SLT Lesson02

Module : Study of Literary Texts L1 – S1
Lesson 02: What is Poetry?

Lesson Plan
1. Introduction: Definition of Poetry
2. Types of Poetry: Lyric Poetry, Narrative Poetry, Free Verse
3. Prosody: Meter and Stanza (+ types of Stanza)
4. Rhyme in Poetry
5. Rhythm in Poetry
6. Assessment: "Hope is the thing with feathers" by Emily Dickinson
Lesson content
1. Introduction: Definition of Poetry
Poetry is one of the oldest genres of Literature; its earliest examples go
back to the ancient Greek Literature. Poetry is a type of literature that conveys a
thought, describes a scene or tells a story in a concentrated, lyrical arrangement
of words.
Poetry is a form of artistic expression that uses language, imagery, and
sound to convey emotions and ideas. Deviating from the large crowd of prose
writing by its unique format and more dense expression. Poems often defer from
prose writings on the following notes:
- Format: unlike prose writings, lines in Poetry does not fill the entire page.
Thus, readers of Poetry are given an indication that what they are going to
read is a piece of poetry even before starting reading.
- Length: Poems are much shorter and briefer than novels or short stories.
Writers of the genre often try to express themselves in a much less space
compared to other genres.
- Language: Poetry uses a very dense and specialized language that deviates
from everyday language. Often relying on phonological and syntactical
over structure.
- Analyses: Poetry is often identified and studied based on its use of
characteristics such as rhyme, rhythm, stanza and meter which supply the
Poem with its unique structure and musical quality.
2. Types of Poetry:
- Lyrical Poetry: Lyric poetry refers to a short poem, often with songlike
qualities, that expresses the speaker’s personal emotions and feelings.
Examples: Riddles - Religious and magic charms - Elegy (for the dead) -
Ode (serious and classical themes) - Sonnet (strict rhyme scheme about
love).
William Wordsworth, "The World Is Too Much With Us"

"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!"
- Narrative Poetry: The narrative poem is a form of poetry that is used to

tell a story. The poet combines elements of storytelling—like plot, setting,
and characters—with elements of poetry, such as form, meter, rhyme,
and poetic devices. Narrative poem definition: a form of literature that
combines the elements of poetry with the elements of storytelling.
Examples:
The Epic: The epic poem is a long narrative poem that usually recounts
stories of heroism. The protagonists of epic poems are often kings,
knights, heroes, or else extraordinary people who change the fate of
history.
The Romance: Arthurian romances derive from twelfth century France.
They are any narrative poetry that tells stories of romance and adventure
within King Arthur’s court.
The Ballad: Originating in Europe, likely England, the late Middle Ages,
ballads were narrative poems set to music, intended to accompany dances
and entertain large audiences. Similar to epics, the narratives in ballads
were about extraordinary individuals, such as Robin Hood.
Example: The Iliad by Homer (Epic)

Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,
Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks
Incalculable pain, pitched countless souls
Of heroes into Hades' dark,
And left their bodies to rot as feasts
For dogs and birds, as Zeus' will was done.
Begin with the clash between Agamemnon-
The Greek warlord - and godlike Achilles.
- Free verse: A free verse poem is a poem that does not rely on any
particular form, meter, or rhyme scheme, yet still conveys powerful
feelings and ideas.
3. Prosody: Meter and Stanza
Prosody is the study of speech rhythms and versification. Most poetry

is a rhythmical utterance, that is to say, it makes use of rhythmic elements
that are natural to language, for instance:
- alternation of stress and non-stress
- vowel length
- consonant clusters, pauses and so on
Various rhythmical patterns have different effects on readers, yet there are no
general rules about their functions.
3.1. Meter:
Meter is the basic rhythmic structure of a line within a work of poetry.
Meter consists of two components :
- The number of syllables
- A pattern of emphasis on those syllables
The visual representation of the distribution of stress and non-stress in verse
is: (1) to mark a stressed, (o) to mark a non-stressed syllable.
o 1 / o 1 / o 1 / o 1
Had /we /but /world /e/nough, /and /time (Iambic tetrameter)
3.2. Stanza:
In poetry, a stanza is used to describe the main building block of a
poem. It is a unit of poetry composed of lines that relate to a similar thought
or topic—like a paragraph in prose or a verse in a song. Every stanza in a
poem has its own concept and serves a unique purpose. A stanza may be
arranged according to rhyming patterns and meters—the syllabic beats of a
line. It can also be a free-flowing verse that has no formal structure.
A stanza is a series of lines grouped together in order to divide a poem;
the structure of a stanza is often (though not always) repeated throughout the
poem. Stanzas are separated from other stanzas by line breaks. Each stanza is
a standalone unit that can either make up an entire poem or can build a bigger
poem with other stanzas.
3.2.1. Types of Stanza:
- A Couplet Stanza: A stanza with two lines that rhyme
Time was, a sober Englishman wou’d knock

