Comprehending Poetry

Poetry
Narrative poems are those that tell a story; they have the story elements
such as characters, setting, plot, and theme. They include the following.

•allegory is a narrative poem that uses an extended metaphor to make a

point

•ballad is narrative poetry that can be sung

• burlesque is a mock-epic poem presented in a melodramatic way

• epic is a long narrative poem that tells a story of a legendary hero

Lyric poems are those that can be sung; they use song-like and
emotional words to describe a moment, an object, a feeling, or a person.
They include:
• riddle is a short mystifying lyric poem that poses a question
• elegy is a mournful poem as it honors the dead
• haiku is a seventeen-syllable poem that uses natural imagery to
express an emotion
•sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter with a specific
rhyme scheme, abab-cded-efef-gg for the Shakespearean sonnet and
abba-abba-cdeded for Petrarchan sonnet
Dramatic poems are those that express a characters' point of view. They
are written from the perspective of a character in the story.

• monologue is a speech given by one character to another, or by one

character to the audience (also known as dramatic verse when not in
poetic form)

• Soliloquy is a speech given by one character to himself or herself; a

dramatic representation of inner monologue
Here is an excerpt from Paula's soliloquy in "A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino":

"I am lonely, lonely. I was born to be lonely, I am best so! And would not like to
change this happy solitude. This lovely loneliness, this solitude that I have chosen.
Has become my greatest sorrow. And now that I see this city of Manila changing, I
feel more alone than ever. Everything is changing, and the only thing that remains
the same is my own sorrow. Oh, Manila, why do you have to change? Why do you
have to take everything away from me?"
1. Devices that create rhythm
Rhythms in English poetry refer to the stressed (/) and unstressed (x) syllables.
Foot refers to the unit of each pattern.

• lamb (x /) is the most commonly used rhythm consisting of unstressed and

stressed syllables.

Ex. Let me not to the marriage of true minds (Shakespeare, Sonnet 116)
• Trochee (/ x) is opposite to iamb; it has two syllables, stressed and unstressed.

Ex. Between the dark and the daylight (Longfellow, The Children's Hour)

• Spondee (/ /) has two syllables that are consecutively stressed.

Ex. It was many and many a year ago (Poe, Annabel Lee)
• Dactyl (/ x x) is made up of three syllables. The first is stressed, and the
remaining two syllables are unstressed.

Ex. Half a league, half a league (Tennyson, the Charge of the Light Brigade)

• Anapest (x x /) is the opposite of dactyl. It consists of three syllables: the first two
syllables are unstressed, and the last syllable is stressed.

Ex. Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green (Byron, the Destruction of
Sennacherib)
2. Devices that enhance meaning
• Simile directly compares two unlike things or objects using "as or like."

Ex. A poem as lovely as a tree (J. Kilmer)

Each like a corpse within its grave, until (P.B. Shelley)

• Metaphor, unlike a simile, makes an indirect comparison between two unlike

Ex. It is the star to every wandering bark. (W. Shakespeare)

The morns are meeker than they were. (E. Dickenson)

• Personification gives human attributes to inanimate objects.
Ex. The maple wears a gayer scarf. (E. Dickenson)
The waves beside them danced, but they (W. Wordsworth)
• Hyperbole is noted for the use of exaggerations, making the impossible seems
possible.
Ex. They stretched in never-ending lines (W. Wordsworth)
And the rocks melt wi' the sun; (R. Burns)
3. Devices that intensify the mood

•Onomatopoeia is the figure of sound that uses words that mimic the sound they
represent

Ex. How they clang, and clash, and roar! (E.A.Poe)

Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering, (R. Browning)

• Alliteration is a sound device that involves the repetition of the first consonant
sound in multiple words within a line of the poem.

Ex. While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping (E. A.Poe)

O my Love is like a red, red rose (R. Burns)

• Assonance is noted for the repetition of the same vowel sounds in the line of a poem.

Ex. Who knows why the cold wind blows (K. Roper)

The crumbling thunder of seas (R. L. Stevenson)

• Consonance, unlike alliteration, repeats the middle and final consonants within groups
of words within the line of a poem.

Ex. He gives his harness bells a shake (R. Frost)

If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, (S. Silverstein)