ENG2602 E Tutor Notes Poetry

ENG2602 POETRY E-TUTOR NOTES 2017
1. Poetry Introduction Part 1

by C BARRINGTON - 29 Aug 2017 @ 19:16
Hello Everyone!
This week we will be looking at poetry!
Poetry
What is poetry?
When people think of poetry, they tend to think of complicated, dense and difficult works.
The good news is that poetry, while compact and filled with saturated meaning, can
sometimes be easier to understand and analyse than any other type of prose.
This is because, due to the limited space available to poets (other than Epic Poems, such
as The Homeric Poems ~800 BC), traditionally poems tend to have fairly ridged structures
which rely on figures of speech (FoS) (Such as metaphor, and oxymoron) which are
striking to the reader, presenting vivid images, and therefore allowing for greater ‘colour’ or
meaning to be transferred through the language. Other techniques used in poetry
are sound patterns (part of the FoS: onomatopoeia, alliteration and
assonance), verse and meter, rhetorical devices (see the figures of speech file and this
link: https://hhs-english-iv.wikispaces.com/file/view/Rhetorical+Devices.pdf), style and sta
nzas shape and structure.
Clarity:
Figures of Speech versus Rhetorical Devices
A figure of speech not only provides a visual image, but is also alters the meaning of the
words used.
A rhetorical device provides emphasis or seeks to have a specific effect (i.e. to convince
the reader of something), but without altering the meaning of the words used.
They are however, often grouped together as they provide added effect and greater depth
to a text.
Example of a figure of speech:

An extract from Lycidas written by John Milton
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But now my oat proceeds,

And listens to the herald of the sea
That came in Neptune’s plea,
He asked the waves, and asked the felon winds,
What hard mishap hath doomed this gentle swain?
Within this extract is what we call an example of metonymy. Metonymy provides symbolic
meaning by replacing a word or concept with something that is related but not exact. The
word ‘Pen’ may (and has been used) be used in place of the concept of ‘writing’ and ‘the
written word’.
· The first line (“But now my oat proceeds) might make no sense, unless you are
aware of the specific use of the word “oat”. There are (and were in Milton’s era) musical
instruments made from oat straw (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/oat+straw).
Therefore, within Milton’s poem, the use of “oat” is intended to link to the notion of the oat
made instrument, and through that, to the poet/speaker’s ‘song’. The first line, and indeed
the entire extract, now has some coherence with this knowledge:
But now my [song] proceeds,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Example of a rhetorical device:
John Donne addresses death in his Death, be not Proud
Thou ‘art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy ‘or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
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Here a rhetorical question is used (last line: “Why swell’st thou then?”) to reduce the
finality and natural fear of death.
· Rhetorical questions: the act of asking a question when a) you already know the
answer and it is obvious, and/or b) when no answer is expected. Such questions draw
attention to the subject matterin question. However, it may also be used in a patronising
manner, which reduces the subject or object of the question.
Thus, within Death, be not Proud, Donne, having already called Death a “slave” further
reduces Death, who, in his capacity of the ‘harbinger of death’, is the physical
manifestation (representation) of the final fate of every living organism. By reducing Death,
the concept of dying is not as terrifying as it might be.
https://prezi.com/obpgbw9vxhrg/poetry-what-it-iswhat-it-isnt/
https://prezi.com/8k-z8wc8ls34/analyzing-poetry-with-sift/
https://prezi.com/6tucdc99bzxh/poetry/
This next link suggests ways in which to approach a unseen poem in an exam situation.
While the marking rubric is different from the one Unisa uses, it is quite a nice compact
way of approaching such a task:
https://prezi.com/spwazzxlq0wa/igcse-literature-unseen-poetry/
by C BARRINGTON - 3 Sep 2017 @ 9:44
In part one, I provided a basic overview of what a poem is. I also looked at the difference
between rhetoric speech and figures of speech, and included a few links to poems and to
rhetorical speech devices.
This post will deal with the terminology of poetry. Hopefully this will assist in your
understanding of poetry.
1. Meter
a. In language, words are broken up via groupings of sound. These
groupings are called syllables. For example, compare is broken up into two
syllables COM and PARE.
b. Types of meter:
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i. Accentual meter: Each line has equal number of lines

ii. Syllabic meter: An accentual meter, with a specific
NUMBER of stresses.
iii. Accentual-Syllabic meter: A specific number of
stresses in a line, with a specific order of emphasis.
iv. Free Verse: Irregular patterns of stressed and
unstressed syllables within each line.
c. We measure the meter of a poem on the STRESSES or
ACCENT (emphasis) placed on certain syllables. When you have a pair of
stressed and unstressed syllables (com – unstressed; and PARE – stressed)
you have what is called an IAMB. You might recognise this word, or at lease
associate it with the term IAMBIC.
d. A meter is the measure of the ‘iambic’. The most famous meter found
within poetry is theiambic pentameter.
i. Pentameter = this word broken down to its prefix:
Pent, which is Greek for ‘five’. This means that there are five pairs of
IAMB within a line of a poem. The stresses within this form of Meter
are found after the unstressed syllable.
ii. To the ear, such stresses ask that the reader of the
poem give weight to and emphasise certain syllables, while
speaking/reading the unstressed syllables lightly.
iii. See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=I5lsuyUNu_4
2. Rhythm
a. Rhythm may be used in poetry to provide an additional layer of
meaning.
i. Punctuation, including commas, periods, exclamation
marks and question marks, as well as the length and grouping of of
the vowels and the consonants, all work in tandem to produce a pace
which becomes the rhythm of a work.
b. The meter and rhythm often work together. In the last video, you might
have noticed that the creator of the video focused on the ‘beat’ of the
syllables, those stressed and unstressed. This is part of what forms the
rhythm, along with punctuation.
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3. Rhyme Scheme.
a. Rhyming occurs when words that sound the same appear within a
text. Although found within lines, the most popular (or perhaps most obvious)
rhymes are located at the end of the lines within poetry.
b. Because poetry is so structured, rhyming schemes actually have to
potential to define the type of poem. For example, a Petrarchan sonnet is a
14 line poem, with a specific rhyme scheme and syllable structure:
i. ababcdcd-efefgg rhyme scheme, with 10
syllables per line.
Sonnet
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
Ye ladies, walking past me piteous-eyed,

Who is the lady that lies prostrate here?
Can this be even she my heart holds dear?
Nay, if it be so, speak, and nothing hide.
Her very aspect seems itself beside,
And all her features of such altered cheer
That to my thinking they do not appear
Hers who makes others seem beatified.
‘If thou forget to know our lady thus,

