Poetry

Poems are identified as forms of literature and they are most known for having a structure that contains rhyming words, patterns and rhythm. This form of literary piece is a product of a writer’s own imagination, expression of feelings and an extension of thoughts grasped to make worldly sense where literary devices are used and a touch of aesthetic appeal is added to give more emphasis.

It also uses a different literary technique compared to prose and other literary forms as it can either be in a particular rhythmic and metrical pattern or in free verse and makes use of sugar coated words, exaggeration and specifically doesn’t focus on grammar forms.

On the contrary, prose focuses on grammatical structure and makes use of ordinary or natural flow of speech and tends to comprise full sentences or paragraphs. Whereas poetry uses flowery words or figures of speech, prose uses straightforward or direct speech.

“Poets” are people who write poems but poetry is not only for poets, it is for everyone – all of us can be poetic, all of us can be poets and all of us are capable of making poems.

It is the humane part in us that feels emotions and in order to make sense, grasp and strengthen these feelings, we use instruments for self-expression. Poetry is an instrument that serves its purpose with its reliance on the writer’s feelings, thoughts, imagination and desires.

It also is a message that contains moral lessons, life-changing wisdom and advices that readers will be able to relate, understand and learn from.

The functions of poetry are to convey ideas, reflect culture, express emotions and to transfer imagery and words into verse form using figurative language and other elements such as symbolism all of which serves as moral guides for the readers. The use of imagination is important in poetry, not only for the writer but also for the readers.

The functions also lead to the essence of imagination as it is the light that brings vision, imagery and life to the poem and it is the writer’s use of words, sound, diction and rhythm which evokes imaginative sensations to take place for the readers’ perspective which makes them understand the feelings, themes and purpose of the poem.

There are three types of poetry: Narrative Poetry which is the narration of entire stories such as epics, ballads and romance in metered verse and do not necessarily need rhyme, Lyric Poetry which is the formal type that expresses personal feelings or emotions often in first person perspective such as odes, elegies, sonnets and song and lastly Dramatic Poetry which is written in verse but is spoken includes drama, monologue, acting and narration to portray the poem.

Poetry contains elements which is what fully makes it what it is as a literary piece. These elements are building blocks or tools that make a poem complete. The following are the eleven elements and their sub-elements:

Poetic Line is the structural division of verse. These lines are indicated according to patterns of rhyme, meter, rhythm and aesthetic emphases in the poem and can be divided according to feet (smallest metrical unit of measurement in a verse) or meter(feet is what makes up or sequences a meter).

Rhythm is the beat and pace of the poem which is created by stressed and unstressed syllabic patterns that gives more emphasis through long and short, accented and unaccented patterns of syllables. It is analyzed according to the number of lines in a verse and according to both number and arrangement of syllables. This element is also associated with meter since it is composed or created when the writer combines metrical units into a pattern.

Measurement for rhythm or meter in a poem is called scansion. It refers to parts of each line called metric feet. Scansion marks the metrical pattern of a poem by breaking each line of verse up into feet and highlighting the accented and unaccented syllables.

Meter is the unit of rhythm in poetry or the rhythmic structure in the lines of poetry which necessitates the presence of beats or metrical units. It identifies units of stressed and unstressed syllables and is consisted of two components which are the number of syllables and the pattern of emphasis on those syllables.

Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds (or use of words that sound the same), usually at the end of the line (known as end rhymes) in a literary piece. Authors often use rhyme to make lines/verses more memorable and to signal the ends of lines and in the form of rhyme schemes which are patterns such as A-B-A-B and A-B-B-A.

Symbolism is used in poetry as a tool that conveys meanings through the usage of sounds, words, phrases and figures of speech in order to give more emphasis in the poem. It produces impact and additional meaning as it is what helps a poem truly poetic instead of being direct to the point.

Tone in poetry refers to the feeling or attitude of the writer towards the subject matter of the poem or towards the intended audience. It is conveyed through word choice or the perspective on the specific topic.

Mood in poetry refers to the feeling or atmosphere that is described or created by the poet specifically for the readers or audience as it is what the writer expects the readers to feel when reading the poem. This element also comes from the combination of setting, voice, tone and theme.

Imagery in poetry is what evokes imagination to occur when reading the poem. This is a tool that poets/writers use in order to create vivid, vibrant and imaginative sensations for the experience of the readers. It is also used in order to explain and give thorough descriptions about the setting, the characteristics of the surroundings and even the characters.

Theme in poetry is the main idea or intended message of the poem. It may come from the combination of voice, characterization, diction, meter, setting, rhyme, literary devices and sounds.

Diction or Language is the writers’ linguistic choice or expressive style in conveying the story, idea or perspective of the poem. The sentence structure, vocabulary and language structure in poetry is called the poetic diction and it also refers to the specific style and the usage of figures of speech.