Emotions, Thoughts & Words 1

Unit 7 – Poetic Devices: The Artistic Effect

“Writing a poem is making music with words and space”

— Arnold Adoff n.d.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, you shall be able to:

a. apply the knowledge of the poetic devices in drafting satire poem.

Pretest

Poetry in artistic effect!

Directions: Fill in the box. Provide a series of words that corresponds to have a similar
sound at the examples. Write your answers in the box.

WORD WORD SOUND

example:
red rod rad rap wrap rip real

Three Think Thief Thin Thumb Thorn

things

Green Clean Screen Seen Lean Been

keen

Wow Vow Cow Allow Prow How

brow

Chest Test Breast Rest West Arrest

best

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Content

Poetic devices are instruments that a poet may use to create rhythm, enhance
the meaning of a poem, or enhance his mood or feeling. These devices help to unite the
poem, much like a hammer and nails, to unite wooden boards. Some of these devices
are also used in literature, but for the sake of clarification, we will look at all of these
devices through the prism of poetry.

Question: Is poetic devices limited to poetry only?

Answer: No, this chapter will bring you more about poetic devices.

Well, let us find a better way to start this Unit.

Poetic devices are literary tools that are not limited strictly to poetry. Poetic
instruments are used by good writers in all professions, from novelists, journalists to
advertisers. This is because it's a joy to hear poetic instruments. The use of poetic
devices is different from the use of textual devices. This chapter of module aims to
bring artist in you.

Poetic devices are also paired with figurative language strategies (similar,
metaphor, personification). Let's start with some of the devices that can be used to
create rhythm, including repetition, syllable variation, and rhyming.

ALLITERATION is the repetition in words of the initial consonant sound. A simpler

(though less accurate) way to tell this is that alliteration is when the first word sounds
repeat. Alliteration also deals with assonance and consonance in order to create
phonetically pleasing arrangements. Edgar Allan Poe “The Raven” is a good example:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, -
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping.

The best way to spot alliteration in a sentence is to sound out the sentence,
looking for the words with the identical beginning consonant sounds. Though this
example is still pretty obvious, it shows that even when one word starts with a “q” and
another word starts with a “c,” it is still considered an instance of alliteration. When we
study alliteration, we are concerned with the sounds of the words, not just the letters.

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ASSONANCE is the repetition of vowel sounds. It is often used in combination with

consonance and alliteration. The way you use assonance can change the mood of the
poem: Long vowel sounds will decrease the energy at that point in the poem and make
the mood more serious. Higher vowel sounds will increase the energy and lighten the
mood.

Who knows why the cold wind blows

Or where it goes, or what it knows.
It only flows in passionate throes
Until it finally slows and settles in repose.

This poem entitled The Cold Wind Blows by Kelly Roper create rhythm and
cadence. You can notice that vowel “o” has been emphasis in the stanza. Can you
determine if this is a long or short vowel sound? I bet you need to do a voice analysis in
this poem to check.

CONSONANCE also known as near rhyme, off rhyme, or slant rhyme. Consonance is
the repetition of consonant sounds in the middle or at the end of words. Using
consonance is a sophisticated poetic technique that can create subtle yet beautiful lyrics
or lines of poetry. Here is an example of consonance:

I'll swing by my ankles.

She'll cling to your knees.
As you hang by your nose,
From a high-up trapeze.
But just one thing, please,
As we float through the breeze,
Don't sneeze.

This poem made by Shel Silverstein – “The Acrobats” emphasize the prominent
use of consonance. Look at that the pattern it is put in the middle and in the end of a
verse line which is purely consonant letters only.

ONOMATOPOEIA is a word that sounds like what it refers to. The combination of letter
sounds in the word imitate the natural sounds of that object or action. Many languages
are rife with onomatopoeic words—every animal sound from “bow-wow” to “moo” to
“ribbit” is a form of onomatopoeia, as is the “tick-tock” of a clock, the “ding-dong” of a
doorbell, a beep, a zap, a hiccup, a hiss, and a cackle. Such words seem to have sound
effects built in to them. See the work of Victoria Reome's "Rain Dance Poem”

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When a poem is born

What is the chance
Of words in rain
Drip drop dance

Ping ting sing

Pitter patter rhyme
Rain dance acceleration
Makes my poem climb

Dribble drench drizzle

Thinking on the fence
Sprinkle splish splash
Bring balance to my sense
As you in this poem, it is ripe with onomatopoeia. You can actually visualize and
imagine through your senses. This includes words that mimic the actual sounds we hear
like the “Ping ting sing”.

We are now done on poetic device definition and the different styles. Let us learn
along the way as we go along the series of activities that will follow.

Things to Remember:
1. Play with the consonants and vowels,
2. Put your sensory into a literary piece,
3. Use paradox to add spice and life of your poem.

“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.”

— Edgar Allan Poe n.d.

Let’s start!

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Learning Activity

Activity 1 Beyond the surface

Directions: After you have read the poem, answer the following questions and write it
inside the box below.

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning, they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light

IN THE KNOW: POET

Dylan Marlais Thomas was born on October 27, 1914, in Swansea, South
Wales. His father was an English Literature professor at the local grammar
school and would often recite Shakespeare, fortifying Thomas's love for the
rhythmic ballads of Gerard Manley Hopkins, W. B. Yeats, and Edgar Allan
Poe. Thomas dropped out of school at sixteen to become a junior reporter for
the South Wales Daily Post. By December of 1932, he left his job at the Post
and decided to concentrate on his poetry full-time. It was during this time, in
his late teens, that Thomas wrote more than half of his collected poems.