His servants up, and rise by five a clock,
Instruct his Family in ev’ry rule,

And send his Wife to Church, his Son to school.
To worship like his Fathers was his care;

To teach their frugal Virtues to his Heir;
To prove, that Luxury could never hold;

And place, on good Security, his Gold.
(From: Pope, Imitations of Horace, Ep. II.i)
- A triplet (tricet) Stanza: A stanza with three lines that either all rhyme or
the first and the third line rhyme.
Released from the noise of the butcher and baker,

Who, my old friends be thanked, did seldom forsake her,
And from the soft duns of my landlord the Quaker;
(Prior, Jinny the Just)
- A Quatrain Stanza: one of the most common and popular stanza forms in
English poetry. It is a stanza comprising four lines of verse with various
rhyme patterns.
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.
(From: Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard)
- A Limerick Stanza: A limerick is a five-line poem that consists of a single
stanza, an AABBA rhyme scheme, and whose subject is a short, pithy tale
or description. Most limericks are comedic, some are downright crude,
and nearly all are trivial in nature.
Limericks follow a very strict composition structure. All traditional
limericks:
 Consist of a single stanza

 Consist of exactly five lines
 Employ one rhyme on the first, second, and fifth lines
 Employ a second rhyme on the third and fourth lines
Example:
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, "It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!"
(Edward Lear, A Book of Nonsense)
- Sonnet: a lyric poem of (usually) fourteen lines in iambic pentameter

which became popular in England in the sixteenth century. Later sonnet
writers sometimes varied the number of lines between ten and sixteen
lines. The name is taken from the Italian sonetto, which means “a little
sound or song.”
The most common sonnet is the Petrarchan. Very often this type of
sonnet develops two sides of a question or a problem and a solution, one
is presented in the beginning and, after a turn often introduced by ‘but’,
‘yet’ or a similar conjunction that indicates a change of argument, the
other part is presented.
Example:
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my day, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”
I fondly ask; but patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
(Milton, On My Blindness)
In this sonnet the speaker laments his inability to serve God on account of
his blindness in the beginning, but in the end takes courage again from the
thought that God will not expect more of him than he can do.
4. Rhyme in poetry:
When two words have the same sound (phoneme) from the last
stressed vowel onwards, they are considered to rhyme. In a full rhyme, the
consonant preceding the last stressed vowel of the two words is different:
night/delight, power/flower and so on.
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of sounds that repeats at the end of a
line or stanza. Rhyme schemes can change line by line, stanza by stanza,
or can continue throughout a poem. Poems with rhyme schemes are
generally written in formal verse, which has a strict meter: a repeating
pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Rhyme in poetry is a versatile tool that contributes to the musicality
of a poem, aids in memorization, and helps poets emphasize words and
ideas. Its use varies from poem to poem, and poets often choose to
employ rhyme strategically to enhance the overall impact and artistic
quality of their work.
5. Rhythm in poetry:
Rhythm can be described as the beat and pace of a poem. It is made

up of beat and repetition, so it usually refers to features of sound. It is
created by stressed and unstressed syllables in a line or a verse.
Rhythm is related mainly to the variations of speed in which a
poem is likely to be read. This speed is influenced particularly by:
- Pauses (punctuation)
- Elisions (omission of a sound)
- Vowel length
- Consonant clusters
- Repetitions
- Alliteration
- Consonance
- Assonance
- Onomatopoeia

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Module : Study of Literary Texts L1 – S1

Lesson 02: What is Poetry?

William Wordsworth, "The World Is Too Much With Us"

- Narrative Poetry: The narrative poem is a form of poetry that is used to

Example: The Iliad by Homer (Epic)

3. Prosody: Meter and Stanza

Prosody is the study of speech rhythms and versification. Most poetry

- A Couplet Stanza: A stanza with two lines that rhyme

Time was, a sober Englishman wou’d knock

Instruct his Family in ev’ry rule,

To worship like his Fathers was his care;

To prove, that Luxury could never hold;

Released from the noise of the butcher and baker,

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

 Consist of a single stanza

- Sonnet: a lyric poem of (usually) fourteen lines in iambic pentameter

Rhythm can be described as the beat and pace of a poem. It is made

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