Whom grief o'ercomes, we wonder in no wise,
For also the same thing befalleth us,
Yet if thou watch the movement of her eyes,
Of her thou shalt be straightaway conscious.
O weep no more; thou art all wan with sighs.
(Trans. D.G. Rossetti)
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c. See Rhyme Scheme video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=blCNBW1r_5s&spfreload=10
For both rhyme and meter:
https://poemshape.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/what-is-shakespearean-spenserian-amp-
petrarchan-sonnets/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPkURJhd24c
Prezi:
https://prezi.com/rndbj0l2dleg/meter-in-poetry/
https://prezi.com/cvfwf6jsyu5j/poetry-meter-and-rhyme/
https://prezi.com/fltvk3ui5yzr/verse-meter-and-rhyme/
Analysing a poem
Please find the poem in question under Additional Resources: Adrienne Rich_Aunt
Jennifer's Tigers.pdf
A few key elements go into reading a poem in preparation for analysis:
Before you read the poem:
 Always number your lines.
 See if you can find a rhyming pattern (compare the last word of each line to the
others, labeling alphabetically as you go).
 Look for any figurative language (FoS) highlight/circle/underline and indicate what
type of FoS it is. Find the symbolic meaning of the FoS only when you read the
poem.
 Any images or words which are repeated.
 Any words which you can link to main ideas or themes.
 Any words/phrases which have strong connotative value.
Now read the poem. Look for more of the above, but also begin to explain the significance
of all the FoS which you have found. Can you link them to ideas and themes in the poem,
and even to other FoS?
Once you have read the poem once, quickly write down your impressions of the poem:
What is it about? Who is speaking (if possible to know)? Why is the poem important?
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Read through the poem a few times, each time attempting to expand on what you have
found and find elements which you might have skipped over.
Your poem should look like the .pdf after the first or second reading, after the third or
fourth there should be even more detail.
Poetic Language.
Additional information to work through with the study guide:

Poetic Language.
Because poetry is often written in brief flashes of prose, the language used must, in the
least amount of words convey literal and figurative meaning. To do this, the language used
must be powerful enough to appeal to the reader’s visual, tactile, auditory, gustatory and
olfactory senses.
As mentioned before, the diction (those chosen words be they formal, informal, casual,
slang) and the rhyming pattern will influence the reading of the text. Yet, these are not the
only elements which will have an impact on the poem and on the reading of the poem.
Tropes:
Your study guide mentions the notion of tropes, which is the metaphorical or
figurative use of words. When one uses language to twist and weave patterns of
understanding and comprehension, this is what is used: tropes.
Such tropes are:
Ambiguity Allusion Analogy
Circumlocution Hyperbole Irony
Litotes Metaphor Metonymy
Oxymoron Parody Personification
Pun Rhetorical Question Satire
Simile Synecdoche Understatement
Tropes, such as the examples above, therefore, change the meaning of expressions or
words.
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It is important to recognise tropes when they are present, to understand what the figure of
speech is and how and why it has been used. There are many more types of tropes,
however those in bold are those of common occurrence within poetry.
Examine your study guide and toolkit for more examples (another list can be found
here: https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/tropes.html)
Schemes:
If you look back to the previous poetry tutorials, you will notice that I have often stated that
to build understanding you need to connect similar words or thoughts which may occur
throughout the poem.
A scheme is the repletion of a word, phrase or idea which has been repeated throughout
the poem. This adds emphasis to those words, phrases or ideas, which are presented
within similar, differing or problematic contextual changes throughout the poem. How the
word, phrase or idea has been chosen to be repeated will indicate those connections and
connotations which the poet asks you to make.
Examples of Schemes are:
Alliteration Anaphora Antithesis
Chiasmus Ellipsis Hyperbaton
Parallelism Parentheses Repetition
Tsmesis
Once again, you need to be able to recognise the used schemes within a particular work,
label them, define them and then explain how and why those particular scheme have been
used.
Look at your study guide and toolkit for definitions and if you feel it necessary look up the
term scheme online.
In topic two I asked that you read the poem aloud to yourself. The reason was so that you
could fully grasp the rhythm of the poem, its beat and sound, which are made by the
emphasis placed on the sounds and syllables of words.
In this section, the study guide asks that you consider such sounds and rhythm when
analysing a poem. Activity 17 and 18 in particular break down the beginnings of that audio
process of which poetry holds such a strong grasp.
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Sound and rhythm:

The purpose for reading out aloud with the CD and re-reading the poems is to train your
ear. Poetry is one craft which, with time and practice, a writer and reader may improve.
This is because, due to the verbal nature of poetry, to understand, one must know how to
read the poems aloud.
There has been mention before of the term meter. Meter is the term used to identify how
the words are cut into syllables and which syllables are to be stressed and at what kind of
tempo (or speed). It is the verbal movement of the poem. If you think visually, poetry is not
a stagnant piece of writing. It has a space and a time and a melody which makes it move
and flow with the sound of voices.
For more on the term meter (which includes timing such as Iambi pentameter):
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/570/03/
The poetic Subject
The poetic subject:

Put another way, what is the subject matter or the poem?
Section two of the Study Guide explains how one needs to examine not only the singular
line of a poem, but then relate that line to other lines. This idea of connectivity was also
touched upon within topic one of this tutorial unit.
The study guide makes reference to the word “context” (p. 36), which asks that you
attempt to link the words, lines, stanzas together to determine what the poem is actually
about.
Remember that the guide also makes the distinction between the “poetic subject” (the
topic) and the “grammatical subject” (the agent of the action).
At the same time, you must be aware that the poem's theme and its subject matter are
also two distinct notions.
· Theme: would be the main point or idea which the poet is attempting to
make.
o Examples: love, death, hate, greed, pride, liberty, autonomy.
· Subject: the topic by which the poem express the themes.
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Therefore, for example, in a Dylan Thomas poem Do not go gentle into that good night :
(http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night)
· Theme: Mortality and defiance. The poem expresses a wish to fight against
mortality, to defy even at the brink, death. It is about a love of life and a need of life to
continue.
· Subject: Death. The poem uses the subject matter of the dying father a platform for
the speaker to rail against death.
Explore the title:

Activity 1 asks that you consider the title when attempting to ascertain the subject of the
poem. Titles can confirm, challenge or seek to confuse. Some are playful others accurate,
but all are important as they provide a first impression of the work which must then be in
some way met through the text itself.
Read the poem more than once:

