POETRY

Definition of Poetry
Elements of Poetry
Figurative language
Step to consider in Reading Poetry
Definition of Poetry
 “It is a special kind of writing in which languages, imagery and sound
combine to create a special emotional effect. It is usually arranged in
lines, frequently has regular rhythm that sometime rhyme. It packs
meaning into a small number of sounds which tend to be more visual
and musical than prose.” (McMillan Literature Series)
 “Poetry is a kind of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of
speech and imagery designed to appeal to our emotions and
imagination.”(Elements of Literature, Fourth Course, Holt, Rheinhart and Winston, Inc

 In poetry you must love the words, the ideas, the images and the rhythm
with all your capacity to love anything at all.” Wallace Stevens
 Comparison of Poetry from Prose

Poetry Prose

Form Written in lines Written in paragraphs

Content More concise

Highly compressed
More visual
Musical
Very rich in figurative language
 ELEMENTS of POETRY
1. Diction is the proper choice of words.
a. Connotation is the suggestive or emotional meaning attached to the word in the
context it is used.
b. Denotation is the dictionary meaning of words.

2. Rhythm- is the rise and fall of speech. It brings about themusicsl sound in poetry.

3. Rhyme is the device used by the poet to create musical effects by repeating similar
vowels and consonant sounds.
a. internal rhyme
b. end rhyme
4. Persona it the voice or the speaker in the poem.

5. Imagery and Symbolism

Imagery is the language that appeal to our senses.
Symbol is anything that is used by the poet to stand for another.

6. Theme is the central idea or the significant truth about life in the
poem.
Figures of Speech
It is a word or phrase used by the poet to vividly describe a situation or
an experience by appealing to the reader’s imagination.
1.Simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things using “as” or
“like.”
In the glitter of your eyes
As bright as the color of dreams
2.Metaphor is direct or indirect comparison of two unlike things without
the use of “as or “like.”
The clouds are white wool in the sky
White wooly clouds graze the sky
3.Apostrophe is a figure of speech that address the absent as if
present and the non-human as if human.
O Wind, if winter comes
Can Spring be far behind?
4. Onomatopoeia is a figure of speech in which a word whose sound
suggests or imitates the meaning is used.
Hark! Now I hear them
Ding dong, bell
5. Personification- is a figure of speech in which non- human subject
are given human qualities or characteristics.
Th Mountain sat upon the Plain
In his mighty Chair

6.Allusion is a figure of speech that refers to a person, place, event or

thing taken from literature, history, myth, politics, religion, science, or art.
A Daniel came to judgment!

7. Alliteration is a repetition of initial consonant sounds.

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way
Where the wind’s’ like in whetted knife
8. Metonymy is a figure of speech using one name and referring to an
idea to which the term is closely related or associated.
Finally the Crown has proclaimed the verdict.
9. Synechdoche is a figure of speech that uses a part to mean a whole.
He asked for he hand in marriage
10. Paradox is a statement which seems false and self-contradictory but
may seem true or clever.
A people’s want like peace is the thistle.
11. Irony is a figure os speech which states what it meant as the opposite
to express sarcasm, humor, or dislike.
You ask for a sentence, he delivers an encyclopedia.
12. Hyperbole is a figure of speech that uses exaggeration for effect or
humor.
I am so hungry, I could eat a horse
Types of Poetry
 A. Narrative poem which intends to tell a story and as such
has a plot, setting, dialogue, and theme.

 1. A ballad is a narrative poem telling a simple dramatic story. It is

intended either to be sung or to be recited. Most ballads have
anonymous authors and are handed down from one generation to
another by a word of mouth.

 2. An epic is a long narrative poem that tells the adventures and

exploits of a legendary hero who usually embodies the aspirations
and cultures of a particular reace or group of people.
 3. A metrical romance is a narrative poem telling about the love
and adventures of knights and their ladies. This type of poetry
was highly inspired during the age of chivalry in England and
other parts of Europe.

 4. A metrical tale is a narratyive poem about simple and

ordinary people.
 B. A lyric poem is a highly musical poem expressing the personal thought and
feelings of the writer. In ancient times, these lyric poems were sung and
accompanied by a stringed instrument like the lyre.

 1. A sonnet is a special form of lyric poem consisting of 14 lines popularized by

Francesco Petrach in Italy. It is otherwise known as Petrachan or Italian
sonnet. The other one is called the English, Shakespearean or the
Elizabethan sonnet which was written by William Shakespeare.
 Petrachan sonnet- octave (theme) and sestet (summarizing an idea)
 Shakesperean sonnet-three quatrains (developing the theme) and a
couplet enforcing an idea.

 2. An ode is a lyric poem of praise of a person , inanimate object or a lofty

and profound idea written in a highly dignified manner.
 3. An elegy is a lyric poem of lamentation over a loss of a loved
one.

 4. A simple lyric is any short, simple poem expressing the writer’s

response to any ordinary thing which provokes a certain deep
feeling or emotion.


