Elements of Poetry

What Is Poetry? The Elements of Poetry

The Nature of Poetry Writing
Mimesis
Defamiliarization
Emotional Expression
Figurative Language
Poetic Form
Poetic Description
Structure of Poetry
Types of Poetry
Connotation in Poetry
Forms of Poetry
Analyzing Selected Poems
Learning Objectives!
In this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
• Recognize the structure, types, and other elements of
poems.
• Examine the different styles and techniques in executing
each element of a poem.
• Interpret the connotative meanings in poetry.
Instruction: The table below shows excerpts from famous literary texts.
You need to tell whether each of them is from a poem or not. Write P
(poem) if the excerpt is extracted from a poem; otherwise, write NP (not
a poem). After determining the nature of each excerpt, please answer the
questions that follow.
Literary Text Excerpt P/NP

1. For Annie by Thank Heaven! the crisis—

Edgar Allan Poe The danger is past,
And the lingering illness
Is over at last—
And the fever called “Living”
Is conquered at last.
 Literary Text Excerpt P/NP

2. Madame Bovary We were in class when the head-

by Gustave Flaubert master came in, followed by a
“new fellow,” not wearing the
school uniform, and a school
servant carrying a large desk.
Those who had been asleep woke
up, and every one rose as if just
surprised at his work.
 Literary Text Excerpt P/NP

3. Poor little heart! Poor little heart!

by Emily Dickinson Did they forget thee?
Then dinna care! Then dinna care!

4. The Undertaking I have done one braver thing Then

by John Donne all the Worthies did,
And yet a braver thence doth
spring, Which is, to keep that hid.
 Literary Text Excerpt P/NP

5. The Jewel of It all seemed so real that I could hardly

Seven Stars by imagine that it had ever occurred
Bram Stoker before; and yet each episode came,
not as a fresh step in the logic of
things, but as something expected. It
is in such a wise that memory plays its
pranks for good or ill; for pleasure or
pain; for weal or woe. It is thus that
life is bittersweet, and that which has
been done becomes eternal.
 Guide Questions
• 1. How did you identify whether or not the excerpt is a
poem?
• 2. What do you think is the difference between poetry and
prose when it comes to their structure?
• 3. What do you think is the difference between poetry and
prose when it comes to the way they use diction, imagery,
and figurative language?
• What constitutes a poem? What makes it
different from prose?
Recitation!
1. What makes poetry different from other
imaginative texts?
2. How can you tell if an imaginative text is
a poem or not?
 What is Poetry?

• Harmon and Holman (1996) write that poetry is “a

term applied to the many forms in which human
beings have given rhythmic expression to their
most intense perceptions of the world,
themselves, and the relation of the two” (398).
Notice that the fundamental characteristic of
poetry that they provided in the definition is
rhythm.
 Ars Poetica by Ma. Lourdes Carla Ramos
• The first stanza provides us with the idea that poems are a written set of lines.
• The writer described her creation as a being “from nothingness.” This is one way of
saying that poems have a life of their own.
• It means that the poem is a fragment of herself, a product of her imaginative
thinking. This is clear to us since we know that poetry is an imaginative text.
• It does not matter what form it should take. As long as it does not “forget that I am
what you are,” or as long as it acts as a reflection of the poet to the world where
she belongs, it is a valuable poem.
• the author’s purpose, or authorial intent, is an important concept you should delve
into when analyzing poetry.
• even if the author’s intent is unclear, the meaning remains as long as there is
someone who will read the poem.
 The Nature of Poetry Writing
• Mimesis
• Mimesis is a Greek word that means “imitation.” Mimesis is
related to poetry because they are copies of what the poets sense
in the world.
• Defamiliarization
• Defamiliarization, or ostranenie, is a property of art that makes the
familiar seem strange, allowing you to experience a sensation as
though it is the first time you have encountered it.
• Emotional Expression
• An emotional expression is defined as a process of putting forth
someone’s feelings through words.
 The Nature of Poetry Writing
• Figurative Language
• according to Harmon and Holman, is the “intentional departure
from the normal order, construction, or meaning of words” (213).
• Poetic Form
• A poetic form is a set of rules a poem should follow. They tell the
number of lines and stanzas the poem should have, the poetic
meter and the rhyme scheme that should be used, and the subject
matter that the poem should focus on.
• Poetic Description
• Poetry should have the ability to describe, or illustrate, both the
tangible and intangible to its readers.
 Figures of Speech
• 1. SIMILE • 6. EUPHEMISM
• 2. METAPHOR • 7. METONYMY
• 3. PERSONIFICATION • 8. OXYMORON
• 4. HYPERBOLE • 9. ALLITERATION
• 5. IRONY OR • 10. APOSTROPHE
SARCASM
1. SIMILE
In simile two unlike things are explicitly compared. A simile is
introduced by words such as like, so, as etc.
For example, “She is like a fairy”.
2. METAPHOR
It is an informal or implied simile in which words like, as, so are
omitted. For example,
“He is like a lion (Simile) “and “He is a lion (metaphor)”.
3. PERSONIFICATION
Personification is an attribution of personal nature, intelligence or
character to inanimate objects or abstract notions.
For example, in some phrases we use, the furious storm, the thirsty
ground, and the pitiless cold. Some other examples are:
• Little sorrows sit and weep. (Boccaccio)
4. HYPERBOLE
Hyperbole is a statement made emphatic by overstatement. For
example, “Virtues as the sands of the shore.”
5. IRONY OR SARCASM
In this mode of speech, the real meanings of the words used are
different from the intended meanings.
For example, the child of cobbler has no shoe.
6. EUPHEMISM
By using the euphemism, we speak in agreeable and favorable terms
of some person, object or event which is ordinarily considered
unpleasant and disagreeable.
For example:
• He is telling us a fairy tale. (a lie)
• He has fallen asleep. (he is dead)
7. METONYMY
Metonymy is meant for a change of name. It is a substitute of the thing
names for the
thing meant. Following examples will clarify the concept.
• The pen is mightier than the sword.
• From the cradle to the grave. = from childhood to death.
• I have never read Milton. = the works of Milton.
8. OXYMORON
It is a figure of speech which combines two seemingly contradictory or
incongruous
words for sharp emphasis or effect. For example,
• “darkness visible” (Milton);
• “make haste slowly” (Suetonius)
• “loving hate” (Romeo and Juliet)
9. ALLITERATION
The repetition of the same letter or syllable at the beginning of two
or more words is called alliteration.
For example,
• By apt Alliteration’s artful a
• Glittering through the gloomy g
• The furrow follows f
10. APOSTROPHE
It is a direct address to some inanimate thing or some abstract idea
as if it were living person or some absent person as if it were
present.
Example:
"Boy's mother loved him very much."