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Poetry, 2

Lesson Two: Examining rhyme and structure.

Poetic terms! Prepare those flash cardstest coming soon . . . 1 Persona: the speaker of the poem; poems are always delivered by personas or speakersnever attribute the thoughts and feelings being expressed in the poem to the author. 2 Rhyme: the repetition of similar sounds at regular intervals 3 End rhyme: rhyming words at the ends of lines of verse 4 Internal rhyme: rhyming words in the middles of lines of verse; position is regular within the rhythm of the lines 5 Masculine rhyme: rhyme of the last accented syllable of a word (fun/run, mad/sad) 6 Feminine rhyme: rhyme in which two consecutive syllables of the rhyming words correspond (crying/sighing, ringing/singing) 7 Half rhyme/Slant rhyme: imperfect, approximate rhyme; indicate presence of slant rhyme by putting the letter of the rhyme scheme in parentheses 8 Eye rhyme: words that look like they should sound the same, but are pronounced differently; indicate presence of eye rhyme by putting the letter of the rhyme scheme in parentheses 9 Rhyme scheme/pattern: pattern of rhymes within a unit of verse; in analysis, each end rhyme sound is designated with a letter
Take, o take those lips away. A That so sweetly were forsworn: B And those eyes, the bread of day. Lights that do mislead the morn: But my kisses bring again, bring again: Seals of love, but seald in vain. A

B C (C)

(William Shakespeare, Take, O Take Those Lips Away) 10 Stanza = One of the divisions of a poem, composed of two or more lines usually characterized by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and number of lines. The most common stanzaic groups of lines are: 11 Couplet = two line units 12Tercet = three line units 13 Quatrain = four line units 14 Quintain = five line units 15 Sestet = six line units 16 Septet = seven line units 17 Octet = eight line units 18 Verse paragraphs = stanzas with no regular number of lines or groups of lines that make up units of sense; usually separated by blank lines; frequently used in blank verse and in free verse.

Learning about rhyme

Read the Emily Dickinson poem below. Assign a letter (A, B, C, etc.) to the end sound of each line, and write out the rhyme scheme. Write out the rhyme scheme for this poem.

1. I never lost as much but twice, 2. And that was in the sod. 3. Twice have I stood a beggar 4. Before the door of God! 5. Angelstwice descending 6. Reimbursed my store 7. Burglar! BankerFather! 8. I am poor once more!

Which lines possess end rhyme? Indicate rhymed lines by line number and rhyming words: Which lines possess internal rhyme? Write the line number and the rhyming words: For all of the rhyming words you noted above, which are masculine? Are any of the rhymes feminine? Which ones? Do you see any examples of slant or half rhyme? Note them here:

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Poetry, 3

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Poetry, 4

Lets try it againsome practice with rhyme

709 Publicationis the Auction Of the Mind of Man Povertybe justifying For so foul a thing Possiblybut Wewould rather From Our Garret go WhiteUnto the White Creator Than investOur Snow Thought belong to Him who gave it Thento Him Who bear Its Corporeal illustrationSell The Royal Air In the ParcelBe the Merchant Of the Heavenly Grace But reduce no Human Spirit To Disgrace of Price

Identify the rhyming words by type, location, and pattern in the Dickinson samples below.

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truths superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or ever man be blind

341 After a great pain, a formal feeling comes The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore, And Yesterday, or Centuries before? The Feet, mechanical, go round Of Ground, or Air, or Ought1 A Wooden way Regardless grown, A Quartz contentment, like a stone This is the Hour of Lead Remembered, if outlived, As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow FirstChillthen Stuporthen letting go

235 There's a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons That oppresses, like the Heft Of Cathedral Tunes Heavenly Hurt, it gives us We can find no scar, But internal difference, Where the Meanings, are None may teach it Any 'Tis the Seal Despair An imperial affliction Sent us of the air When it comes, the Landscape listens Shadows hold their breath When it goes, 'tis like the Distance On the look of Death

435 Much Madness is divinest Sense To a discerning Eye Much Sensethe starkest Madness Tis the Majority In this, as All, prevail Assentand you are sane Demuryoure straightway dangerous And handled with a Chain
1

1129

Nothing, or anything

Activity: Examining the structure of a Dickinson poem MODEL Poem # __709___ 1. Write out the rhyme scheme for the poem. Which lines possess end rhyme? Indicate rhymed lines by number and rhyming word:

A(A)BB CDCD EFGF HIJ(I) 1/2 Auction, man 3/4 justifying, thing 5/7 rather, Creator 10/12 bear, Air 14/16 Grace, Price None of the lines seem to possess internal rhyme

6/8 go, Snow

2. Which lines possess internal rhyme? Write the line number and the rhyming words: 3. For all of the rhyming words you noted above, which are masculine?

