Elements of

Poetry
Structure of Poetry
Poetry
Like any other forms of literature, poetry is made to express
thoughts and emotions in a creative and imaginative way.
It conveys thoughts and feelings, describes a scene or tells a
story in a concentrated, lyrical arrangement of words
Structure of Poetry
Refers to the overall organization of lines and/or patterns of
sounds

Modern Poems may have no structure

Structure of Poetry

• Stanza

• Form
Stanza
• Series of lines grouped together and separated by a
space from other stanzas

• They correspond to a paragraph in an essay

Stanzas
• Monostich (one line)
• Couplet (two lines)
• Tercet (three lines)
• Quatrain (four lines)
• Cinquain(five lines)
• Sestet (six lines)
• Septet (seven lines)
• Octave (eight lines)
Form
• Most Common Forms:

Lyric, Descriptive, Narrative

Lyric
• short, highly musical verse that conveys powerful
feelings

• may use rhyme, meter, or other literary devices to

create a song-like quality
Lyric Poems
• Ode

• Elegy

• Sonnet
Ode
• An ode is a lyric poem that praises an individual, an idea or an event.
• Moderate, serious, elaborate, and elevated
Elegy
• written with a purpose to “mourn the dead”
• Uses Apostrophe as a literary technique
Sonnet
• With 14 lines
• For English Version, usually written in iambic pentameter
Narrative Poetry
• tells a story

• its structure resembles the plot line of a story

Narrative Poetry

•Ballad

•Epic
Descriptive
• It describes the world that surrounds the
speaker
• uses elaborate imagery and adjectives