POETRY

PREPARED BY : MOSES ZOE PHIRI

 INTRODUCTION
Many people are intimidated by the mention of the word “poetry.” It is often
perceived as something that is cryptic and beyond understanding. But there
are some pieces of information that can help us to grasp poetry whether we
are just starting to learn about analyzing poetry or trying to find our own
poetic voice.

Poetry has often reflected the voice of the time. Meaning, subject matter and
language choices may change with whatever is considered an everyday
concern in the current society’s expectations. Not many contemporary poems
will use the same language as Shakespeare, but that does not mean that they
are any less valid and likewise, poetry that lasts through the transition of time
still resonates with the reader in some way.
 INTRODUCTION
Poems can be said to be a careful, inventive, or creative consideration of words
written to convey some thought as a literary arrangement. Usually, but not
always, the words written are designed to evoke emotion. A poem can manifest
itself as a two-word phrase, spoken word, or a one-thousand-page book.

The word poem comes from the Greek poíema, meaning a "thing made."
When they are well written, poems go much deeper than the words on a page.
The ability to use written words to create images and feelings in the audience
marks the skills of a great poet. Much like sculptors have stone and painters
have a canvas, a poet's medium for expressive art is writing a poem. Poems are
fine art using language, but they are also a state of mind.
 NOTE THAT
Words are the tools of a poet and poets are particular about their tool;
- Examine each word and its relationship. Consider, not only the standard
definition, but the extended definition as well.
- Explore the effect that the substitution of a synonym would have on how a
line of poetry could be understood or how it can make a reader feel.

By considering these things, we are learning to understand DICTION and

TONE. Diction and tone are two terms that are useful when trying to write
about poetry, and it is equally important to understand their impact when
writing poetry ourselves. The following leaf shows an explanation of these and
other terms that will be helpful while navigating poetry:
 WHAT IS INVOLVED IN POETRY
· Alliteration – Words that begin with the same letter: e.g. The wiggly
wobbly wagon wheel wandered what went wrong. Peter piper picked
a peck of pickled papers. She sells, seashells, by the seashore

· Allusion – Reference to something else outside of the subject of the

poem: e.g. “The open window parse nervously to the woman’s
longing for freedom from her daily stay in a pit of hell”. “He always
acts Romeo in her presence”. “Who knew he would be the Newton of
the school.
· Diction – The poet’s style or precise choice of words. E.g. Heard
melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter. Therefore bring
your soft pipe of lips and play me on
· Imagery – Descriptive, sensory words that create a mental picture.
E.g. “It was dark and dim in the forest”. “The stone fell with a splash
in lake” “ The fragrance of spring flowers made her joyful.
 WHAT IS INVOLVED IN POETRY
· Metaphor – Comparison between two unlike things without using
like or as. E.g. “My Brother was boiling mad” “Her voice is music to
my ears. “The skies of his future began to darken.
· Personification – Attributing human qualities to animals or
inanimate objects: The willow weeps, the sun smiled down to them,
the city never sleeps or the party died down.
· Pentameter – The rhythm that words in a line of poetry create
because of the stressed syllables. They have five {Penta} strong
beats. There are different pentameters (rhythms). The one that is
probably the most familiar to us is iamb or iambic. Some other
pentameters are trochaic, dactylic, and anapestic.
· Repetition – Recurrence of elements to create unity e.g. let it snow,
let it snow, let it snow. If you can do it, you can do it. Blood all
around, blood all over, blood everywhere.
 WHAT IS INVOLVED IN POETRY
Rhyme – same syllable or word sounds, often occurring at the end of
lines of poetry. There is also the possibility of slant rhyme. This is
when words do not truly rhyme but have a similar sound or appear to
rhyme visually (bridge/grudge, orange/forage, said/paid).
Rhythm – Repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables which
create a certain sound and pace. E.g. Two households, both alike in
dignity, in fair Verona

Simile – comparison between two objects using like, as, or than. “her
smile is as bright as the smile or he ran like a goat.
Symbolism – using one object to suggest another meaning: A window
might symbolize freedom, release, or opportunity. Dove is a symbol od
peace, black is for death or evil.
Theme – the dominant unifying idea in a poem – Power, love, death,
life, corruption.
 ARRANGING YOUR PIECE
Most often when writing about something we have read, we break things
down into sentences, paragraphs or chapters. In poetry, the units we refer to
will be lines and stanzas. Some stanzas are a set number of lines long, and
when this happens, we have the option of being even more particular about
the way we reference them in our writing, and this can also help us to vary
our wording and keep our audience engaged. Here are some of the terms (or
units) we will encounter most often with a brief explanation of each:
1- Couplet – A pair of consecutive lines that typically rhyme though they do
not have to. E.g. “Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou viewest. Now is the
time that face should form another; Whose fresh repair if now thou not
renewest,. Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother, For where is
she so fair whose unear’d womb. But if thou live, remember’d not to be, Die
single, and thine image dies with thee.” - William Shakespeare
 ARRANGING YOUR PIECE
2- Quatrain- a four line stanza or poem. If the poem has a rhyme
scheme, alternate lines will rhyme. “Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And
never stops at all…” by Emily Dickinson or “O, my luve’s like a red,
red rose, That’s newly sprung in June: O, my luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune.” by Robert Burns

3- Stanza – lines of poetry that are grouped as a unit and offset from
other lines with a space. “Whether or not we find what we are seeking
is idle, biologically speaking.” by St. Vincent. Or “Do not all charms
fly At the mere touch of cold philosophy? There was an awful rainbow
once in heaven: We know her woof, her texture; she is given” by Allan
Poe
 PREPARING A PIECE
And Smaller Still…
While the way lines are grouped in a poem are significant, equally significant
is where a poet has decided to end a particular line. While analyzing or
executing a “close reading” of a particular poem, examine what effect the
break of a line has on how that line is read
Here are Some Questions to Consider:
- Does the meaning of a line shift if the words beginning the line that follows
are considered as
well?
- What effect does this have on the audience?
- Are there any words that are on their own line?
- Why would a poet have chosen to do that, and what effect does it have on
how the lines could be interpreted?
 CONCLUSION
The best poetry is written when we are truly in the midst of our emotions and struggling to
gain clarity. This is when the cathartic release of emotions to pen and then paper as an
outlet calms us, gives us clarity and enables us to move forward. Poetry’s powerful healing
qualities have been documented during both world wars and the American civil war:
poems were read to soldiers to help them cope with trauma and the brutalities of war.
Often the best poems are written from the heart, raw, emotional and to the point.

A mindful exercise, it truly is game-changing. After the poem is written there is a certain
sense of calm as we no longer hold the burden of our confession. We feel lighter and
relieved. You may initially struggle with starting a poem, however it does become easier
with practice. The key is to let your thoughts wander and write what comes to mind. Do
not hold back, let go and allow the emotions, words and images to unfold. Sometimes it is
easier to write it all down and then piece it together using line breaks (pauses),
restructuring paragraphs and sentences, pulling it together into a coherent form
Hey

THANK
YOU