Activity 2 asks that you read the poems more than once. Try searching Youtube for
recordings of the poems you have been asked to analyse. The reason for this is two part.
· It can be easier for individuals to sometimes listen than read a poem. For those who
are more audio inclined, understanding will come faster.
· Poems are meant to be read aloud. There is tone and texture which can be lost
when reading silently. The pace and the rhythm of poetry, which often has a strong impact
on understanding, will almost always be found in the speaking or reading aloud of the
poems.
Thus, do not just read the poems more than once, read them aloud, with the CD there to
pace you. It takes time and practice to figure out what words should be emphasised and
which should be softly spoken, glossed over. You will find that when your interpretation of
a poem is different, the chosen words which are emphasised are also different.
Once again, in your study guide there is a note about the term ‘poet’ and ‘speaker’.
 I mentioned the term ‘poet’ within topic one and have used the term constantly
when discussing the author of a poem.
 The term speaker I have only used once so far and that has been in relation to
the Dylan Thomas poem above. Note how I say that the subject matter provides a
platform from which the speaker is able to comment.
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 Just because the poet wrote the poem, it does not automatically mean that it is
his or her voice which is meant to be heard when reading said poem. Thus, there is
always that distinction between the terms.
Sentence by sentence:
Poems are often structured in a very specific manner. Where words are placed, the
particular verbal stress placed on vowels and consonants, on syllables of words, how often
a word is repeated and where the repletion is placed, what figures of speech are present
and where and in what language.
Not only this, but poems are often broken up into stanzas and then lines. A poem of 24
lines could have 5 stanzas, two of which are made up of only two lines each. The grouping
of each stanza is important because each might consider a particular idea or at least a
particular aspect of such an idea.
You need to break the poem down line by line and word by word.
The study guide indicates a need to seek out verb’s which are used in each line.
· This is because it is the verbs (and adjectives) which give meaning to the nouns and
to the poems itself. These are the words which will help define the poems expression and
power.
o A very good article to read regarding the importance of verbs and
adjectives in poetry is an article by A. H. R. Fairchild titledThe Verb and the
Adjective in Poetry. http://www.jstor.org/stable/801577?seq=3
Mentioned earlier was the term was the grammatical subject.
· Once you have looked for verbs and adjectives you must then be able to find the
grammatical subject.
o The agent of the action performed by a verb (p. 37)
o You need to consider what that verb is acting on:
the clouds sweep through the mountains, / drowning their peaks with un-
spilled water
o Given the verbs presented and the grammatical subjects on which these
verbs are acted upon, what does the sentence mean? What is the literal
meaning and what is the symbolic meaning?
These two lines describe an mountain range. Not only that, but
there is a focus on the peak of the mountain, which is covered by
clouds. There is a sense of movement within the poem through the
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verbs "sweep", "drowning" amd "un-spilled" which suggests a

buildup of clouds at the mountains peak.
o Also then begin linking the verbs and the nouns and the adjectives.
Clouds which drown the mountains, specifically the peaks. Is this an image
of mist or fog? Is the cloud heavy (the “un-spilled water” indicates heavy and
threatening)? How tall are these mountains considering how cloud cover
could “sweep” over them? Note also the term “peak” which would suggest
quite high. Yet, these are only two lines of a ‘poem’ (the line split is indicated
with the forward slash: “/”) and therefore the actual subject of the poem, as
well as the poems themes are unknown as the clouds, mountains and rain
may be a metaphor for something else.
Examine Form and Augment:

I briefly wrote on the poetic structure throughout both posts. This ‘step’ within the study
guide mentions poetic structure as well and suggests that the form of a poem, how
structures in rhyming scheme, in meter and in line structure can and will provide certain
contextual clues as to what the meaning of the poem is.
For example, there are certain expectations which arise by the fact that the poem's
structure is a sonnet. Going farther, there are conventions of a Petrarchan sonnet which
differ from a Shakespearean sonnet, both in structure and in subject and theme.
Within poetry, much as within any other form of literature, when the poem was written is
as important as the poems actual setting.
A perfect example of structure is Lady Mary Wroth's A Crown of Sonnets Dedicated to
Love (http://allpoetry.com/A-Crown-of-Sonnets-Dedicated-to-Love).
 This group of sonnets is a small work taken from a much broader work which
will not be mentioned here.
 There are 14 sonnets within the work, with the last line of a sonnet, the first
line of the next sonnet, and, within the 14th sonnet’s last line, a repeat of the
1st sonnet’s first line.
 Each sonnet is a part of a bigger weave and has its own particular topic, which
links to the next and which eventually comes full circle to the beginning once more.
 Often this grouping of sonnets is called the “labyrinth”, not just because that
particular metaphor and topic are embedded within the poem, but because the
poem itself is very much like a labyrinth.
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 There are of course many many more structural elements of the poem (its
rhythm, meter…) which will add to the meaning and complexity of the text.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diction and Mood:
What words are used, how they are used? Is there a focus of light imagery as opposed to
darker imagery? If so, what themes are linked with these images? Is the poem a pastoral
one, whose focus is on the idyllic rural life and its rustic yet charming landscapes? Does
the poem focus on gleaming streams of clean water or the muddy stale dregs of the city?
This is diction.
All of this adds to the tone. A sombre and dark poem will have heavy and hard words and
syllables, where as a light happy poem will most likely be the opposite.
Go through each activity from 01-07 very carefully. These activities will give you the basic
understanding of what it means to read a poem.
When writing an essay on poetry, it is possible to only use the poem and the study
guide (and if needed a dictionary). If you follow the steps laid out for you in the
study guide (break down the poem, what kind of poem is it? What are the expected
conventions? Does the poem meet those criteria? How? Why? Language? Lines?
Stanza Structure? Structure of entire poem? Verbs? Adjectives? Grammatical
Nouns? Mood? Theme? Subject? Title? And on and on and on) you will have more
than enough information for the poetry section.
Using the internet for quick finds on poem analysis will not help in this case.
Titles.
A quick note on the term ‘Poet’: Within literature, there are various categories, as you have
seen so far. Each category has a particular label. So too are those who write within those
categories sometimes provided titles.
· Within prose, all fiction and non-fiction works are written by authors.
· Within drama, works are written by playwrights or dramatists.
· As above, poems are written by poets.
· Newspapers and magazines are written by journalists and bloggers.
This distinction, while subtle, assists in defining and allocating a particular type of work to a
particular type of writer.
How to help you identify oxymoron/antithesis and paradox
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Re: Z - Questions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWvpySr7_cY
https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-the-difference-between-an-oxymoron-antithesis-
irony-and-paradox-how-can-
Poetry Mock Essay

