Analyzing Poetry: Dissecting and taking apart poems

I AlliterationAlliteration: The repeating of beginning consonant sounds in a group of words.

-Alliteration refers to the first sound rather than the first letter

-So “city slicker” is an example of alliteration, while

cake city is not.

-Alliteration is common in slogans, cliché’s, and advertising because it emphasizes groups of words.

-It is common in poetry because it adds a musical quality to the work.

II AssonanceAssonance: the repetition of vowel sounds at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.

Examples from literature:

III ConsonanceConsonance: Repetition of consonant sounds anywhere within the word

Examples from literature:

IV FormForm: The structure or shape of a written work. There are many forms of poetry. Some are highly structured and follow specific guidelines about syllables, rhymes, and rhythms. Other forms follow few or no specific rules.

Examples from literature:

V OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia: A word, such as plop, buzz, or snap, whose sound suggests its meaning. Onomatopoeia provides sound effects, and appears most frequently in poetry, advertising, and children’s tales.

WATCH OUT!!! Just because you can imagine it doesn’t make it a sound…

e.g.: Shattering – Thunder –

Examples from literature:

VI ParallelismParallelism: The repetition of words, phrases, or sentence structures. Parallelism adds rhythm and emotional impact to writing. It appears in poetry, speeches, and a variety of other literary forms.

Examples from literature:

VIIRepetitionRepetition: Words or phrases repeated in writings to produce emphasis, rhythm, and/or a sense of urgency.

Examples from literature:

Repetition

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening BY ROBERT FROST

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep

VIII RefrainRefrain: The repetition of word, phrase, line, or lines in a poem, song, or speech at regular intervals. Refrains often appear at the end of stanzas.

Examples from literature:

Refrain

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,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrowFrom my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtainThrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -Darkness there, and nothing more.

Edgar Allan PoeThe Raven

Do Not Weep, Maiden, For War Is Kind  Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.

Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky And the affrighted steed ran on alone, Do not weep. War is kind.

Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment, Little souls who thirst for fight, These men were born to drill and die. The unexplained glory flies above them, Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom -- A field where a thousand corpses lie.

Do not weep, babe, for war is kind. Because your father tumbled in the yellow trenches, Raged at his breast, gulped and died, Do not weep. War is kind.

Swift blazing flag of the regiment, Eagle with crest of red and gold, These men were born to drill and die. Point for them the virtue of slaughter, Make plain to them the excellence of killing And a field where a thousand corpses lie.

Mother whose heart hung humble as a button On the bright splendid shroud of your son, Do not weep. War is kind.

Stephen Crane

IX RhymeRhyme: The repetition of end sounds in words.

a. Perfect rhyme: repeat stressed vowels sounds and the last consonant sound.b. Near rhymes: two words that almost sound alike. (home and bone) or (home and same)c. End rhymes: appear at the end of two or more lines of poetry.d. Internal rhymes: appear within a single line of poetry.e. Rhyme scheme: refers to the pattern of end rhymes in a poem

Examples from literature:

SONNET 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest,

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest.

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

A

B

A

B

C

D

C

D

E

F

E

F

G

G

Give it a try

X RhythmRhythm: The pattern of beats or stresses in language.

The pattern can be a. regular: found in many form poems

- pattern is called meter- creates mood: fast/slow; calm/frenzied

b. random: rhythm in free verse and prose have no patternScholars use symbols to indicate the patterns of rhythm.

(∪) indicates unstressed syllable(/) indicates a stressed beat

Examples from literature:

Meter in Poetry = Number of Syllables

iamb: X / trochee: / X

anapest: X X / dactyl: / X X spondee: / / pyrrhic: X X

Used in Shakespearean Sonnet

monometer: one foot per line dimeter: two feet per line

trimeter: three feet per line tetrameter: four feet per line pentameter: five feet per line hexameter: six feet per line

heptameter: seven feet per line octameter: eight feet per line

terms indicate the number of feet per line

patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables

Used in Shakespearean Sonnet

/ = a stressed syllable X or υ = an unstressed syllable

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

SONNET 18

U / U / U / U / U /

XI StanzaStanza: A division in poetry equivalent to a paragraph in prose. Stanzas in

most poetry forms follow a prescribed pattern of rhyme and rhythm.Free-verse poems follow no rules regarding where to divide stanzas.

Common stanza patterns include:

Examples from literature:List of stanza names

according to number of lines:

2 lines = Couplet 3 lines = Tercet or Triplets

4 lines = Quatrain 5 lines = Cinquain or quintet

6 lines = Sestet 7 lines = Septet 8 lines = Octave

9 lines = Spenserian

More about stanzas…

Term Definition

couplet two line stanza

triplet three line stanza

quatrain four line stanza

quintet five line stanza

sestet six line stanza

septet seven line stanza

octave eight line stanza

nine line stanza nine line stanza

ten line stanza ten line stanza

eleven line stanza eleven line stanza

SONNET 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

A

B

A

B

C

D

C

D

E

F

E

F

G

G

quatrain

quatrain

quatrain

couplet

XIIEnd-stoppedEnd-stopped: the end of a line of poetry that coincides with the end of a

thought. Commas, periods, semicolons, and colons often clue readers that ta line is end-stopped.The reader should pause at an end-stopped line.

Examples from literature:

XIII Run-onRun-on: Lines of poetry that continue forward in sense and punctuation

into the next line. Reading on though run-on lines helps vary the rhythm of a poem.

Examples from literature: