Poetry

Explained
Poetry, as a distinct and
interesting art form, comprises a
number of elements that are
worth considering while
analyzing and understanding a
poetic text.
Poetry is an intricate literary form
that incorporates rhyme, figurative
language, sound devices, and meter
in order to evoke a wide array of
meanings.

The language of poetry is not always

straightforward. It guides readers to
reach a conclusion but never gives out any details explicitly.
Such is the beauty of a poetry text that demands readers’
attentive and creative participation.

With the knowledge of the important poetry elements, we can

understand a poem’s message and appreciate the text more
effectively.
WHAT IS A POEM?

Before we look at some specific elements of

poetry, it’d be helpful to attempt to define just
what a poem is briefly.

What exactly makes a poem different, for

example, from a piece of prose? Or song lyrics, even?

The truth is that when we get down to it, poetry isn’t all that
easy to pin down. Even poets themselves disagree about what
constitutes a poem.

Luckily, some general characteristics can be agreed upon. Here,

we will look at these common features of poetry.
COMMON FEATURES OF POETRY

 It looks like a poem

 It often has some

underlying form holding
things together

 It uses imagery

 It has a certain musicality

 It looks like a poem

If it looks like a poem and reads

like a poem, then the chances are
pretty good that it is indeed a
poem.

Poetry comes in lines, some of

which are complete sentences, but many of which are not.
Also, these lines usually don’t run out to the margins
consistently, like in, say, a novel.

All this gives poetry a distinctive and recognisable look on the

page.
 It often has some underlying form holding things together

While this isn’t always true (in some free verse, for example),
a lot of poetry conforms to a prescribed structure, such as in
a sonnet, a haiku etc.
 It uses imagery

If the poet is worth his or her salt, they’ll endeavour to create

images in the reader’s mind using lots of sensory details and
figurative language.
 It has a certain musicality

We could be forgiven for thinking that poetry’s

natural incarnation is the written word and its
habitat, the page, but the printed word is not
where poetry’s origins lie.

The earliest poems were composed orally and

committed to memory. We can still see the importance the
sound of language plays when we read poems out loud.

We can see it, too, in the attention paid to musical devices

incorporated into the poem.

Devices such as alliteration, assonance, and rhyme, for

example.
Keep in mind that some forms of writing, such as prose poetry
or poetic prose, may blur the lines between poetry and prose.
In these cases, the distinction might be less clear, and it’s up to
the reader to interpret the work’s genre.
THE PURPOSE OF POETRY: WHAT IS POETRY FOR?

Of all the forms professional

writers can take, the professional
poet most often finds themself
struggling to make ends meet
financially.

Poetry’s purpose is essential to

help us understand the world around us. It endeavours to show
us things anew that we may have previously taken for granted.
It offers us new perspectives on the familiar.

Poetry’s purpose is to enable us to see the world with fresh

eyes again, like those of a child. Doing this, helps us understand
our world more profoundly.
THE STRUCTURE OF POETRY

We’ve mentioned already

that though poetry’s origins
lie in the spoken word, it
does take a very
recognizable shape when
put down on the page.

This is mainly due to the

overall organization of the
lines on the page, often in
the form of stanzas.
THE STANZA

Though some modern forms of

poetry eschew traditional poetic
conventions such as rhyme
schemes and meter etc., the
stanza still plays a vital role in the
overall look of printed poetry.

But, just what exactly is a stanza?

Stanzas are the poetic equivalent
of a prose paragraph. They are a
series of lines grouped together
and separated from other groups
of lines or stanzas by a skipped line.
Stanzas come in various lengths, dependent either on the
poet’s whim or the conventions of a particular poetic form.
Various technical vocabulary is often used to refer to stanzas of
specific lengths. Here are the most common of these,

Stanzas of:
● two lines are called a couplet
● three lines are called a tercet
● four lines are called a quatrain
● five lines are called a cinquain
● six lines are called a sestet, or occasionally a sexain
● seven lines are called a septet
● eight lines are called an octave
POEM STRUCTURES: TYPES OF POETRY AND THEIR
CHARACTERISTICS

When exploring the elements of

poetry, we must appreciate there are
many different types of poetry.

