In poetry, we don't just break a line wherever we want to, unless we are only writing free verse. Free verse allows us to write in any pattern or structure we would like, but we should know enough to make informed choices about the length of our lines.
Short lines, for example, can make a poem go faster.
Long lines, on the other hand, slow down a poem.
Thus, I can control the speed at which a reader reads my work by adjusting the length of a line.
Sometimes we want to break our poem into stanzas or create a rhythm for our poem (just like in music). Creating patterns based on syllables (beats), a poet can make their poem more musical, allowing it to flow better.
Prose: written language that does not have metrical structure. It is our most common form of writing.
Verse: (literally 'to turn', ex. versus (turn against)) writing that is arranged (crafted) with a metrical rhythm, with careful attention to poetic techniques. A verse "turns" in that it includes a
volta, or turn in thought. Usually, poets "turn" or change direction in thought/content/idea, etc. by the end of a poem.
Prosody: Examining the diction and rhythm of poetry: beat, meter, scansion
Rhythm (also called beat, metrics, versification, etc.) is the comparative speed and loudness in the flow of words spoken in poetic lines.
Words in poetry are selected, not just for content, but also sound or “musicality” of a line. Placement in a line is also important. Taken together, poetry is also about structure and form.
Two classifications of poetry: open forms; closed forms.
A
closed form (traditional poetry), cadence groups form a pattern.
An
open form (free verse, mainly), cadence groups do not form a set pattern.
Poetry in open forms tends to stress
meaning over
versification.
Syllables: individual units of rhythm in a word or line.
Meter: The only tough parts about metrics (meter) is learning to count as you read, and remembering the Latin prefixes for numbers. For your eye, use a virgule or slash (/) to divide the feet in a line. When reading aloud, try counting on your fingers. Extra syllables sometimes crop up, often at ends of lines and sometimes in their interiors, but if the line is basically iabmic, for instance ("da-DUM, da-DUM..." etc.) don't strain too hard with the phonological "lint" that it drags in with it.
Metrical feet:
1-foot = monometer
2-foot = dimeter
3-foot = trimeter
4-foot = tetrameter
5-foot = pentameter (the meter used in sonnets and blank verse lines; very common)
6-foot = hexameter
7-foot = heptameter
8-foot = octameter
9-foot = nonameter
10-foot = decameter
2 Syllable Feet:
Iambic: stress is on the second of two syllable words: ex. reTURN, beCAUSE, atTACK, etc.
Trochee: reverse of the Iambic, stress is on the first of two syllables: MOTHer, SISter, BORing.
Spondee: Both syllables are stressed.
3 Syllable Feet:
Anapest: stress is on the last syllable of a three syllabled word. Ex. Chevro-LET, rockandROLL
Dactyl: stress on first syllable followed by two non stressed. Ex. BU-da-pest, FOR-tu-nate
Caesura: (plural: caesurae) a pause separating cadence groups (however brief) within a line. If the pause is a result of the end of a line pause, then this is end-stopping.
Enjambement (enjambment): If a line has no punctuation at the end and runs over to the next line, it is called run-on or better yet, enjambement (enjambment).
In prosody, you should also examine
Style.
Style of Poems:
Epic: Deals with the history of a heroic character or characters, usually from birth to death
Dramatic: A narrative told using many voices to depict different characters, focusing on conflict
Narrative: A story (short or long), focusing on a person, place, or event
Lyric: A short poem, focusing on an emotion or idea (originally set to the music of a lyre)
Romance: A narrative poem celebrating love, war, and/or religion
Satire: A poem meant to correct immorality and manners through chiding or humor
Along with style, in PROSODY we also examine
FORM
Verse (closed form):
• The Stanza
• Tercet (Terza Rima) – 3 line stanza (terza rima, rhyming aba)
• Quatrain – 4 line stanza
• Quintain – 5 line stanza
• Sestet – 6 line stanza
• Chaucerian – 7 line stanza, rhyming ababbcc
• Ottava Rima –8 line stanza, rhyming abababcc
• Spenserian—8 iambic pentameter lines, followed by a hexameter line, rhyming ababbcbcc
• The Villanelle (Lyric, narrative) (5 tercets rhyming aba, followed by 1 quatrain, abaa)
• The Sestina (Lyric, narrative) (6 sestets & a tercet)
• The Pantoum (Lyric, narrative) (unspecified # of quatrains (abab), beginning and ending with same line)
• The Sonnet (Lyric, dramatic) 14 iambic pentameter lines (3 quatrains and a couplet)
• Petrarchan (abba abba cde cde (or cd cd cd))
• Shakespearean (abab cdcd efef gg)
• Spencerian (abab bcbc cdcd ee)
• The Ballad (Narrative) Quatrain stanzas, rhyming abab or abcb
• The Heroic Couplet (Epic, narrative, dramatic) couplet in iambic pentameter or tetrameter
• Epistle (a “letter” in heroic verse)
• Epigram (an aphorism, usually written in couplets)
• Blank Verse (Epic, narrative, dramatic) unrhymed iambic lines
• Limerick (Narrative) 5 line poem, rhyming aabba – often sexual or ‘rude’ subject matter
• Haiku (Lyric) 3 line poem, fewer than 17 syllables; usually about nature
• Triolet (Lyric) Octave with 2 rhymes; first line repeated, second line repeated as eighth
• The Rondel (Lyric) 13 lines in 3 stanzas with 2 rhymes, first 2 lines form refrain at end of 2 & 3 stanza
Open form:
The Elegy (a poem lamenting the death of a person, people, thing, or about the mutability of life)
The Pastoral (a poem concerning rural life or nature)
The Pastourelle (a poem of dialogue between a man and a woman involving a fight) – Dialogue poem
The Ode (a poem in praise of someone or something)
Epithalamion (a poem celebrating the love between two--or more--people, usually for a wedding)
The Riddle (a metaphorical poem, with the subject being unstated)
Monologue (a poem that expresses a character’s inner thoughts and feelings)
Information about
Rhythm, Meter, and Scansion can be found here. And another one, just in case you need more explanation:
Meter in Poetry and Verse. Read the chapter by Mary Oliver on "The Line", "Some Given Forms", and "Verse that is Free".
LAB:
- Work on writing drafts of your previous written pieces. Cut, revise, edit, shape, improve your work.
- Use imagery & sound devices in your work.
- Revise work for tone, diction, moral, message, theme
- Develop characterization, setting, tone & mood in your drafts
- Choose a poem form from those listed above and write a poem using this pattern
- Repeat any or all of these bullet points as often as possible
HOMEWORK: Read and save your iamb, trochee, spondee, dactyl, anapest example sheets. Read the article "Some Given Forms". Along with the notes on this blog post, take notes on: stanza, spenserian stanza, volta, terza rima, quatrain, tercet, couplet, sonnet, syllabic verse, free verse, enjambment. Come to next class with questions on poetic terms we have covered so far in class this year.