1/2 Auction, man 5/7 rather, Creator 10/12 bear, Air No.

masculine masculine masculine

3/4 justifying, thing masculine 6/8 go, Snow masculine 14/16 Grace, Price masculine

4. Are any of the rhymes feminine? Which ones? 5. Do you see any examples of slant or half rhyme? Note them here:

1/2 Auction, man

14/16 Grace, Price So what? Why does rhyme matter? Rhyme type and rhyme scheme are clues from the poets about how we should put meaning togetherwhich ideas go together, which ideas are a source of discomfort, and which ideas signify changes from or returns to others

and

Some important patterns and meanings in rhyme . . .

1. When words rhyme with each other, we associate their meanings together. The closer together the lines are to each other, the tighter the relation readers draw between the rhyming words. In contrast, the farther apart the lines are from each other, the looser the relation (though a connection is still formed).
2.

When the final line of a stanza closes with a full end rhyme, we think of it as providing closure to the stanza and completing the thought. It suggests confidence and control in terms of the tone of the poem, and this feels particularly decisive when it occurs at the end of a poem, especially in a rhymed couplet. When the ending line of one stanza rhymes with a line in another stanza, it pulls us forward and links the ideas and stanzas together. This suggests to readers that the content of the two stanzas is closely related or intertwined.

3.

4. When the poet changes the rhyme sounds from one stanza to another, it suggests that the content is distinctly separate, as if it is introducing a new idea or a new phase to the poem. In contrast, when the rhyme sounds of one stanza reappear in a later stanza, it suggests a return to a previous idea or a cyclical nature to the information.
5.

When a poet employs half/slant rhyme, it jars in readers ears and makes them pay attention. Half/Slant rhymes are an attempt to force the ideas into a rhyming formit indicates a loss of control or an inability to match the words with the form. In terms of the tone of a poem, this conveys indecision, helplessness, or

failure. This is especially strong if it occurs at the end of a poem or in a rhymed couplet.
How has the poet deliberately used rhyme to convey meaning in the poem?

In poem 709 by Emily Dickinson, the first stanza seems to employ rhyming couplets, as the first two lines have slant rhyme, and the second two lines have full rhyme. The first slant rhyme, uniting Auction (Dickinson 1) and Man (Dickinson 2), creates a disturbing effect: when these are thought of together, it conveys the idea of slave auctions where people were bought and sold like pieces of property. This is not a fair practice, and it devalues human life. The fact that this is a slant rhyme suggests that the speaker is uncomfortable with this idea, just as the reader is. It is important to note that this poem isnt actually about slavery, for the first couplet states, Publicationis the Auction / Of the Mind of Man (Dickinson 1-2). Publication is the selling of ones writing. The next rhymed couplet links the words justifying (Dickinson 3), and thing (Dickinson 4), but the effect that this creates seems contradictory. For a thing to be justif[ied] it is supported or made right, but the thing it is linked with is described as foul, meaning bad or awful. These lines are back to back, so it communicates the discord in the poem very powerfully, and it seems to affirm the idea that selling ones writing is unfair or wrong, but on a large scale like slavery. After this first stanza, rhymed couplets disappear, and the rhyme in the second stanza alternates. The linking achieved by the rhyme of rather (Dickinson 5) and Creator (Dickinson 7) suggests that God wants something different from the initial discord. The next rhyme links the words go (Dickinson 6) and snow (Dickinson 8). The connection here is a little unclear, as go means to leave or depart, and snow is winter precipitation. Maybe here, snow is linked to the notion of God, since the creator in the poem is described as White (Dickinson 7). Snow is white in appearance. This might mean that we should take what God has given us and leave with itremove it from the disturbing Auction (Dickinson 1) of the first stanza. The second stanza differs from the pattern established in the first, as it does not have couplets, but it does have two sets of rhymes. The third stanza seems to step farther away from the first, as it does not have couplets either, and it only has one set of rhymed lines: bear (Dickinson 10) and Air (Dickinson 12). This also seems to be about what people should do with what God has given us, but it also seems a little contradictory. To bear something is to carry it, but how does one carry Air? This shouldnt be a hard task, but maybe that is what the persona is trying to saydoing what God wants us to do isnt difficult. The last stanza is like the last step away from the first; we only have one set of rhyming words on alternate lines, but this is only a half rhyme: Grace (Dickinson 14) and Price (Dickinson 16). Grace, meaning Gods gifts, should not be assigned a Price or monetary value, so here, the slant rhyme again reinforces the discomfort of the ideas, and it reminds readers of the slant rhyme of the first stanza that associated Auction (Dickinson 1) and Man (Dickinson 2). When people have to live off of the money they gain from selling their writing, it is better to be poor than to compromise their work to earn a buck. Then, the poem gains regularity in the middle, as Dickinson explores what writing can symbolizeif God is the White Creator (Dickinson 7) our snow (Dickinson 8) is the whiteness or innocence He gives us; if humans are the Corporeal illustration (Dickinson 11), or physical embodiment of God, if we sell our thoughts, we are essentially selling The Royal Air (Dickinson 12), or essence of God. Then, in the last stanza, the rhyme dissolves and is forced. The last stanza seems to contain advice for readers: Be the Merchant/ Of the Heavenly Grace (Dickinson 13-14). This tells readers that the only thing they should try to pass on to each other is Heavenly Grace, or Gods love. However, the poems final thought is a warning to not to treat people as commodities: reduce no Human Spirit / To Disgrace of Price (15-16). Gods Grace and a financial Price are opposite or contradictorythe last thing one should try to make a profit off of is kindness or