Just remember that poetry can be complex, but it can also be simple. Sometimes, what is
written has no deeper meaning than what is there. Focus on identifying and explaining
figures of speech where you can, and then linking them back to the significance of the
poems themes. Remember to READ the poem carefully.
SONNET 73
That time of year thou may'st in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day,
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by-and-by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed whereon it must expire
Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 73 contemplates the onset of old age and the coming of
death. Using images such as the changing of the seasons and the coming of the night,
Shakespeare considers a darker and more sombre representation of death. The poem
itself seems to be an attempt to prepare for death and its allusions to nature especially
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appears to be an attempt to mollify the poet/speaker and audience about death. Yet, at the
same time, the poem does not actually contemplate death from the perspective of the
dying. Overall, the poem considers the relationship between death and love and does so
for an observer of death. The poem indicates that death is natural, as natural as the
seasons, as day and night and that it is not something which should be feared, even
though it should be taken seriously.
He begins the poem with the notion of time and specifically “that time of the year” (l. 1),
which, with the presentation of the “yellow leaves” and bare trees (l. 2) become a
metaphor for the approaching death. Winter is often considered the season which is
associated with death, and the autumn, here late autumn, is the season which prepares for
death. Trees lose their leaves, plants die and animals hibernate. The images Shakespeare
present are not those of comfort and there is a quite tone of acceptance of mortality which
is embedded within the poem. He uses words which often have negative associations,
which is especially important given the poems content.
The winter Shakespeare depicts within the poem is especially brutal and barren of life,
with “boughs” that “shake against the cold” and “bare ruined choirs, where … bids sing” (l.
2-3). Here, the leafless trees are stripped of their protection and they shiver and shake
against the cold. This suggests that the cold seeps into everything, and that a tree,
naturally strong and protected by the elements is not strong enough. Here, nature is
threatened by nature and, as such, the threat of impending death is absolute. The
inclusion of the “ruined choirs” (l. 3) suggests the ruination of a location where birds once
might have sung their songs in summer and spring. Of course, the inclusion of “sweet” (l.
3) is suggestive of a reminiscing of better days and includes a wistful tone into the sombre
tone of the poem.
The association of the choir is also a youthful image and is juxtaposed by the word
“ruined” (l. 3) equals ruin, and it suggests that youth, with its evidence of life presented
through noise – song – is gone from the world, and all that is left are broken structures.
Ruins are also suggestive in the theme of nature. As manmade structures and those that
built them fade, nature creeps up and begins dismantling the buildings through sand, rain,
sun and the other natural elements. This natural decomposition of moments past is
superimposed on the image of the birds of summer and spring having retreated from the
path of the oncoming winter, which within the context of the poem is representational of
death.
The poet/speaker moves on from the seasons to another cyclical aspect of nature, day
and night. Both are metaphors comparing the poet/speaker to their respective ends.
Nevertheless, the change of subject matter is most important because, unlike the seasonal
images of the previous four lines, the day/night image becomes linked to the poet/speaker
himself. Similar to the seasonal aspect of the poem, there is no real mention of the day (as
there is no real mention of spring and summer) and the poet/speaker is situated in the
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“twilight of such day” while the “sunset fadeth” (l. 5-6). This once more presents the theme
of time. However, this notion of time, throughout the poem has suggested a lack of time,
rather than a suggestion that there is time. The fading of the sun and the mention of
“twilight” (l. 5) are indications that the poet/speaker is not just watching a day draw to an
end, but that he is watching, or at least aware of his own metaphorical day coming to an
end. This awareness of his mortality is continued in the later lines of the poem where,
having now admitted that the end of the cyclical nature images are “in me” (l. 5), rather
than just observations of the changing seasons and days, becomes more of an internal
confession soliloquy than anything else.
As before, with the harsh image of the “cold” (l. 3), the image of “black” (l.7) becomes the
threat. Both the cold and the black are suggestive of a deeper terror which all mortals face,
the end of existence. The images presented within the poem and within humanities own
fear of death is potentially summed up by these two words which Shakespeare has chosen
to use. Despite the poet/speakers attempt at consoling while facing reality, death is always
depicted as a threat within the poem. It is a danger which cannot be overcome and
therefore, the poet/speaker’s only choice is to reluctantly accept it. This reluctance and the
threat which death is seen by the way in which the “night” is takes away (l. 7). The
poet/speaker is a passive observer while death, through the images of the “black night”
(l.7) becomes the active participant within the poem. As the night, the natural day comes to
an end and night becomes, so too does the poem reinforce the notion of taken, through
line 8, in which “Death’s second self” “seals up all in rest” (l. 8). Here, death takes what life
is left, just as the “black night” takes the day. The poem then uses its first set of repetition
in line 9. “In me”, the poet/speaker recalls.
This repetition of the “in me” from line 5 now reinforces the idea that the poem is about an
individual at the beginning of the end of his life. The “in” of the phrase, is indicative of the
level of personal struggle. This is an internal battle with the poet/speakers very notion
of being or existing, and, at the end, of existing no more. Another image of nature, of fire,
now begins to be associate to the complex ideas of life and death. The “glowing of such
fire” (l. 9) which the poet/speaker has within him is also once more juxtaposed by the
images of death which have come before, of the cold and the black. The natural inclination
to associate life with warmth is used within the poem on multiple levels. The introduction of
fire is meant to bring forth connotations of not only warmth and life but also light. Death,
within the poem is dark, and therefore, life its polar opposite must be light.
Still, even the presentation of life through the image of “fire” (l. 9) is brief and suggests that
even though the poet/speaker sees life within himself, in that he “see’st the glowing of
such fire”, and wishes for more because he is not finished yet. Despite this last implication
of resistance towards death, the next line suggests that this metaphor of life to fire is built
on “the ashes of his youth”. Once more, the notion of a youthful image is eradicated. Like
the image of the ruin, here youth is burned up by the very flame from which it came and all
Page 16
that is left of the poet/speakers life is the “ashes” of his past. Such a metaphor clears the
path of all resistance and what is left is weary acceptance on the poet/speakers behalf. As
such, the fire will only burn as long as there is fuel and the fuel of the poet/speaker is
nearly out. Old age then is representative of the dying fire. This transformation from the fire
to an old man is more clearly described in the last two lines (l. 11-2) of the third quatrain.
Here, the image of the “death-bed”, which is closely linked to that of the elderly dying
becomes the summary of the burnt out fire of lines 9 and 10, “whereon it must expire,
/consumed with that which it was nourish’d by” (l. 11-2).
In the last couplet of the poem, which following the structural rules of a sonnets
construction is a rhyming couplet, the poem draws to a conclusion. However, this
conclusion actually changes the entire tone of the poem. Where before, lines 13 and 14
contemplated the coming of death and negotiated the impeding event with a sombre yet
fearful tone, the last two lines suggest a more distant observational point of view or even a
more drastic change to a response of a loved one watching someone die. The personal
meditations of the poet speaker who repeated the phrase “In me” (l. 5 & 9) as if, in him are
the stirrings of death changes to “thou”, and is suggestive of the poet/speaker interacting
with another individual. The theme of death then becomes problematized and closely tied
to the abruptly inserted theme of love. The poet/speaker says “this thou perciv’st, which
makes thy love more strong” (l. 13). As throughout the poem, life has been the opposite of
death, so here within the last two lines, love becomes the point of opposition to death. No
longer is the poem about how one deals with their own death, but the death of a loved one,
and the poem ends with the statement that “to love that well, which thou must leave ere
long” (l.14) “makes thy love more strong” (l. 13). It suggests that, despite death being
natural, inevitable and unpleasant, that capacity for people to love despite the knowledge
of death, not of oneself, but of the loved one, people are stronger than even their inevitable
fate.
Given the nature metaphors which have been presented within the text, that of the
seasons of autumn and winter, the emergence of twilight and the night and the burnt up
fire, the poem takes great care in discussing the inevitability of death. Despite the negative
reflections from which the poem has (re)presented death, the rhyming couplet twists the
poem’s meaning from embittered resignation to a declaration of strength. It does so
through the presence of the notion love and through this love, the notion of death becomes
less a battle for existence than an acknowledgment of relationships.
Re: Poetry Mock Essay
by C CROUS - 3 Oct 2017 @ 19:28
I would love to comment on the last 7 lines. Sometimes I get this wild imaginative train of
thought. The 'fire' mentioned in line 11 can relate to the theme of death in the poem, as a
fire also 'consumes' life. The 'ashes' mentioned in the poem may be the poet reminiscing
Page 17
on his passed youth (now only ash). The fire within may also relate to a 'burning' desire to
live even though it won't last. The speaker is aware of the fact that this fire will burn out or
'expire' as the speaker maintains that 'it must' be so. A fire requires oxygen to burn as
does life, but the fuel that keeps our fire will eventually burn out, as recognised by the
speaker. The poet may mean to say that we are also 'consumed' by this life and turned to
'ash' which could be in the literal sense as in the case of cremation or in the figurative
sense as the end of our life. The fact that death is drawing near is 'percievest' or perceived
and that 'love' will strengthen, may emphasise the importance of love above the power of
'death' and that we should love until the day we 'leave' or depart from this world.
Page 18

