UNDERSTANDING POETRY

Poetry is generally
considered to be the oldest
of the arts.
Poetry is the most closely
related to music.
Some of the best definitions of poetry:
1. Gemino Abad contends that “a poem is a meaningful organization of words”.
2. T.S. Eliot categorizes poetry as “the fusion of two poles of mind; emotion and thought.”
3. Manuel Viray states that “poetry is the union of thoughts and feelings”.
4. William Wardsworth says, “poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recorded in
tranquility”.
5. Edgar Allan Poe thinks, “it is the rhythmic creation of beauty”.
6. Percy B. Shelly states, “it is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best
minds”.
7. Jaime G. Ong posits. “that poetry is the “essence” of the creative imagination of man”.
Elements of Poetry
1. Sense – is revealed through the meaning of words; images and symbols.
a. diction – denotative and connotative meanings/symbols
b. images and sense impressions – sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, motion and emotion.
c. figure of speech – simile, metaphor, personification. Apostrophe, metonymy, synecdoche,
hyperbole, irony, allusion, antithesis, paradox, litotes, oxymoron, onomatopoeia.

2. Sound – is the result of a combination of elements.

a. tone color – alliteration, assonance, consonance, rhyme, repetition, anaphora.
b. rhythm – order recurrent alteration of strong and weak elements in the flow of the sound and
silence: duple, triple, running or common rhyme.
c. meter – stress, duration, or number of syllables per line, fixed metrical pattern, or a verse form:
quantitative, syllabic and accentual syllabic.
d. rhyme scheme – formal arrangement of rhymes in a stanza or the whole poem.
Elements of Poetry
3. Structure – refers to (1) arrangement of words, and lines to fit together, and (2) the organization of
the parts to form a whole.
a. word order – natural and unnatural arrangement of words.
b. ellipsis – omitting some words for economy and effect
c. punctuation – abundance or lack of punctuation marks.
d. shape – contextual and visual designs: jumps, omission of spaces, capitalization, lower case.

4. Speaker – All poems have a speaker, the voice that talks to the reader. In some poems, the speaker
has a clear identity, using I and me. In other poems, the speaker remains in the background. The
speaker is not necessarily the same as the poet.
Elements of Poetry
5. Sensory/Poetic Images – by using sensory/poetic images or words and phrases that appeal to the
five senses, a poet recreates an experience. The reader can then imagine just how things look, sound,
feel, smell and taste.
Poetic images have been classified into the following
figures of speech:
1. Simile
2. Metaphor
3. Personification
4. Apostrophe
5. Metonymy
6. Synecdoche
7. Hyperbole
8. Irony
9. Allusion
10. Antithesis
11. Paradox
12. Litotes
13. Oxymoron
14. Onomatopoeia
How To Read A Poem
1. Read each poem aloud. Hearing the sounds of a poem makes the meaning clearer
and adds to your enjoyment.
2. Read the poem slowly, carefully and attentively. A poem should not be read
cursorily. Some poems may be understood at first reading but must have to be read
several times for deeper understanding and appreciation.
3. Identify the speaker. Does the speaker use I and me or remain a general voice
speaking to the reader?
4. Take time to imagine, to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell what the poet is
describing.
5. Give each poem a chance. Remember that each poem has something to give if you
want to take it.