MODULE 2: Understanding Poetry

LESSON 1: Understanding Poetry: Elements of Poetry

Acquire New Knowledge:

In Philippine literature we find literary works which reveal to us that Filipino

has a passion for the good, the true, and the beautiful. In Philippine poetry about
nature, love and virtue we gain insight into the essence of beauty as God’s gifts. The
prose works about the joys in life sharpen our sense of what is worth living for.

Elements of Poetry:
1. Language—the poet uses every resource of language, from simplicity to eloquence,
heightening through compression, omission, and repetition, but the effect is always one
of spontaneity. Poetic language considers diction, vocabulary, and level (whether lofty
or simple and conversational.
2. Tone or atmosphere, feeling, attitude, stance or the poet’s way of looking at his
subject or at the world. It may be serious, ironic, bitter, resigned, joyful, sad, etc.
3. Imagery- is the total sensory suggestion of poetry-visual, auditory, tactile, gustatory,
and bodily. Imagery which is wider than metaphor suggests symbols, myth and
archetype
4. The sound of words- An indirection prominent in the method of poetry is the use of
sound effects to intensify meaning.
a. Ryhme- repeats similar or corresponding sounds in some apparent scheme.
b. Rhythm- is the result of systematically stressing or accenting words and
syllables attained through patterns in the tuning, spacing, repetition of the elements.
c. alliteration means the repetition for effect of initial vowels or consonants.
e.g. He claps the crags with crooked hands ( Tennyson)

d. Assonance refers to a partial change in which the stressed vowel sounds are
alike but the consonant sounds are unlike.
e.g. Maiden crowned with glossy blackness
Long armed maid, when she dances (George Elliot)
5. Thoughts or meaning- more significant than the answer to the question “what does a
poem mean”?. Reading poetry is re-enactment of an experience “what it feels like
to…?” rather than arrival at a thought or logical conclusion.

THE SAMPAGUITA
by Natividad Marquez

[The sampaguita is our national flower. In this poem, the poet whose penname is Ana
Carmen Chavez, tells us the feelings she experiences when she sees a sampaguita flower]
Little sampaguita
With the wondering eye,
Did a tiny fairy
Drop you where you lie?
In the witching hour
Of a tropic night,
Did a careless moonbeam
Leave you in its flight?

Vocabulary study:
Point out the feeling or moods that the following phrases connote or signify:
a. witching hour c. wondering eye e. careless moonbeam in its flight
b. tiny fairy d. tropic night

Comprehension check:
1. To what does the poet associate the sampaguita flower?
2. Does the poet consider the sampaguita, a thing of beauty? Justify your answer.
3. What feelings of the poet are revealed by the poem?
4. What aspect of human experience is portrayed in the poem?
5. Why do you think the sampaguita was chosen as our national flower?
JAPANESE LITERATURE:
 Appreciating Haiku
[Haiku has three lines of 5-7-5 syllables. It is highly suggestive, condense, and
intense. It is considered to be a record of a moment of emotion in which human
nature is somehow linked to all nature. Thus, it contains at least some reference
to the seasons and nature. Emotions and insights suggested in haikus range from
the simple to deep and intricate.]

 Matsuo Basho ( 1644-1694), the saintly poet. In his hands the haiku became a
form dedicated to poetry of high seriousness, but with a wide range of diction
and subject matter. Basho’s own haiku, in which two or three images suggest a
depth of perception commensurate with his devotion to Zen Buddhism, are seen
to best advantage as they occur in his poetic travel accounts, which he wrote in
his last decade.

HAIKU

Yellow rape in bloom; 5

In the west there is the sun 7
In the east, the moon 5

Comprehension check:
1. Haiku is considered to be a “record of a moment of emotion.” Based on the
image described by the poet, try to guess the emotion suggested in the haiku.

The Japanese Plays:

1. Kabuki- (ka-song, bu-dance, ki-skill) – it is one of the unique theatrical forms in the
world. The actions themselves are the focus of attentions and not on realism or the
written words. Though elaborate costumes and vivid make-up, beautifully stylized
acting and exaggerated vocalization highlighted with picturesque settings and colorful
music, the kabuki actions create dramatic effects of extra ordinary intensity within the
framework of pure entertainment.

2. Noh- a dramatic art from that has no special settings except for a stylized paintings of
a pine tree which is a permanent feature of a Noh stage. Noh actors may wear or may
not wear masks. The mask is considered as a highly refined theatrical device.

3. Bunraku –like the kabuki, it is associated with common people. It gives life and soul
to inanimate dolls..

Contemporary Japanese Writers:

1. Kawabata Yasunari – he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1968.

 2. Kawagihashi Hekigoto – a poet who was a pioneer of modern haiku.
3. Kawatake Mokuami – versatile and prolific dramatist, the last great kabuki
playwright of the Tokugawa period. He wrote more than 360 plays.
4. Hegiwara Sakutaro- Japanese poet whose attempt to express his perception
directly in concrete, often unpretty images, rather than in amorphous descriptions,
represented a revolutionary trend in Japanese literature.
5. Hayashi Fukimo – Japanese novelist whose realistic stories deal with urban
working class-life.
6. Oe Kenzaburo – Japanese novelist whose rough prose style, at times nearly
violating the natural rhythms of the Japanese language epitomizes the rebellion of the
post-world war II generation of which he writes

LESSON 2: Understanding Poetry: Figures of Speech

Acquire New Knowledge:

Much of the suggestive power of words comes from figures of speech. They are essential
part of the poet’s craft especially if stated in his original, fresh and subtle way.