by C BARRINGTON - 29 Aug 2017 @ 19:16
Hello Everyone!
This week we will be looking at poetry!
Poetry
What is poetry?
When people think of poetry, they tend to think of complicated, dense and difficult works.
The good news is that poetry, while compact and filled with saturated meaning, can
sometimes be easier to understand and analyse than any other type of prose.
This is because, due to the limited space available to poets (other than Epic Poems, such
as The Homeric Poems ~800 BC), traditionally poems tend to have fairly ridged structures
which rely on figures of speech (FoS) (Such as metaphor, and oxymoron) which are
striking to the reader, presenting vivid images, and therefore allowing for greater ‘colour’ or
meaning to be transferred through the language. Other techniques used in poetry are
sound patterns (part of the FoS: onomatopoeia, alliteration and assonance), verse and
meter, rhetorical devices (see the figures of speech file and this link:https://hhs-english-
iv.wikispaces.com/file/view/Rhetorical+Devices.pdf ), style and stanzas shape and
structure.
Clarity:
Figures of Speech versus Rhetorical Devices
A figure of speech not only provides a visual image, but is also alters the meaning of the
words used.
A rhetorical device provides emphasis or seeks to have a specific effect (i.e. to convince
the reader of something), but without altering the meaning of the words used.
They are however, often grouped together as they provide added effect and greater depth
to a text.
Example of a figure of speech:

An extract from Lycidas written by John Milton
But now my oat proceeds,
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Within this extract is what we call an example of metonymy. Metonymy provides symbolic
meaning by replacing a word or concept with something that is related but not exact. The
word ‘Pen’ may (and has been used) be used in place of the concept of ‘writing’ and ‘the
written word’.
·The first line (“But now my oat proceeds) might make no sense, unless you are aware of
the specific use of the word “oat”. There are (and were in Milton’s era) musical instruments
made from oat straw (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/oat+straw).
Therefore, within Milton’s poem, the use of “oat” is intended to link to the notion of the oat
made instrument, and through that, to the poet/speaker’s ‘song’. The first line, and indeed
the entire extract, now has some coherence with this knowledge:
But now my [song] proceeds,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Example of a rhetorical device:
John Donne addresses death in his Death, be not Proud
Thou ‘art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy ‘or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
Here a rhetorical question is used (last line: “Why swell’st thou then?”) to reduce the
finality and natural fear of death.
·Rhetorical questions: the act of asking a question when a) you already know the answer
and it is obvious, and/or b) when no answer is expected. Such questions draw attention to
Page 20
the subject matter in question. However, it may also be used in a patronising manner,
which reduces the subject or object of the question.
Thus, within Death, be not Proud, Donne, having already called Death a “slave” further
reduces Death, who, in his capacity of the ‘harbinger of death’, is the physical
manifestation (representation) of the final fate of every living organism. By reducing Death,
the concept of dying is not as terrifying as it might be.
https://prezi.com/obpgbw9vxhrg/poetry-what-it-iswhat-it-isnt/
https://prezi.com/8k-z8wc8ls34/analyzing-poetry-with-sift/
https://prezi.com/6tucdc99bzxh/poetry/
This next link suggests ways in which to approach a unseen poem in an exam situation.
While the marking rubric is different from the one Unisa uses, it is quite a nice compact
way of approaching such a task:
https://prezi.com/spwazzxlq0wa/igcse-literature-unseen-poetry/
Taken from Whatsupp group
Put another way, what is the subject of the poem, or what is the poem about?
Section two of the Study Guide explains how one needs to examine not only each singular
line of a poem, but then relate each line to other lines in the poem. This idea of
connectivity was also touched upon within topic one of this tutorial unit.
attempt to link the words, lines and stanzas together to determine what a poem is actually
about.
topic) and the “grammatical subject” (words, phrases, and clauses that perform the action
of or act upon the verb in a sentence).
At the same time, you must never forget that a poem’s theme and its subject matter are
also two distinct concepts. The theme would be the central point or main idea which the
poet is attempting to make. Examples of themes in poetry include: love, death, hate,
greed, pride, liberty, autonomy.
The Subject, on the other hand, is the topic through which the poem expresses its themes.
Practically, this is best expressed through an example. Take Keats’ famous Ode to a
Nightingale: (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173744)
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• Themes: Mortality and creative expression. The poem contrasts the inevitable cycle of
aging and death with the seemingly immortal song of the nightingale, which acts as an
inspiration to the speaker.
• Subject: A nightingale singing. The poem uses the subject matter of the nightingale
singing in the trees as a platform for the speaker to complain about the transience of life.
So how do we identify the poetic subject?
Explore the title:
Activity 1 asks that you consider the title when attempting to determine the subject of the
poem.
Titles can confirm, challenge or seek to confuse the reader. Some are playful, others are
accurate, but all are important, as they provide a first impression of the poem which must
then be in some way be fulfilled through the text itself.
Activity 2 asks that you read the poems more than once. I will go a step further. Within
your packs from Unisa is a CD with audio recordings of the poems for this course on it.
The reason for this is twofold.
• It can be easier for individuals to sometimes listen to a poem and then read it, which will
accelerate understanding for those more audio-inclined individuals.
• Poems are meant to be read aloud. There is tone and texture which can be lost when
reading silently. The pace and the rhythm of poetry, which often has a strong impact on
understanding, will almost always be found in the speaking or reading aloud of poems.
pace you.
It takes time and practice to figure out what words should be emphasised and which
should be softly spoken or glossed over. You will find that when your interpretation of a
poem is different, the chosen words which are emphasised are also different.
Once again, in your study guide there is a note about the terms ‘poet’ and ‘speaker’.
• A poet is the author of a poem, the person who actually wrote the poem.
• The speaker is the “main character” in a poem, the person actually relating the poem to
the
reader.
• Just because the poet wrote the poem, it does not automatically mean that it is his or her
voice which is meant to be heard when reading said poem. Thus, there is always that
distinction between the terms.
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Study the poem sentence by sentence:
and where and in what language are all elements of poetry that are carefully planned by
the poet and, thus, have great significance in understanding and interpreting the poem.
You need to break the poem down, stanza by stanza, line by line and word by word.
The study guide indicates a need to seek out verbs which are used in each line. This is
because it is the verbs (and adjectives) which give meaning to the nouns and to the poem
itself. These are the words which will help define the poem’s expression and power.
I came across a very good article about the importance of verbs and adjectives in poetry
by A. H. R. Fairchild, entitled The Verb and the Adjective in Poetry. You can find the article
through this link: http://www.jstor.org/stable/801577?seq=3
Earlier, I mentioned the grammatical subject. Once you have looked for verbs and
adjectives you must then be able to find the grammatical subject in every sentence or line
of the poem.
The grammatical subject is:
• The agent of the action performed by a verb (p. 37)
• You need to consider what that verb is acting on to identify the grammatical subject:
Here,
where men sit and hear each other groan; / Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray
hairs,
• Given the verbs presented and the grammatical subjects on which these verbs are
acting,
what does the sentence mean? What is the literal meaning and what is the symbolic
meaning?
• Once you understand the action of the verbs, begin linking the verbs, the nouns and the
adjectives. Men sitting and listening to each other groan. Are they old, ill or in pain (the
palsy
shaking gray hairs would indicate that they are old)? Why are they sitting, listening to each
other groan? Not the adjective “sad”, which might well indicate that they have given up in
their old age. Remember, though, that these are only two lines of a ‘poem’ (the line split is
Page 23
indicated with the forward slash: “/”) and therefore the actual subject of the poem, as well
as the poem’s themes are unknown, as the men and the hairs might well be metaphors for
something else.
Examine Form and Argument:
I have briefly written about the poetic structure previously. This ‘step’ within the study
guide mentions poetic structure as well and suggests that the form of a poem; how
structures in rhyme scheme, in meter and in line structure, can and will provide certain
For example, there are certain expectations which arise by the fact that the poem’s
Within poetry, much as within any other form of literature, when the poem was written is as
important as the poem’s actual setting, bringing us back to context. In this way, hopefully,
you begin to see how every type of analysis is connected, in a broad sense.
Diction and Mood:
What words are used, how they are used? Is there a focus on light imagery or darker
imagery in the poem you are analysing? If so, what themes are linked with these images?
Is the poem a pastoral one, whose focus is on the perfect rural life and its rustic yet
charming landscapes? Does the poem focus on gleaming streams of clean water or the
muddy stale runoff of the city?
This is diction.
This sort of word choice adds to and helps to shape the tone of a poem and the other way
around. A sombre and dark poem will have heavy and hard words and syllables, whereas
a light, happy poem will most likely be the opposite.
When writing an essay on poetry, it is possible that you use only the poem, your toolkit (for
figurative language and other terminology) and the study guide (and if needed a
dictionary). If you follow the steps laid out for you in the study guide (break down the
poem, what kind of poem is it? What are the expected conventions? Does the poem meet
those criteria? How? Why? How is language used? How many lines does it have? What is
the stanza Structure? The structure of entire poem? Verbs? Adjectives? Grammatical
Nouns? Mood? Theme? Subject? Title? And on and on and on) you will have more than
enough information for the poetry section.
Don’t rely on the internet to find one-stop analyses of specific poems, as you need to show
us what the poem means to you, not some lecturer in America!!
Page 24

