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Basic Elements of Poetry

This document outlines the basic elements of poetry. It defines poetry as literature in metrical form that follows rhythmic lines. It describes the key elements of rhythm, meter, and common metrical feet including iamb, trochee, spondee, dactyl, and anapest. It provides examples of these different forms. It also discusses other poetic elements such as stanzas, rhyme schemes, theme, symbolism, and imagery.

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Vanessa Rose L. Pomantoc
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491 views

Basic Elements of Poetry

This document outlines the basic elements of poetry. It defines poetry as literature in metrical form that follows rhythmic lines. It describes the key elements of rhythm, meter, and common metrical feet including iamb, trochee, spondee, dactyl, and anapest. It provides examples of these different forms. It also discusses other poetic elements such as stanzas, rhyme schemes, theme, symbolism, and imagery.

Uploaded by

Vanessa Rose L. Pomantoc
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Basic Elements of

Poetry
WHAT IS POETRY?
• Poetry can be defined as 'literature
in a metrical form' or 'a
composition forming rhythmic
lines'.
• a poem is something that follows a
particular flow of rhythm and
meter.
Rhythm: This is the music made by the statements of
the poem, which includes the syllables in the lines.
The best method of understanding this is to read the
poem aloud, and understand the stressed and
unstressed syllables.

Meter: This is the basic structural make-up of the


poem. Do the syllables match with each other? Every
line in the poem must adhere to this structure. A
poem is made up of blocks of lines, which convey a
single strand of thought. Within those blocks, a
structure of syllables which follow the rhythm has to
be included. This is the meter or the metrical form of
poetry.
1. Iamb (x /)
• This is the most commonly used
rhythm. It consists of two syllables,
the first of which is not stressed,
while the second syllable is stressed.
Such as:
• “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s
day?”
(Sonnet 18, by William Shakespeare)
2. Trochee (/ x)
• A trochee is a type of poetic foot
commonly used in English poetry. It
has two syllables, the first of which is
strongly stressed, while the second
syllable is unstressed, as given below:
• “Tell me not, in mournful numbers”
(Psalm of Life, by Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow)
3. Spondee (/ /)
• Spondee is a poetic foot that has
two syllables, which are
consecutively stressed. For
example:
• “White founts falling in
the Courts of the sun”
(Lepanto, by G. K. Chesterton)
4. Dactyl (/ x x)
• Dactyl is made up of three syllables.
The first syllable is stressed, and the
remaining two syllables are not
stressed, such as in the word
“marvelous.” For example:
• “This is the forest primeval.
The murmuring pines and the
hemlocks,”
(Evangeline, by Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow)
5. Anapest (x x /)
• Anapests are total opposites of
dactyls. They have three syllables;
where the first two syllables are
not stressed, and the last syllable is
stressed. For example:
• ” ‘Twas the night before Christmas,
and all through the house,”
(‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,
by Clement Clarke Moore)
Short Examples of Meter

1. People become what they believe.


2. Those who can dream it, they
really can achieve it.
3. Don’t search faults. Find remedies.
4. When you give and accept
gratefully, you feel blessed.
5. The safest place on planet earth.
6. Be happy, be positive, be you.
7. Life is short to hold grudges.
8. If you know why to live, then you
can tolerate anything.
9. All the news here is ready to
print.
10. Because you’re worth it.
Trees (By Joyce Kilmer)
“I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest …
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear


A nest of robins in her hair …”
• Stanza: Stanza in poetry is defined as a smaller
unit or group of lines or a paragraph in a poem. A
particular stanza has a specific meter, rhyme
scheme, etc. Based on the number of lines,
stanzas are named as couplet (2 lines), Tercet (3
lines), Quatrain (4 lines), Cinquain (5 lines), Sestet
(6 lines), Septet (7 lines), Octave (8 lines).
• Rhyme: A poem may or may not have a rhyme.
When you write poetry that has rhyme, it means
that the last words or sounds of the lines match
with each other in some form. Rhyme is basically
similar sounding words.
• Rhyme Scheme: As a continuation of rhyme,
the rhyme scheme is also one of the basic
elements of poetry. In simple words, it is
defined as the pattern of rhyme. It is denoted
by alphabets like aabb (1st line rhyming with
2nd, 3rd with 4th); abab (1st with 3rd, 2nd
with 4th); abba (1st with 4th, 2nd with 3rd),
etc.
• Theme: This is what the poem is all about. The
theme of the poem is the central idea that the
poet wants to convey. It can be a story, or a
thought, or a description of something or
someone; anything that the poem is about.
• Symbolism: Often poems will convey ideas and
thoughts using symbols. A symbol can stand for
many things at one time and leads the reader
out of a systematic and structured method of
looking at things. Often a symbol used in the
poem will be used to create such an effect.
• Imagery: Imagery is also one of the important
elements of a poem. This device is used by the
poet for readers to create an image in their
imagination. Imagery appeals to all the five
senses.

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