1. SIMILE - is directly expressed comparison between two dissimilar objects by

means of the words like, as, or as if.
e.g. Serenity of mind poises
He watches from his mountain walls;
Like a gull swinging in air
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

2. METAPHOR gives an implied, not expressed, comparison to two unlike objects.

e.g. 1. Good books are food and drink to an avid reader.
2. When I saw her smile, a stone rolled away from my heart.

3. PERSONIFICATION gives an inanimate object or an abstract idea a human

attribute or considers it a live being.
e.g. 1. At last the wind sighed itself to sleep
2. break, break, break
On the cold, gray stones, O sea!

4. APOSTROPHE is an address to the absent as if he were present or to somebody dead

as if he were alive or to inanimate things as if they were animated.

e.g. 1. MILTON! Thou should be living at this hour.

2. Mountains and hills come and fall on me.

5. METONYMY. A name of one thing used in place of another suggested or associated

with it. It consists in giving an idea that is so closely associated with another.
 e.g. 1. The pen is mightier than the sword.
2. Gray hairs should be respected.
6. ANTITHESIS. Contrast or opposition of thoughts, words or ideas. Contrasting words
or ideas make each other emphatic.

e.g. 1. Easy writing makes hard reading; hard writing, easy reading.
2. His body is active but his mind is sluggish.

7. HYPERBOLE. Exaggerating for effect and not to deceive to be taken literally.

e.g. Morning, noon, and night her tongue was incessantly doing.

8. IRONY.Method of humorous or subtly sarcastic expression in which the intended

meaning of the words is the direct opposite of what is meant.
e.g. It wasvery kind of you to remind me of my humiliation.
CHINESE LITERATURE

Country facts:
China occupies one-fifth of the Asian continent. It has the biggest population in
the world. The official language is Mandarin. Main religions are: Confucianism,
Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. The country became a communist state in
1949. In the 1960’s a period known as the “Cultural Revolution” led by Mao Tse Tung,
made the government more tolerant.

[ The literature of ancient China is extensive and includes almost every form known.
These are histories, books of philosophy, lyrics, tales, dramas and letters. ]
 Confucius is considered as the founder of Chinese literature. He was more
considered in social, ethical and political doctrines than in purely religious
matters. His concern was not about the nature of God or about life after death,
but in how to act here and now.

 Five books of Confucius: Book of changes (Yi king); Book of Ceremonies ( Li

King); Book of Historical Documents ( Shu king); Book of Poetry ( Shi King) ;
and Book of Spring and Autumn ( Ch’ un Ch’iu).
 The book of analects- gathered by MENCIUS of all the sayings of Confucius.

CHINESE POETS:

1. Wang Wei (699-759), Chinese painter and poet, a figure of legendary stature is
considered the founder of the pure landscape style of painting and was one of the
masters of lyric verse in the T’ang dynasty.
2. Li Po ( 701-62), Chinese poet, one of the greatest figures of Chinese literature.
3. Tu Fu ( 710-70) is regarded by many as the greatest Chinese poet.
4. Po Chu-I ( 772-864), Chinese poet and government official, held various posts,
starting in the palace library and rising to become a provincial governor.
LESSON 3: Understanding Poetry: Appreciating Poetry in American Literature
through rhyme scheme, giving literal and figurative meaning.

Acquire New Knowledge:

AMERICAN LITERATURE

-Passionate sensitivity to the true, the good and the beautiful is not only
peculiar to Filipinos but also to other nationalities of the world. As revealed in their
literature the Americans are great lovers of nature. For them, the world is a fountain of
blessings. The selections that follow depict American experiences in the realm of the
true, the good, and the beautiful in life.

Well-known American poets and writings:

 William Godfrey- “The Prince of Parthia” (1765)

 Joel Barlow- “ The Columbus”
 James Fenimore Cooper ( the 1st important American novelist)- “ The Spy”
( 1821)
 Henry Wardsworth Longfellow – “Hiawatha” ( 1847)
 Ralp Waldo Emerson –“ Self-Reliance” (1841)
 Edgar Allan Poe- “ Annabel Lee”
 Walt Whitman – “ From Pioneers! O Pioneers!
 Emily Dickinson – “ J 435”
 Mark Twain – “ Tom Sawyer’s Huckleberry Finn
 T.S. Eliot- “ The waste land”
 Harriet Beecher Stowe – “ Under Tom’s Cabin” ( 1852)
 Robert Frost – “ The Road not Taken”
Remember:

 RYHME SCHEME is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or
song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines
designated with the same letter all rhyme each other.

Example:
Bid me to weep, and I will weep A
While I have eyes to see B
And having none, yet I will keep A
A heart to weep for thee B
 LITERAL MEANING is taking words in their usual or most basic sense without
metaphor or allegory.

 FIGURATIVE MEANING is a statement or phrase not intended to be

understood literally.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, A

And sorry I could not travel both B
And be one traveler, long I stood A
And looked down one as far as I could A
To where it bent in the undergrowth; B

Then took the other, as just as fair, C

And having perhaps the better claim, D
Because it was grassy and wanted wear; C
Though as for that, the passing there C
Had worn them really about the same, D

And both that morning equally lay E

In leaves no step had trodden black. F
Oh, I kept the first for another day! E
Yet knowing how way leads on to way, E
I doubted if I should ever come back. F

I shall be telling this with a sigh G

Somewhere ages and ages hence: H
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- G
I took the one less traveled by, G
And that has made all the difference. H

Do this:

1. Find out what could be the other meaning of “yellow wood” in the first stanza.
2. Identify what could the “roads “be compared to.
3. Figure out what the author is trying to say about “personal decisions “ in the
poem.
4. Relate the poem to real-life decision making experience you had.