In part one, I provided a basic overview of what a poem is. I also looked at the difference
between rhetoric speech and figures of speech, and included a few links to poems and to
rhetorical speech devices.
This post will deal with the terminology of poetry. Hopefully this will assist in your
understanding of poetry.
1. Meter
a. In language, words are broken up via groupings of sound. These
groupings are called syllables. For example, compare is broken up into two
syllables COM and PARE.
b. Types of meter:
i. Accentual meter: Each line has equal number of lines
ii. Syllabic meter: An accentual meter, with a specific
NUMBER of stresses.
iii. Accentual-Syllabic meter: A specific number of
stresses in a line, with a specific order of emphasis.
iv. Free Verse: Irregular patterns of stressed and
unstressed syllables within each line.
c. We measure the meter of a poem on the STRESSES or
ACCENT (emphasis) placed on certain syllables. When you have a pair of
stressed and unstressed syllables (com – unstressed; and PARE – stressed)
you have what is called an IAMB. You might recognise this word, or at lease
associate it with the term IAMBIC.
d. A meter is the measure of the ‘iambic’. The most famous meter found
within poetry is theiambic pentameter.
i. Pentameter = this word broken down to its prefix:
Pent, which is Greek for ‘five’. This means that there are five pairs of
IAMB within a line of a poem. The stresses within this form of Meter
are found after the unstressed syllable.
Page 25
ii. To the ear, such stresses ask that the reader of the
poem give weight to and emphasise certain syllables, while
speaking/reading the unstressed syllables lightly.
iii. See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=I5lsuyUNu_4
2. Rhythm
a. Rhythm may be used in poetry to provide an additional layer of
meaning.
i. Punctuation, including commas, periods, exclamation
marks and question marks, as well as the length and grouping of of
the vowels and the consonants, all work in tandem to produce a pace
which becomes the rhythm of a work.
b.The meter and rhythm often work together. In the last video, you might
have noticed that the creator of the video focused on the ‘beat’ of the
syllables, those stressed and unstressed. This is part of what forms the
rhythm, along with punctuation.
3. Rhyme Scheme.
a. Rhyming occurs when words that sound the same appear within a text.
Although found within lines, the most popular (or perhaps most obvious)
rhymes are located at the end of the lines within poetry.
b. Because poetry is so structured, rhyming schemes actually have to
potential to define the type of poem. For example, a Petrarchan sonnet is a
14 line poem, with a specific rhyme scheme and syllable structure:
i.ababcdcd-efefgg rhyme scheme, with 10 syllables per
line.
Sonnet
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
Ye ladies, walking past me piteous-eyed,

Who is the lady that lies prostrate here?
Can this be even she my heart holds dear?
Page 26
Nay, if it be so, speak, and nothing hide.