Gods blessing. The slant rhyme jars in readers ears, and this is intentional so that we see how the two ideas do not work together. The sound reinforces the warning.

A brief introduction to the poet: Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1830. She attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, but severe homesickness led her to return home after one year. Throughout her life, she seldom left her house and visitors were scarce. [. . . . ] By the 1860s, Dickinson lived in almost total physical isolation from the outside world, but actively maintained many correspondences and read widely. She spent a great deal of this time with her family. [. . . . ] Dickinson's poetry reflects her loneliness and the speakers of her poems generally live in a state of want, but her poems are also marked by the intimate recollection of inspirational moments which are decidedly lifegiving and suggest the possibility of happiness. Her work was heavily influenced by the Metaphysical poets of seventeenth-century England, as well as her reading of the Book of Revelation and her upbringing in a Puritan New England town which encouraged a Calvinist, orthodox, and conservative approach to Christianity. [. . . . ] Upon her death [in 1886], Dickinson's family discovered 40 hand-bound volumes of more than 800 of her poems, or "fascicles" as they are sometimes called. These booklets were made by folding and sewing five or six sheets of stationery paper and copying what seem to be final versions of poems in an order that many critics believe to be more than chronological. The handwritten poems show a variety of dash-like marks of various sizes and directions (some are even vertical). The poems were initially unbound and published according to the aesthetics of her many early editors, removing her unusual and varied dashes and replacing them with traditional punctuation. [ . . . ] The original order of the works was not restored until 1981, when Ralph W. Franklin used the physical evidence of the paper itself to restore her order, relying on smudge marks, needle punctures and other clues to reassemble the packets. Since then, many critics have argued for thematic unity in these small collections, believing the ordering of the poems to be more than chronological or convenient.
"Emily Dickinson." Poets.org: Poetry, Poems, Bios, & More. 2008. The Academy of American Poets. 17 Jun 2008 <http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/155>.

Why does Emily Dickinson use the dash? The dash both joins sentences so that they have a boundary in common and resists that joining: it connects and separates. Its traditional use is informal, and it is used often in women's writing. Dashes serve a few purposes as punctuation marks: they may indicate interruption or abrupt shift in thought, they may be used for emphasis, or they may introduce a list, series, or final appositive. In terms of tone, dashes create a note of uncertainty or undecidability. Dashes are fluid and indicate incompletion, a way of being in uncertainty. Dashes mark without cutting off meaning; it is a falling away, an indefinite rather than a definite end to a line. Why did she capitalize so many words? The most commonly held explanation for Dickinsons unconventional capitalization is that it gives the words additional emphasis. It should also be noted that German, a language Dickinson knew, typically capitalizes nouns. Some believe that her use is at times more random than meaningful, since in some instances a word is capitalized in one of Dickinson's handwritten copies of a poem but not in another of her copies. Capitalization should, of course, be considered very carefully if the copies are consistent or if, as is usually the case, the poet has seen the manuscript through to publication.

Campbell, Donna M.. "Common Questions on Emily Dickinson." Donna M. Campbell, Washington State University. 10/30/2006. Washington State University. 17 Jun 2008 <http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/common.html>.