 C. Dramatic Poetry portrays life and character put into
action.
 Poetic plays

 Comedy portrays an optimistic view of life, aims to amuse

and entertain, usually ends happily.

 Tragedy involved heroes struggling mightily against

dynamic forces; he meets death or ruin without success.

 Historical play a drama about the lives of outstanding

figures in history.
 Farce is an exaggerated form of comedy depicting ridiculous and
impossible situations to produce boisterous laughter.

 Melodrama is characterized by exaggerated characters and situations to

produced transitional effects, violent emotional appeals and a happy
ending.

 Masque is a form of court pageantry which was popular in England in

the 16th century where characters were dressed in lavished costumes
against a lavish scenery and music.

 Dramatic Monologue is a combination of drama and poetry in

presenting the speech the of a single character addressed to one or
more listeners who are silent, one sided conversation.
Other kinds of Poetry
 The Haiku or Hokku is an ancient form of Japanese poetry which consist
of three lines (tercet) , the first and the third lines have five syllables and
the second has seven syllables(575).Haikus don’t have to rhyme and are
usually written to evoke a particular mood or instance.

 Free verse is popular style of modern poetry and there is a fair amount of
freedom. It can be rhymeor not or it can have many lines or stanzas as the
poet wants, and it can beabout anything you like.

 Acrostic like Haikus, this type of poem spells out a name, word or phrase
or message with the first letter of each line of the poem. It can be rhyme or
not and typically the word spell out, lays down thetheme of the poem.

 Villanelle is another very old form of poetry that came from
France and has lots of rules. It is made up 19 lines; five
stanzas of three lines (tercet) each and a final stanza of four
lines (quatrain). The rhyme scheme is ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA
ABAA these type of poem only has two rhyming sounds plus
there are lots of repetition throughout the villanelle.
 Line one will be repeated in lines six, 12and 18. and line three
will be repeated in lines nine, 15 and 19. Although this takes
out extra work of having to write 19 individual lines , the real
challenge is to make meaning out of those repeated lines.
 Limericks are funny (and sometimes rude!)poems which were
popular by Edward Lear in the 19th century. They have a set of
rhyme scheme of AABBA with lines, one, two, and five all
being longer in length than lines three and four. The last line
often the punchline. Their sound is very distinctive.
 Reference: https://www.pemguin. Co.uk?discover/childrens-articles/different-
types- of- poetry.
Steps to consider in Reading poetry

1.Read the poem attentively, observing proper pauses for every

thought unit.
2. Identify the speaker or the persona used by the poet.

3.Take note of the unfamiliar expressions such as the figures of

speech.
4. Be active in responding to the vivid images of the poem.

5. Read the poem aloud and listen to its musical quality creted by the
rhythm and rhyme.
6. Express the meaning of the poem in your own words.
Performance Task
Find a copy of the following poems:
1. God Said, “ I made a MAN- Jose Garcia Villa
2. Bloom of Waters Call- Amador Daguio
3. Bonsai- Edith Tiempo
4. When I look at women- Amador Daguio
5. First born, Bumpy
 Guidelines of your Performance Task
Secure a copy of the poem.
You READ ALOUD or MEMORIZED the poem.
Discus about the poem
a. persona
b. Imagery
c. rhythm and rhyme
d. theme
e. symbolism
f. figures pf speech used
BONSAI (EDITH TIEMPO)
All that I love
I fold over once
And once again
And keep in a box
Or a slit in a hollow post
Or in my shoe

All that I love?

 Why, yes but for the moment
And for all time, both.
Something that folds and keeps easy,
Son’s note, or Dad’s one gaudy tie,
A roto picture of a young queen
A blue Indian shawl, even
A money bill.
 It’s utter sublimation,
A feat, this heart’s control
Moment to moment
To scale all love down
To a cupped hand’s size.
Till seashells are broken pieces
From God’s own bright teeth,
All life and love are real
Things you can run and
Breathless hand over
To the merest child
 FIRSTBORN (Elsa Martinez Coscolluela)
I
Child, wrought of your father’s bone
And my own blood welded into form
By love’s bright fire, a mystic growth
Pulsing in my dark womb, breathing the air
I breathe from your father; now you’ve come
Into our world, the first fruit
Of a hopeful season.
 II
Tonight as we watch you play, your tiny voice
And grasping hands speak of tomorrow’s
Boy, each day growing farther
From my womb, You cry as I hold your hand
Too tight. Let go, your father says.
A hand too tight upon his own may bind
Him yet forever. This boy must grow
 III
In his own time and measure. Let him bare
The earth of all its promised wisdom. But how
Explain a mother’s fears? Is it perhaps
From holding you so long in the hollow
Of my womb, or birthing you with so much pain
One fears the day when you will have to know
Your own share of sorrow?
 IV
Let go, your wise father says, let go.
And though I understand, a certain grief
Assaults my heart.