Her very aspect seems itself beside,
And all her features of such altered cheer
That to my thinking they do not appear
Hers who makes others seem beatified.
‘If thou forget to know our lady thus,

Whom grief o'ercomes, we wonder in no wise,
For also the same thing befalleth us,
Yet if thou watch the movement of her eyes,
Of her thou shalt be straightaway conscious.
O weep no more; thou art all wan with sighs.
(Trans. D.G. Rossetti)
c. See Rhyme Scheme video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=blCNBW1r_5s&spfreload=10
For both rhyme and meter:
https://poemshape.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/what-is-shakespearean-spenserian-amp-
petrarchan-sonnets/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPkURJhd24c
Prezi:
https://prezi.com/rndbj0l2dleg/meter-in-poetry/
https://prezi.com/cvfwf6jsyu5j/poetry-meter-and-rhyme/
https://prezi.com/fltvk3ui5yzr/verse-meter-and-rhyme/
Analysing a poem
Please find the poem in question under Additional Resources: Adrienne Rich_Aunt
Jennifer's Tigers.pdf
Page 27
A few key elements go into reading a poem in preparation for analysis:

Before you read the poem:
 Always number your lines.
 See if you can find a rhyming pattern (compare the last word of each line to the
others, labeling alphabetically as you go).
 Look for any figurative language (FoS) highlight/circle/underline and indicate what
type of FoS it is. Find the symbolic meaning of the FoS only when you read the
poem.
 Any images or words which are repeated.
 Any words which you can link to main ideas or themes.
 Any words/phrases which have strong connotative value.
Now read the poem. Look for more of the above, but also begin to explain the significance
of all the FoS which you have found. Can you link them to ideas and themes in the poem,
and even to other FoS?
Once you have read the poem once, quickly write down your impressions of the poem:
What is it about? Who is speaking (if possible to know)? Why is the poem important?
Read through the poem a few times, each time attempting to expand on what you have
found and find elements which you might have skipped over.
Your poem should look like the .pdf after the first or second reading, after the third or
fourth there should be even more detail
Poetic Language.
Additional information to work through with the study guide:

Poetic Language.
Because poetry is often written in brief flashes of prose, the language used must, in the
least amount of words convey literal and figurative meaning. To do this, the language used
must be powerful enough to appeal to the reader’s visual, tactile, auditory, gustatory and
olfactory senses.
As mentioned before, the diction (those chosen words be they formal, informal, casual,
slang) and the rhyming pattern will influence the reading of the text. Yet, these are not the
only elements which will have an impact on the poem and on the reading of the poem.
Page 28
Tropes:
Your study guide mentions the notion of tropes, which is the metaphorical or
figurative use of words. When one uses language to twist and weave patterns of
understanding and comprehension, this is what is used: tropes.
Such tropes are:
Ambiguity Allusion Analogy
Circumlocu
Hyperbole Irony
tion
Litotes Metaphor Metonymy
Personifica
OxymoronParody
tion
Rhetorical
Pun Satire
Question
Understate
Simile Synecdoche
ment
Tropes, such as the examples above, therefore, change the meaning of expressions or
words.
It is important to recognise tropes when they are present, to understand what the figure of
speech is and how and why it has been used. There are many more types of tropes,
however those in bold are those of common occurrence within poetry.
Examine your study guide and toolkit for more examples (another list can be found
here:https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/tropes.html )
Schemes:
If you look back to the previous poetry tutorials, you will notice that I have often stated that
to build understanding you need to connect similar words or thoughts which may occur
throughout the poem.
A scheme is the repletion of a word, phrase or idea which has been repeated throughout
the poem. This adds emphasis to those words, phrases or ideas, which are presented
within similar, differing or problematic contextual changes throughout the poem. How the
word, phrase or idea has been chosen to be repeated will indicate those connections and
connotations which the poet asks you to make.
Examples of Schemes are:
Page 29
Alliterati Anaphor Antithe

on a sis
Chiasmu Hyperba
Ellipsis
s ton
Paralleli Parenth Repetiti

sm eses on
Tsmesis
Once again, you need to be able to recognise the used schemes within a particular work,
label them, define them and then explain how and whythose particular scheme have been
used.
Look at your study guide and toolkit for definitions and if you feel it necessary look up the
term scheme online.
In topic two I asked that you read the poem aloud to yourself. The reason was so that you
could fully grasp the rhythm of the poem, its beat and sound, which are made by the
emphasis placed on the sounds and syllables of words.
In this section, the study guide asks that you consider such sounds and rhythm when
analysing a poem. Activity 17 and 18 in particular break down the beginnings of that audio
process of which poetry holds such a strong grasp.
Sound and rhythm:
The purpose for reading out aloud with the CD and re-reading the poems is to train your
ear. Poetry is one craft which, with time and practice, a writer and reader may improve.
This is because, due to the verbal nature of poetry, to understand, one must know how to
read the poems aloud.
There has been mention before of the term meter. Meter is the term used to identify how
the words are cut into syllables and which syllables are to be stressed and at what kind of
tempo (or speed). It is the verbal movement of the poem. If you think visually, poetry is not
a stagnant piece of writing. It has a space and a time and a melody which makes it move
and flow with the sound of voices.
For more on the term meter (which includes timing such as Iambi pentameter):
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/570/03/
The poetic Subject

Page 30
The poetic subject:

Put another way, what is the subject matter or the poem?
Section two of the Study Guide explains how one needs to examine not only the singular
line of a poem, but then relate that line to other lines. This idea of connectivity was also
touched upon within topic one of this tutorial unit.
attempt to link the words, lines, stanzas together to determine what the poem is actually
about.
topic) and the “grammatical subject” (the agent of the action).
At the same time, you must be aware that the poem's theme and its subject matter are
also two distinct notions.
· Theme: would be the main point or idea which the poet is attempting to
make.
o Examples: love, death, hate, greed, pride, liberty, autonomy.
· Subject: the topic by which the poem express the themes.
Therefore, for example, in a Dylan Thomas poem Do not go gentle into that good night :
(http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night)
· Theme: Mortality and defiance. The poem expresses a wish to fight against
mortality, to defy even at the brink, death. It is about a love of life and a need of life to
continue.
· Subject: Death. The poem uses the subject matter of the dying father a platform for
the speaker to rail against death.
Explore the title:

Activity 1 asks that you consider the title when attempting to ascertain the subject of the
poem. Titles can confirm, challenge or seek to confuse. Some are playful others accurate,
but all are important as they provide a first impression of the work which must then be in
some way met through the text itself.
Page 31