But, regardless of the specific type of

poetry in question, a poem will most
likely fit into one of these three overarching types of poetry:

 Lyric
 Narrative
 Descriptive

Lyric Poetry
Lyric poetry mainly
concerns the poet’s His whiskers twitch and his eyes gleam bright
emotional life; it’s
written in their voice and
expresses solid thoughts
and emotions. There is
only one voice in a lyric
poem, and we see the
world from that single
perspective. Most
modern poetry is lyric
poetry in that it is
personal and
introspective.
To the secrets of the night, so pure and true.
The Cat’s Serenade
The moon is high and the night is still
A feline prowls with a velvet thrill
As he sets out on his nightly flight
The world is his, all to explore
His kingdom vast, a hunter's floor
With stealth and grace he moves along
A symphony of purrs and song
The night breeze whispers in his ear
As he purrs a tune, oh so clear
His melody lulls the world to sleep
As he creeps and crawls, oh so deep
The stars above, they shine so bright
As the cat serenades the night
With every note, he weaves a spell
A magical tune, too hard to quell
So listen close, my dear friend
To the cat's serenade, till the very end
For in his song, there lies a clue

Narrative Poetry
As its name implies,
narrative poetry is
concerned with
storytelling. Just as in a
prose story, a narrative
poem will most likely
follow the conventions of
the plot, including
elements such as
conflict, rising action,
climax, resolution etc.
Again, as in prose stories,
narrative poems will
most likely be peopled
with characters to
perform the actions of
the tale.
The Tale of Little Miss Whiskers
Little Miss Whiskers was a feline so fine,
Her fur was soft, and her eyes did shine.
With a tail that flicked and a nose so pink,
She roamed the streets, without a single wink.
She lived in a world, full of mystery and might,
With rats and mice, she'd battle all night.
She'd prowl and pounce, with agility and grace,
And win the fight, in every single case.
But one day, as she ventured too far,
She stumbled upon a street so bizarre.
With buildings that rose, into the endless sky,
And people who rushed, with no time to pry.
Little Miss Whiskers was lost, that was clear,
But she refused to be trapped, in a world so drear.
So she set out, to find her way back,
With courage and wit, she stayed on track.
She met a dog, a bird, and a mouse,
And together they roamed, from house to house.
They braved the streets, and the alleys so dark,
And in each other, they found a spark.
Little Miss Whiskers had finally found her way,
And her new friends, she decided to stay.
For in this world, so strange and new,
She had found a family, and a home so true.
And so she roamed, with her tail held high,
In a world that was full, of wonders and sky.
With every step, she felt so free,
Little Miss Whiskers, the cat of the city.

Descriptive Poetry
Descriptive poetry
usually employs lots of
rich imagery to describe
the world around the
poet. While it most often
has a single poetic voice
and strong emotional
content, descriptive
poetry differs from lyric
poetry in that its focus is
more on the externalities
of the world rather than
the poet’s interior life.
The Majestic Cat
A cat so grand, with fur of gold,
A sight to see, so brave and bold.
His eyes of amber, bright and clear,
A gaze so piercing, it filled with fear.
He sat atop a throne of pillows,
A king of his own, no need for billows.
His head held high, with regal grace,
A monarch of the feline race.
His fur was soft, like silk and down,
His whiskers long, like a monarch's crown.
His paws were strong, with sharp claws,
A hunter's weapon, with no flaws.
He moved with grace, like a dancer's feet,
His tail so long, like a winding street.
He leaped and bounded, with such ease,
A sight so grand, it was hard to please.
But when he curled, and snuggled close,
His gentle purr, like a soothing dose.
His eyes so calm, his heart at rest,
A friend so true, with no protest.
For in his majesty, he still had love,
A heart so pure, like a cooing dove.
A cat so grand, yet still so kind,
A true companion, that's hard to find.
We have mentioned that poetry often hangs on the
conventions of specific underlying structures. Now, let’s look at
some of the more common subtypes and their defining
characteristics.
SUBTYPES OF POETRY

Sonnet: Sonnets are

predominantly concerned with
matters of the heart. If you see a
sonnet’s recognisably blocky
form on a page, there’s a good
chance the theme will be love.

There are two common forms of

sonnets: Shakespearean and Petrarchan.

