Rhythm

Enjambment

Imagery Theme

Caesura

Rhyme Meter

Technique

Comparison

Poetry Help

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Poetry Help

Rhythm

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Rhythm is used by poets to reflect the mood and emotion in poetry. Typically, a slow rhythm is used for negative moods/emotions and a fast rhythm is used for positive mood/emotions. Writers select words which have certain stresses in certain places. They will select words which have a certain stress pattern – this pattern creates the rhythm in poetry. Below are examples of different rhythms in poetry. A simple rule is that if the first syllable is commonly stressed, the pace is slow (negative). If not stressed, the pace is fast (positive).

iamb – a weak/strong stress pattern (e.g.: On either side the river lie) = fluiditytrochee – a strong/weak stress pattern (e.g. Sunday simmered seeming endless) = slow/staticanapaest – a weak/weak/strong stres s pattern (e.g. ‘Twas the night before Xmas) = anticipationdactyl – a strong/strong/weak pattern (e.g. There’s but to do and die) = gravity/significancespondee – a strong/strong stress pattern (e.g. dead end, dead beat, dead days) = reinforcementamphibrach - a weak/strong/weak pattern (e.g disguising, imagining, believing) = reflective/languid

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Poetry Help

Stress1

Stress at the end of a line is also part of a poem’s rhythm: this is called masculine and feminine endings. A masculine ending is when the last syllable in a line is stressed: this usually creates an emphatic, powerful tone. A feminine ending is when the last syllable line isn’t stressed: this usually creates a lighter tone, suggesting peace, fragility or powerlessness. In the example from ‘The Laboratory’ below (a poem about a woman discovering her partner’s infidelity and planning to kill them both) the poet uses a masculine stress in the first and second lines to emphasise the female narrator’s determination and anger, and feminine endings (removing the stress) to create a lighter tone which may imply a sense of secrecy or the fragility of the narrator: devastated by the betrayal.

He is with her; and they know that I knowWhere they are, what they do: they believe my tears flowWhile they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the drearEmpty church, to pray God in, for them! -- I am here.

The Laboratory

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Poetry Help 1

Rhyme2

Rhyme, is used in poetry to reinforce central messages/themes. It should be noted that rhyme isn’t always used and isn’t always consistent. When used, a consistent rhyme pattern suggests harmony, and an inconsistent rhyme pattern suggests disharmony. When rhyme and non-rhyme are both used, it suggests a tension in the poem: i.e. both harmonious and disharmonious. **Word of caution** if rhyme and rhythm aren’t harmonious also = conflict.

Consistent rhyme = harmony

On either side the river lie,Long fields of barley and of rye,

That clothe the world and the sky,And through the fields the road runs by

Inconsistent rhyme = disharmony

Of all the public places, dearto make a scene, I’ve chosen here.Of all the doorways in the world

to choose to sleep, I’ve chosen yours.

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Poetry Help 12

Meter

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Meter is the number of beats in a line of poetry. Meter is important in terms of how line length can match the themes of a poem. For example, if a poem is about the excitement of youth, the line length would be longer to reflect possibilities. If a poem is about death, the line length would typically be shorter to reflect the sense of time running out. There is a name for the number of feet in a line as shown below.

monometer = one stressdimeter = two stressestrimeter = three stressestetrameter = four stressespentameter = five stressesHexameter = six stresses per line

Remember that meter, like rhythm and rhyme, is used to reinforce the main messages/themes in a poem.

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Poetry Help 123Enjambment

Enjambment is a line with no punctuation at the end. Enjambment is used to create pace in poetry. Pace typically reflects positive emotions such as excitement, hope, joy, exhilaration, obsession, anger etc., therefore enjambment is typically used when the mood/topic of the poem is positive. However, if caesura is used with enjambment, this slows the pace and suggests conflicted feelings/mood/tone.

Beloved sweetheart bastard. Not a day since thenI haven’t wished him dead. Prayed for itso hard I’ve dark green pebbles for eyes,

This is an example of the use of enjambment and caesura to show conflicted feelings (of love and hate)

Grey widows whose beds and meals are made, husbands tidied with the emptied cupboards, live in mortgaged time

This is an example of the use of caesura (punctuation in a line) to slow the pace of the poem, creating a negative mood.

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Poetry Help 123

Caesura

Caesura is punctuation used within a line of poetry or at the end of the line. The point of caesura is to control the pace of the poem in order to reflect themes, moods which naturally have slow/static rhythms: e.g. sadness, loss, grief, death, fear etc. The amount of punctuation used in lines dictates how slow/static the rhythm is.

