Introduction To Poetry

Rhythm and Versification

 Features of Poetry

• Rhyme:
 Features of Poetry
Rhyme:
• It can be defined as “the identity of sound between syllables or
paired groups of word syllables, usually at the ends of verses or
lines”
( Baldick, 218)
• “the use of matching sounds in two or more words” (Kirszner,
441) (Two words that end with the same sound are said to rhyme)
 Example on Rhyme
“The Eagle” by Alfred Tennyson
• He clasps the crag with crooked hands; A
• Close to the sun in lonely lands, A
• Ring'd with the azure world, he stands. A

• The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; B

• He watches from his mountain walls, B
• And like a thunderbolt he falls. B
 Features of Poetry

• Rhythm
 Features of Poetry
Rhythm
• Rhythm can be defined as “The pattern of sounds perceived as
the recurrence of equivalent beats at more or less equal
intervals.” (Baldick, 219).

• Rhythm is the pattern of stressed and unstressed beats.

 Features of Poetry
Meter
• Meter can be defined as “the pattern of measured sound-units
recurring more or less regularly in lines of verses.” (Baldick, 154)
• It is a stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse or within the
lines of a poem. Stressed syllables tend to be longer and unstressed
shorter. In simple language, is a unit of rhythm in poetry.
 Types of Meter

Types of Meter
• English poetry employs five basic meters including:
iambic meter (unstressed/stressed)
trochaic meter (stressed/unstressed)
spondaic meter, (stressed/stressed)
anapestic meter (unstressed/unstressed/ stressed)
dactylic meter (stressed/unstressed/unstressed)
 Alliteration
• Alliteration is “the repetition of the same sound– usually consonants
of words…in any sequence of neighboring words” (Baldick, 6)

• It is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in successive or closely

associated words. 
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
 Example on Alliteration
“I wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud 

That floats on high o'er vales and hills, 
When all at once I saw a crowd, 
A host, of golden daffodils; 
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
 Assonance
• Assonance is “the repetition of similar vowel sounds in the stressed
syllables” (Baldick, 20)

• Assonance (slant rhyme) is the resemblance or similarity in sound

between vowels followed by different consonants in two or more
stressed syllables in a line of poetry.
Then came the drone of a boat in the cove.
 Example Assonance
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
• Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
• And sorry I could not travel both
• And be one traveler, long I stood
• And looked down one as far as I could
• To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Line 1 (the vowel sound O)
Line 3 (the vowel sound A)
Line 4 (the vowel sound OO)
Line 5 (the vowel sound E)
 Consonance
• Consonance can be defined as “the repetition of identical or similar
consonants in neighboring words whose vowel sounds are different”
(Baldick, 49)

• It refers to repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a

sentence or phrase. This repetition often takes place in quick
succession such as in pitter, patter.
 Example on Consonance
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
• And both that morning equally lay
• In leaves no step had trodden black.
• Oh, I kept the first for another day!
• Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
• I doubted if I should ever come back.

• I shall be telling this with a sigh

• Somewhere ages and ages hence:
• Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
• I took the one less traveled by,
• And that has made all the difference.
 Onomatopoeia
• Onomatopoeia is “the use of words that seem to imitate the sound they
refer to” (Baldick, 178)

• It is a poetic sound device in which words are used that actually

simulate the sounds they represent. Crash. Bang. Pop. Pow. Rattle.
 Example on Onomatopoeia
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
• I shall be telling this with a sigh
• Somewhere ages and ages hence:
• Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
• I took the one less traveled by,
• And that has made all the difference.

• The word ‘sigh’ in stanza four emphasizes the poet’s

• depression/sadness/happiness for the consequence of the decision he made.
 I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”"
by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud The waves beside them danced; but they
That floats on high o'er vales and hills, Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
When all at once I saw a crowd, A poet could not but be gay,
A host, of golden daffodils; In such a jocund company:
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
For oft, when on my couch I lie
Continuous as the stars that shine In vacant or in pensive mood,
And twinkle on the Milky Way, They flash upon that inward eye
They stretched in never-ending line Which is the bliss of solitude;
Along the margin of a bay: And then my heart with pleasure fills,
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, And dances with the daffodils.
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. • Audio
 I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”“
by William Wordsworth

Stanza: 1 Stanza: 1
I wandered lonely as a cloud a
That floats on high o'er vales and hills, b
When all at once I saw a crowd, a • Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. c

A host, of golden daffodils; b

Beside the lake, beneath the trees c

Example of Example of

(alliteration) (consonance)
 I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”“
by William Wordsworth

Stanza: 2 Stanza: 2
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,

Example of
Example of

)alliteration(

(consonance)
 I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”“
by William Wordsworth
• Stanza 3 • Stanza 3
In such a jocund company:
The waves beside them danced; but I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
they Example of
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
Example of (alliteration)

What wealth the show to me had brought:

Example of

(consonance)
(alliteration)
 I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”“
by William Wordsworth
• Stanza:4 • Stanza: 4
For oft, when on my couch I lie Which is the bliss of solitude;
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Example of
Example of

( assonance)

(alliteration)
 I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”“
by William Wordsworth

• Stanza 4 • Stanza 4
• And then my heart with pleasure • And dances with the daffodils.
fills,
Example of:
Example of:

(assonance) (alliteration)
 “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
by William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud a
That floats on high o'er vales and hills, b
When all at once I saw a crowd, a
A host, of golden daffodils; b
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, c (alliteration)
(alliteration)
Fluttering
and dancing in the breeze. c (consonance)
Continuous as the stars that shine (alliteration)
And twinkle on the Milky Way, (consonance)
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
• Lyrical poem
• Meter: iambic tetrameter
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay, (consonance)
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
(alliteration)
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye (alliteration)
Which is the bliss of solitude;( assonance)
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
(assonance)
And dances with the daffodils. (alliteration)
When icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
Winter
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail;
When blood is nipp'd, and ways be foul, Audio
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
"Tu-whit, to-who!"—
A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw;
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
"Tu-whit, to-who!"—
A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
 Winter” By Shakespeare“
• Stanza: 1 Stanza: 1
When icicles hang by the wall, a • "Tu-whit, to-who!"—d
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, b • Example of
And Tom bears logs into the hall, a
And milk comes frozen home in pail; b
When blood is nipp'd, and ways be foul,c
Then nightly sings the staring owl, c (alliteration) (onomatopoeia)

Example of
A merry note, e
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. f
• Example of

(alliteration)
(assonance)
 Winter” By Shakespeare“
• Stanza: 2 • Stanza: 2
When all aloud the wind doth blow, When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw; Example of
Example of

(consonance) (onomatopoeia)
(consonance)
 Winter” By Shakespeare“
• When icicles hang by the wall, a
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, b
And Tom bears logs into the hall, a
And milk comes frozen home in pail; b
When blood is nipp'd, and ways be foul, c
Then nightly sings the staring owl, c
(alliteration)
"Tu-whit, to-who!"—d (alliteration)
(onomatopoeia)
A merry note, e
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. f
(assonance)
• Meter: iambic tetrameter
When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson's saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian's nose looks red and raw;
(consonance)
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
(consonance) (onomatopoeia)
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
"Tu-whit, to-who!"—
A merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
• Narrative poem
The Eagle (1851)

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
 Works Cited
Baldick, Chris. Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York, Oxford University
Press, 2004.

http://www.jeltal.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/6.338102825.pdf

Kirszner, Laurie G, and Stephen R Mandell. Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing.

Fort Worth, Harcourt College Publisher, 2001