They differ slightly in their internal structure, but both have 14

lines. Let’s take look at some more of the internal
characteristics of both forms:
Petrarchan

This type of sonnet got its name from Italian

poet, Francesco Petrarca, a 14th-century
Italian.

● Comprises two stanzas

● The First eight lines pose a question

● 2nd stanza answers the question posed

● The rhyme scheme is: ABBA, ABBA, CDECDE

Shakespearean

A Shakespearean sonnet is one of the best-

known sonnet forms. Along with the Petrarchan
sonnet, it is the most popular to this day. It is
sometimes referred to as “Elizabethan” or
“English,” but since Shakespeare used to with so
much success in his 154 sonnets published after
his death, it has become synonymous with his
name.

● Comprises 3 quatrains of 4 lines each

● Ends with a rhyming couplet which forms a conclusion

● The rhyme scheme is: ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG

Haiku

A disciplined form of poetry that originates in 17th-century

Japanese poetry. Usually, it is concerned with nature and
natural phenomena such as the seasons, weather, etc.

However, there are no fundamental rules about themes; the

only actual demands here relate to structure:

● They are written in three-line stanzas

● 1st line contains five syllables
● 2nd line contains seven syllables
● 3rd line contains five syllables
Elegy

Elegies are a type of poem that don’t

really come with specific structural
requirements but still constitute a
recognisable form of poetry. What
makes an elegy an elegy is its subject,
that is, death. Elegies are poems of
lamentation – the word elegy itself comes from the Greek word
elegeia which means to ‘lament’.

 A poem of reflection on death or on someone who has died

 Usually comes in three parts expressing loss: grief, praise for

the deceased and, finally, consolation.
“In Memoriam A.H.H." by Alfred Lord Tennyson contains one of
the most famous quotes about love. It is a requiem for
Tennyson’s friend Arthur Henry Hallam who died suddenly in
1833 at just 22 years old.
Limerick

Favorites of school children everywhere, the most defining

characteristic of limericks is their renowned humor. Given their
well-deserved reputation for being funny and, on occasion,
crude, it’s easy to overlook the fact that beneath the laughs lies
quite a tightly structured verse form.

● Five lines in total

● Distinct verbal rhythm
● Two longer lines of usually between 7 to 10 syllables
● Two shorter lines of usually between 5 to 7 syllables
● One closing line containing the ‘punchline.’
● Rhyme scheme is AABBA
Ballad

Ballads are a type of narrative poetry closely tied to musical

forms. Ballads written as poetry can often easily be adapted as
song lyrics. While ballads don’t have tight formal constrictions
like some other forms of poetry, there are enough in the way of
distinguishable features to identify them as a form.

● Tells a story, often using simple language

● Often romantic, adventurous, or humorous
● Arranged in groups of 4 lines or quatrains
● Often uses alternating 4 and 3 beat lines
● Rhyme scheme is usually ABAB or ABCB
The Ballad of the White Horse
is a 1911 epic poem by G. K.
Chesterton that follows King
Alfred the Great as he rallies
chieftains from all around
England to defeat the invading
army of Guthrum the Dane.
It’s generally considered to be
one of the last traditional epic
poems written in the English
language.
Ode

Another poetry form that traces its origins to Ancient Greece,

odes were initially intended to be sung. Nowadays, though no
longer sung, the term still refers to a type of lyrical poem that
addresses and often praises a specific person, thing, or event.

● The author addresses a person, thing, or event

● It usually has a solemn, serious tone
● Explores universal elements of the theme
● Powerful emotional element, often involving catharsis

Odes written in the classical vein can follow very strict metrical
patterns and rhyme schemes. However, many modern odes are
written in free verse involving irregular rhythm and without
adherence to a rhyme scheme.
Epic

These long narrative poems recount heroic tales, usually

focused on a legendary or mythical figure. Think of works of
literature on a grand scale, such as The Odyssey, The Cattle
Raid of Cooley, or Beowulf.

● Employs an objective and omniscient narrator

● Written in an elevated style

● Recounts heroic events

● Grand in scale
The Odyssey is one of two
major ancient Greek epic
poems attributed to Homer.
It is one of the oldest extant
works of literature still
widely read by modern
audiences. As with the Iliad,
the poem is divided into 24
books. It follows the Greek
hero Odysseus, king of
Ithaca, and his journey home
after the Trojan War.