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ABOUT THE POEM

“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” is a poem by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas,
first published in 1951. Though the poem was dedicated to Thomas’s father, it contains a
universal message. The poem encourages the dying—the sick and the elderly—to fight
bravely against death. The poem also celebrates the vibrancy and energy of human life,
even though life is fragile and short.

Question:
1. Plot the rhyme scheme used in the poem at Stanza 1 and 2?

The rhyme scheme of this poem Stanza 1 and 2 is ABA ABA. There are
only two rhymes and there are two refrains. The refrains, the first line and
the third line, are repeated four times in the poem: first line is repeated in
the last line of the second and forth tercet and the last-to-second line of the
sixth tercet, and the third line are repeated in the third line of the third and
fifth tercet and the last line in the sixth tercet.

2. What metaphors were used by the author?

 Night and darkness are employed as metaphors for death

throughout the poem, while light and day are used to represent life.

 Words forking lightning: Just as redirecting lightning affects its

course, forking lightning is a metaphor for leaving enduring change.

 Deeds dancing: Their deeds could have been the center of attention,
frolicking in the spotlight for all to see.

 Catching and singing the sun in flight: The men discussed in this
stanza were adventurous and full of vitality, but they "discovered too
late" that their attempts were ultimately futile, similar to someone
attempting to catch the sun.

 Blind men who see with blinding sight: These individuals may be
blind physically, as Thomas's father was as he approached death,
but they may also be blind figuratively due to their age. Despite their
blindness, their insights are so clear and dazzling that they can
cause others to become blind.

3. What poetic device occurs more in the poem?

Dylan makes use of several literary devices in ‘Do not go gentle into that
good night.’ These include:

Refrain: Naturally, the two recurrent refrains in this poem create the core
message that explains the work's meaning. When Dylan Thomas mentions
"that good night," he's referring to it as a metaphor for death and a parallel
to "the dying of the light," which is a symbol for the same concept.

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Alliteration: The use of the same consonant sound at the start of many
words can be seen. For example, in line two of the fourth stanza, "learn"
and "late"; in line two of the fifth stanza, "blind" and "blaze."

Enjambment: occurs when the poet ends a line before it reaches its natural
endpoint, such as the transition between lines two and three of the second
stanza.

Imagery: When a poet utilizes very powerful description, this happens.

"Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright / Their frail deeds might
have danced in a green bay," for example, from the third verse.

4. Write a letter to Dylan Thomas, explaining your reaction to the view of death
expressed in the poem

Dear Dylan Thomas

You beautifully highlighted the contrast between life and death, as well as how
different types of individuals face death or should face death. I believe that the option of
how to approach death is the last thing a dying person is given. You have the option of
going softly in silence or wrath and clinging to the light. Fighting death, on the other hand,
does not result in victory.
I heard that the poem was inspired by your father's death, which he addressed in the final
words. The main line is that death is unavoidable, thus you're dying right now, there's no
turning back, you're departing, you're going to sleep forever, so don't go gently into that
good night, instead rage against the dimming of the light, your light.

5. If you were the father, what would you tell the speaker? Make a response to
the son.

To my ever-loving son,

Please know that you were the best gift I have receive in my life. Just always
remember that I love you as my son wholeheartedly. I know that life is beautiful to live but
if the time comes that I will be leaving in this world please just accept it. I know it’s really
hard for you my dearest son, things will be change soon. We know I did my best that I can
to fight, we did it together in this battle. There’s one thing I can only say, do not go gentle
into that good night.

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Are you having fun so far? Thank you for doing the activities. If you were about to
ask where to submit your work, then let me tell you where.
You can submit your outputs in our Google Classroom. Visit our Google
Classroom and find your way to your Classwork, then click on Assignment and there you
will find where to submit your outputs. Visit the website below for your class code. If you
have poor connection, you are given another week to submit your output.

https://rochenanrodac.blogspot.com/

You are almost done with Unit 3! Keep up the good work!

Assessment

Assessment 1 A Poem of Poetic Devices

Directions: Create a stanza using alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia
and oxymoron. Use the concept of new normal as your subject. Write your work in the
space provided.

Alliteration

I heard a Fly buzz when I died

The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air
Between the Heaves of Storm

Assonance

But some punks want to jump up

With a sharp tongue and their fronts up
Like we got here by dumb luck

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But they just want to become us.

Consonance

I trust the sanity of my vessel; and

If it sinks, it may well be in answer
To the reasoning of the eternal voices,
The waves which have kept me from reaching you.

Onomatopoeia

ARIEL:
Hark, hark!
Bow-wow.
The watch-dogs bark!
Bow-wow.
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, ‘cock-a-diddle-dow!’

Dear Learner,

I would like you to know that the activities that you have just accomplished were
designed to make you realize these 3 important things:

 Equipped, you already have the adequate knowledge of poetry use it with impact;

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 Reverence, since you already finished poetry class always respect and appreciates
individuality’s work: and
 Artist, be authentic as always like what you have done of all units.

I was right all along! There is a poet in you!

Continue to do good. I know you can!

Truly yours,

The Authors

Congratulations! You did a great job! If you have not completed the task, or you have
difficulty in accomplishing the activity, please send me a message to our Google class,
or you may ask clarifications through a text message or phone calls on the contact
number included in your course guide. You may write your insights or thoughts about the
activity on the space provided found on the next page. You had just completed this unit.
You are now ready to take the last unit – Unit 8.

Write your insights and thoughts here!

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