Handout 4 Elements of Poetry

21st CENTURY LITERATURE IN THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD 1
ELEMENTS OF POETRY
1. FIGURES OF SPEECH
 Simile - a comparison using the words like or as | Ex. (He is like a dog the way he treats her.)
 Metaphor - a comparison that does NOT use “like” or “as” | Ex. (He is a dog the way he treats her.)
 Alliteration - Two or more words that have the same initial sound; repeated sound in the first letters of each
word in the sentence | Ex. (Tiny Tom tipped the tall tree onto the table.)
 Assonance - A partial rhyme which has the same internal vowel sounds amongst different words |
Ex. (His tender heir might bear his memory.)
 Onomatopoeia - formation of a name or word by imitating the sound associated with the thing designated, as
in buzz, hum, cuckoo, slap, splash, bang, etc.
 Repetitions - poets often choose to repeat sounds, words, phrases, or whole lines in a poem. This helps the
poet emphasize an idea or give a certain feeling (think of your favorite song that repeats the same line during
the chorus section) Ex. ("The old man walked down the street, down the street, down the street".
 Hyperbole - A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect | Ex. (Along the margin of
a bay: Ten thousand I saw at a glance,)
 Personification - Giving an animal or object human-like qualities | Ex. (The rough edge on the desk ate away
at his arm as he took the exam)
2. RHYME
 The repetition of sounds within different words, either end sound, middle, or beginning
 poets often choose to repeat sounds, words, phrases, or whole lines in a poem. This helps the poet
emphasize an idea or give a certain feeling (think of your favorite song that repeats the same line during the
chorus section)
3. RHYTHM
 is the poem’s beat; a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables; the flow of words within each meter and
stanza
4. SYMBOL
 Something that represents something else through association, resemblance or convention
 Often poems will convey ideas and thoughts using symbols.
 A symbol can stand for many things at one time and leads the reader out of a systematic and structured
method of looking at things.
 Often a symbol used in the poem will be used to create such an effect.
5. THEME
 This is what the poem is all about.
 The theme of the poem is the central idea that the poet wants to convey.
 It can be a story, or a thought, or a description of something or someone – anything which is what the poem
is all about.
6. STYLE
 The way the poem is written. Freestyle, ballad, haiku, etc.
 Includes length of meters, number of stanzas along with rhyme techniques and rhythm.
7. IMAGERY
 imagery is a vivid and vibrant description that appeals to readers’ senses and imagination.
 Imagery allows the reader to see, touch, taste, smell, and hear what is happening—and in some cases even
empathize with the poet or their subject.
8. CONNOTATION AND DENOTATION

 Connotation - the emotional and imaginative association surrounding a word.
 Denotation - the strict dictionary meaning of a word.
Example: You may live in a house, but we live in a home.
9. METER
 This is the basic structural makeup of the poem. A poem is made up of blocks of lines, which convey a single
strand of thought. Within those blocks, a structure of syllables that follow the rhythm has to be included. This
is the meter or the metrical form of poetry.
PARTS OF A POEM
 Stanzas: a series of lines grouped and separated by an empty line from other stanzas. They are the equivalent
of a paragraph in an essay. One way to identify a stanza is to count the number of lines.
 Verse/Lines: are writing arranged with a metrical rhythm. Lines unit of language into which a poem is
divided
 Refrain: verse that is repeated at intervals throughout a song or poem
couplet (2 lines)
tercet (3 lines)
quatrain (4 lines)
cinquain (5 lines)
sestet (6 lines)
septet (7 lines)
octave (8 lines)
SPEAKER and ADDRESSEE

 All poems have a voice, which can be called a speaker (or in some cases speakers, if more than one person is
speaking the poem).
Who tells the poem? Are there things you can say about the speaker’s personality, point of view, tone, society,
age, cultural position, or gender?
Does the speaker seem to have a particular kind of vocabulary? What kind of vocabulary is it—simple, odd,
familiar, formal, etc?
Does the speaker assume a persona at any point in the poem, and speak as a particular person (e.g., I am
Lazarus, come from the dead . . . I shall tell you all)?
Does the speaker seem attached or detached from what is said? That is, is the speaker somehow distant from
(above) the poem’s subject or action?
What effect do the speaker’s characteristics have on the poem?
 Likewise, all poems have a silent or implied listener/reader, an addressee.

Is it possible to figure out to whom (or what) the poem is addressed? Is there an ideal listener or reader?
Do you feel the speaker is speaking to you? And if so, what makes you think this? Do you like the speaker?
Does the speaker seek anything from the listener/reader (sympathy, support, agreement, etc.

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21st CENTURY LITERATURE IN THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD 1

8. CONNOTATION AND DENOTATION

SPEAKER and ADDRESSEE

 Likewise, all poems have a silent or implied listener/reader, an addressee.

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