a sentence or phrase from one poetic line to the next, without
terminal punctuation

c. End-stopped line – is a feature in poetry in which the syntactic unit (phrase, clause, or sentence)
corresponds in length to the line.
d. Caesura – is a natural pause or break in a line of poetry, usually near the middle of the line.
d.1. Feminine Caesura – a pause that occurs after a non- stressed and short syllable in a poetic line.
This is a little softer and less abrupt.
d. 2. Masculine Caesura – a pause that occurs after a long or accented syllable in a line. It creates staccato
effect in the poem.

6. STANZA –a grouped set of lines within a poem usually set off from other stanzas by a blank line or indentation.
It is referred to as the “unit of poetic lines.”
Different stanza forms:
FORMS NUMBER OF LINES
Couplet 2
Tercet 3
Quatrain 4
Quintet/Cinquain 5
Sestet 6
Septet 7
Octave 8

7. SHAPE AND FORM

Basically, the actual shape of poems can vary dramatically from poem to poem. Shape is one of the main
things that separate prose and poetry. Poetry can take on many formats, but one of the most inventive forms is for
the poem to take on the shape of its subject. Therefore, if the subject of your poem were of a flower, then the
poem would be shaped like a flower. If it were of a fish, then the poem would take on the shape of a fish.

7. TONE – is the attitude you feel in the poem – the writer’s attitude towards the subject or audience. Tone can be
playful, humorous, serious, ironic or anything.

8. IMAGERY – refers to the “pictures” which we perceive with our mind’s eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, and through
which we experience the “duplicate world” created by poetic language.
9. DICTION – poetic diction is the term used to refer to the linguistic style, the vocabulary, and the metaphors used
in the writing of poetry. Poets especially, tend to use words rich in connotation.

10. FIGURES OF SPEECH - is a type of language that varies from the norms of literal language, in which words mean
exactly what they say for the sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity, or freshness.
- Also known as ornaments of language.

11. SOUND – EFFECT DEVICES – or verbal music is one of the important resources that enable the poet to do
something more than communicate mere information.

12. RHYTHM-Demonstrates the long and short patterns through stressed and unstressed syllables.

5 TYPES OF RHYTHM:
1. iamb – consists of unstressed and stressed syllables
2. trochee – stressed and unstressed syllables
3. spondee – two consecutively stressed syllables
4. Dactyl – consists of three syllables. First syllable is stressed and the remaining two syllables are not stressed
5. Anapest – opposite of dactyl. Three syllables where the first two syllables are not stressed while the last
syllable is stressed.