Grey widows whose beds and meals are made, husbands tidied with the emptied cupboards, live in mortgaged time

This is an example of the use of caesura (punctuation in a line) to slow the pace of the poem, creating a negative mood.

The sunbeam showers break and quiver In the stream that runneth ever By the island in the river

This is an example of enjambment –notice had this creates pace: in this case the excitement of the outside world

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Poetry Help 123 Technique

Techniques are used commonly in poetry for the purpose of reinforcing the emotion, thought or image the poet wants to convey. It is critical that, when referring to a technique used, you analyse the technique effectively. You do this by unpacking the specific words in the technique that carry/reinforce the meaning or image. Below is an example of analysing techniques.

Armitage uses an extended metaphor to highlight the extent of the narrator’s desperation to have their ex in their life. “Coppers, silver and gold”, in terms of their degrees of preciousness, may symbolise the different levels of hope the narrator has for a reconciliation. Therefore, “for coppers I can dance or sing” can be read as a metaphor for the hope of simple recognition; “for silver swallow swords, eat fire” may be a metaphor for the narrator’s willingness to go to extremes to have their ex back in their life, and the most precious metal “gold” is arguably symbolic of the impossible “escape from locks and chains”: starting again.

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Poetry Help 123 Imagery

Although imagery is relatively self-explanatory, (i.e. creating an image), it should be recognised that poets also use imagery to develop the mood, atmosphere and tone in poems. Imagery is created by the use of figurative language (e.g. simile, metaphor, personification, pathetic fallacy). Therefore, when you are analysing imagery, be sure to consider whether the imagery used establishes a certain mood, atmosphere or tone. Below is an example of analysing imagery.

Browning creates an immediate mood of brooding violence through the use of personification wherein reference to “the sullen wind” which “tore the elms down for spite” and “did its worse to the vex the lake” reflects an inner storm within the narrator whose tone is laced with venom. The dynamic verb “tore”, emotive verb “vex” and abstract noun “spite” are all used to create imagery of restless nature –a use of pathetic fallacy to highlight the instability of the speaker.

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Poetry Help 123 Theme

Theme is simply the messages within poetry – both literal and symbolic. It’s important to try to read for obvious and metaphorical meaning as most poetry has both. Put more simply, think of a big circle (obvious meaning) and a number of very small circles (hidden meaning). The essence of analysing poetry is looking for nuances: i.e. very subtle, small messages which deepen analysis.

‘Havisham’, a poem about the bitterness of betrayal, is also, arguably, a study of psychosis in terms of the extent to which the narrator fluctuates within a myriad of emotions – none of which are stable. The oxymoron “beloved sweetheart bastard” immediately establishes the bitter sense of betrayal the narrator feels; however, along side this, reference to a “slewed” mirror introduces a sense of instability – as does the oxymoron “cawing Nooooo”, emotive verb “trembling” and rhetorical question “Who did this to me?”: all examples of psychological disassociation caused by profound grief.

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Poetry Help 123

Comparison

Comparison is a difficult skill for one specific reason: patterns (what’s the same) are obvious but distinctions (what’s different) isn’t. As an image, patterns (what’s the same) are big and distinctions (what’s different) are very small. So you have to look for subtle differences in poems on the same topic. Below are ways to find differences.

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Differences in poetry are often based around certain things:

perceptions of something (i.e. parenthood, growing up, memories)attitudes towards something (i.e. old age, love)descriptions of something (i.e. nature, nigh time)

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Poem 1 – Yew Tree Guest House Poem 2 - The Basement of the Goodwill Store

Dignity in old age – still engaging with the world and maintaining grace.

The indignity and fragility of old age – relying on the discarded items of others to survive.

Maintaining a sense of community within the Guest House and family.

The isolation of old age – the man is both shambolic and profoundly alone.

A non-defeatist attitude to old age in that the women clearly still have sense of purpose and –in no way a passive wait for death.

A cautionary tale - the shift from third to first person perhaps a statement on our insensitivity to the aged (throwing things out in the garbage rather than thinking of others less fortunate) and also a sense that fragility comes to us all.

Loss in terms of how “grey widows” can be read metaphorically as the greyness of grief and the loss of a loved ones.

Helplessness in terms of the extent to which the man appears fragile and helpless – perhaps a comment on the emotional impact of the loneliness of old age and the sense of being disconnected from the world.

An Example of A Comparison Gridw

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