Activity 2 asks that you read the poems more than once. Try searching Youtube for
recordings of the poems you have been asked to analyse. The reason for this is two part.
· It can be easier for individuals to sometimes listen than read a poem. For those who
are more audio inclined, understanding will come faster.
· Poems are meant to be read aloud. There is tone and texture which can be lost
when reading silently. The pace and the rhythm of poetry, which often has a strong impact
on understanding, will almost always be found in the speaking or reading aloud of the
poems.
pace you. It takes time and practice to figure out what words should be emphasised and
which should be softly spoken, glossed over. You will find that when your interpretation of
a poem is different, the chosen words which are emphasised are also different.
Once again, in your study guide there is a note about the term ‘poet’ and ‘speaker’.
· I mentioned the term ‘poet’ within topic one and have used the term constantly when
discussing the author of a poem.
· The term speaker I have only used once so far and that has been in relation to the
Dylan Thomas poem above. Note how I say that the subject matter provides a platform
from which the speaker is able to comment.
· Just because the poet wrote the poem, it does not automatically mean that it is his or her
voice which is meant to be heard when reading said poem. Thus, there is always that
distinction between the terms.
Sentence by sentence:
and where and in what language.
You need to break the poem down line by line and word by word.
Page 32
The study guide indicates a need to seek out verb’s which are used in each line.
· This is because it is the verbs (and adjectives) which give meaning to the nouns and to
the poems itself. These are the words which will help define the poems expression and
power.
oA very good article to read regarding the importance of verbs and adjectives
in poetry is an article by A. H. R. Fairchild titledThe Verb and the Adjective in
Poetry.http://www.jstor.org/stable/801577?seq=3
Mentioned earlier was the term was the grammatical subject.
·Once you have looked for verbs and adjectives you must then be able to find the
grammatical subject.
o The agent of the action performed by a verb p. 37)
o You need to consider what that verb is acting on: the clouds sweep
through the mountains, / drowning their peaks with un-spilled water
o Given the verbs presented and the grammatical subjects on which these
verbs are acted upon, what does the sentence mean? What is the literal
meaning and what is the symbolic meaning?
These two lines describe an mountain range. Not only that, but
there is a focus on the peak of the mountain, which is covered by
clouds. There is a sense of movement within the poem through the
verbs "sweep", "drowning" amd "un-spilled" which suggests a
buildup of clouds at the mountains peak.
Also then begin linking the verbs and the nouns and the adjectives. Clouds
which drown the mountains, specifically the peaks. Is this an image of mist or
fog? Is the cloud heavy (the “un-spilled water” indicates heavy and
threatening)? How tall are these mountains considering how cloud cover
could “sweep” over them? Note also the term “peak” which would suggest
quite high. Yet, these are only two lines of a ‘poem’ (the line split is indicated
with the forward slash: “/”) and therefore the actual subject of the poem, as
well as the poems themes are unknown as the clouds, mountains and rain
may be a metaphor for something else.
Examine Form and Augment:

I briefly wrote on the poetic structure throughout both posts. This ‘step’ within the study
guide mentions poetic structure as well and suggests that the form of a poem, how
Page 33
structures in rhyming scheme, in meter and in line structure can and will provide certain
For example, there are certain expectations which arise by the fact that the poem's
Within poetry, much as within any other form of literature, when the poem was written is
as important as the poems actual setting.
A perfect example of structure is Lady Mary Wroth's A Crown of Sonnets Dedicated to
Love (http://allpoetry.com/A-Crown-of-Sonnets-Dedicated-to-Love).
·This group of sonnets is a small work taken from a much broader work which will not be
mentioned here.
·There are 14 sonnets within the work, with the last line of a sonnet, the first line of the
next sonnet, and, within the 14th sonnet’s last line, a repeat of the 1st sonnet’s first line.
· Each sonnet is a part of a bigger weave and has its own particular topic, which links to
the next and which eventually comes full circle to the beginning once more.
· Often this grouping of sonnets is called the “labyrinth”, not just because that particular
metaphor and topic are embedded within the poem, but because the poem itself is very
much like a labyrinth.
· There are of course many many more structural elements of the poem (its rhythm,
meter…) which will add to the meaning and complexity of the text.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Diction and Mood:
What words are used, how they are used? Is there a focus of light imagery as opposed to
darker imagery? If so, what themes are linked with these images? Is the poem a pastoral
one, whose focus is on the idyllic rural life and its rustic yet charming landscapes? Does
the poem focus on gleaming streams of clean water or the muddy stale dregs of the city?
This is diction.
All of this adds to the tone. A sombre and dark poem will have heavy and hard words and
syllables, where as a light happy poem will most likely be the opposite.
When writing an essay on poetry, it is possible to only use the poem and the study
guide (and if needed a dictionary). If you follow the steps laid out for you in the
study guide (break down the poem, what kind of poem is it? What are the expected
Page 34
conventions? Does the poem meet those criteria? How? Why? Language? Lines?
Stanza Structure? Structure of entire poem? Verbs? Adjectives? Grammatical
Nouns? Mood? Theme? Subject? Title? And on and on and on) you will have more
than enough information for the poetry section.
Using the internet for quick finds on poem analysis will not help in this case.
Titles.
A quick note on the term ‘Poet’: Within literature, there are various categories, as you have
seen so far. Each category has a particular label. So too are those who write within those
categories sometimes provided titles.
Within prose, all fiction and non-fiction works are written by authors.
Within drama, works are written by playwrights or dramatists.
· As above, poems are written by poets.
· Newspapers and magazines are written by journalists and bloggers.
This distinction, while subtle, assists in defining and allocating a particular type of work to a
particular type of write
HOW TO IDENTIFY AN OXYMORON OR PARADOX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWvpySr7_cY
https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-the-difference-between-an-oxymoron-antithesis-
irony-and-paradox-how-can-
Re: Z - Questions
Do your best to avoid giving dictionary definitions. Rather consider how the word links to
the text via CONTEXTUALLY relevant connotations or implications, how the word adds to
tone, atmosphere, mood, theme, plot, and so on. As such, I generally never even indicate
that a word is a verb or adjective, as it actually distracts from the analysis of the text.
Page 35

ENG2602 E Tutor Notes Poetry

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ENG2602 POETRY E-TUTOR NOTES 2017

1. Poetry Introduction Part 1

Example of a figure of speech:

But now my oat proceeds,

But now my [song] proceeds,

i. Accentual meter: Each line has equal number of lines

Ye ladies, walking past me piteous-eyed,

‘If thou forget to know our lady thus,

(Trans. D.G. Rossetti)

c. See Rhyme Scheme video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

Additional information to work through with the study guide:

Circumlocution Hyperbole Irony

Litotes Metaphor Metonymy

Oxymoron Parody Personification

Pun Rhetorical Question Satire

Simile Synecdoche Understatement

Chiasmus Ellipsis Hyperbaton

Parallelism Parentheses Repetition

Sound and rhythm:

The poetic subject:

Explore the title:

Read the poem more than once:

verbs "sweep", "drowning" amd "un-spilled" which suggests a

Examine Form and Augment:

Poetry Mock Essay

1. Poetry Introduction Part 1

Example of a figure of speech:

And listens to the herald of the sea

Taken from Whatsupp group

So how do we identify the poetic subject?

Explore the title:

Read the poem more than once:

Study the poem sentence by sentence:

The grammatical subject is:

• The agent of the action performed by a verb (p. 37)

Examine Form and Argument:

Diction and Mood:

2. Poetry Introduction Part 2

Ye ladies, walking past me piteous-eyed,

Nay, if it be so, speak, and nothing hide.

‘If thou forget to know our lady thus,

(Trans. D.G. Rossetti)

c. See Rhyme Scheme video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

A few key elements go into reading a poem in preparation for analysis:

Additional information to work through with the study guide:

Litotes Metaphor Metonymy

Alliterati Anaphor Antithe

Paralleli Parenth Repetiti

The poetic Subject

The poetic subject:

Explore the title:

Read the poem more than once:

Examine Form and Augment:

HOW TO IDENTIFY AN OXYMORON OR PARADOX

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