Reading Poetry; Poetic Forms; Types of Poetry Week 3-4 Reading Poetry: • Don’t be intimidated; give yourself a chance to respond to the poems • Enjoy the use of diction; use a dictionary if necessary • Remember, “the expression of the idea is more important than the idea itself” (Meyer, 23) • Look at the physical body of the poem on the page; the start and end of lines and punctuations • Don’t be hasty; take your time • You are going to read poems written by people from a culture other than yours, cherish your culture and realize the difference. Remember to keep an open mind and look for information on peculiar references online or in books • Turn to page 38 in Meyer’s for the steps Why do we need to distinguish between different forms of poetry? • “A familiarity with some of the most frequently used fixed forms of poetry is useful because it allows for a better understanding of how a poem works”. (Meyer, 236) • “An awareness of form also allows us to anticipate how a poem is likely to proceed”. (Meyer, 236) • Unlike prose, poetry is organized in lines and stanzas; knowledge of forms leads to better understanding of the meanings of the poem. Common Poetic Forms • A stanza “consists of a grouping of lines, set off by a space, that usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme. This pattern is often repeated in other stanzas throughout the poem” p.236 • “Stanzas share a rhyme scheme, the pattern of end rhymes. We can map out rhyme schemes by noting patterns of rhyme with lowercase letters: the first rhyme sound is designated a, the second becomes b, the third c, and so on” p.236 • Couplet, “it consists of two lines that usually rhyme and have the same meter; couplets are frequently not separated from each other by space on the page” p.237 • Heroic couplet, “consists of rhymed iambic pentameter” p.237 • Tercet is “a three-line stanza. When all three lines rhyme, they are called a triplet” • Terza rima: three-line rhyme scheme: aba, bcb, cdc, ded • Quatrain “is a four-line stanza” and is the most common stanzaic form in the English Language • Ballad stanza: alternating eight- and six-syllable lines Stanza • “consists of a grouping of lines, set off by a space, that usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme. This pattern is often repeated in other stanzas throughout the poem”. Although this pattern is typically repeated, it can sometimes change. p.236 • A. E. Houseman’s “Loveliest of trees, the cherry now” in p. 236 consists of three stanzas that follow the same rhyme scheme pattern; the same sound at the end of the lines in each stanza. Rhyme Scheme • “Stanzas share a rhyme scheme, the pattern of end rhymes. We can map out rhyme schemes by noting patterns of rhyme with lowercase letters: the first rhyme sound is designated a, the second becomes b, the third c, and so on” p.236 I wandered lonely as a cloud a That floats on high o’er vales and hills, b When all at once I saw a crowd, a A host of golden daffodils; b Beside the lake, beneath the trees, c Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. c Couplet • A Couplet “consists of two lines that usually rhyme and have the same meter; couplets are frequently not separated from each other by space on the page” p.237 Shakespeare uses rhyming couplets at the end of his sonnets to emphasize the theme. This comes later in the discussion about sonnets. One science only will one genius fit; a So vast is art, so narrow human wit: a Not only bounded to peculiar arts, b But oft in those confined to single parts. b Heroic couplet • A heroic couplet “consists of rhymed iambic pentameter” p.237 One science only will one genius fit; a So vast is art, so narrow human wit: a Not only bounded to peculiar arts, b But oft in those confined to single parts. b Tercet • is “a three-line stanza. When all three lines rhyme, they are called a triplet” Whenas in silks my Julia goes, a Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows a That liquefaction of her clothes. a Next, when I cast mine eyes, and see b That brave vibration, each way free, b O, how that glittering taketh me! b Terza Rima Example: Robert Frost’s “Acquainted with the Night” I have been one acquainted with the night. a I have walked out in rain—and back in rain. b • Three-line rhyme scheme: aba, I have outwalked the furthest city light. a bcb, cdc, dad I have looked down the saddest city lane. b • Robert Frost uses this scheme I have passed by the watchman on his beat c in the first four stanzas in his And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. b “Acquainted with the Night”, I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet c the last stanza consists of a When far away an interrupted cry d couplet. Came over houses from another street, c But not to call me back or say good-bye; d And further still at an unearthly height, a One luminary clock against the sky d Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. a I have been one acquainted with the night. a Quatrain • “is a four-line stanza” and is the most common stanzaic form in the English Language. It can have various meters and rhyme schemes such as aabb, abba, aaba, and abcb. All in a hot and copper sky a The bloody Sun, at noon, b Right up above the mast did stand, c No bigger than the Moon. b This stanza of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” shows this pattern a,b,c,b. this pattern makes the stanza it appears in a ballad stanza which consists of alternating eight- and six- syllable lines. Fixed-form Verse Types: • Sonnet • Villanelle • Sestina • Epigram • Limerick • Haiku • Elegy • Ode • Parody • Picture Form Sonnet • The Italian sonnet or the Petrarchan sonnet divides into two parts. The first eight lines (the octave) typically rhyme abbaabba. The final six lines (the sestet) may vary; common patterns are cdecde, cdcdcd, and cdccdc. • Often, the octave presents a situation, an attitude, or a problem that the sestet comments upon or resolves. • Example John Keat’s “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer”, page 239. Sonnet • The English Sonnet or the Shakespearean sonnet. It is organized into three quatrains and a couplet, which typically rhyme abab cdcd efef gg. This scheme is more suitable to English poetry because English has fewer rhyming words than Italian which uses abbaabba • With using these four parts, the English sonnet has more flexibility about where thematic breaks can occur. The most pronounced break or turn, however, comes with the concluding couplet. • Example Shakespeare’s “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”, page 241. Villanelle • It consists of nineteen lines of any length divided into six stanzas: five tercets and a concluding quatrain. • The first and third lines of the initial tercet rhyme; these rhymes are repeated in each subsequent tercet (aba) and in the final two lines of the quatrain (abaa) • It creates haunting echoes that resonate in the readers’ minds • Example: Dylan Thomas’ “Don’t Go Gentle into that Good Night”, page 247. Sestina • It usually does rhyme, it’s more demanding than the villanelle. • It consists of thirty-nine lines of any length divided into six six-line stanzas and a three-line concluding stanza called an envoy. • The difficulty lies in repeating the six words at the ends of the first stanza’s lines at the ends of the lines in the other five six-line stanzas as well. Those words must also appear in the final three lines, where they often resonate important themes. • The words appear central in contributing to the meaning of the poem • Example: Algernon Charles Swinburne’s “Sestina”, page 249. Epigram • It’s a brief, pointed, and witty poem. • Epigrams are typically polished bits of compressed irony, satire, or paradox. • Examples: Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “What Is an Epigram?”- A. R. Ammons’ “Coward” Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s “Theology”, page 252. Limerick • It’s light and humorous. It consists of five lines rhyming aabba. • Lines 1,2, and 5 contain three feet, while lines 3 and 4 contain two. • Example Carolyn Wells (1862-1942) A tutor who tooted the flute a Tried to teach two young tooters to toot. a Said the two to the tutor, b “Is it harder to toot, or b To tutor two tooters to toot? a Haiku • A brief fixed form borrowed from the Japanese. • It consists of seventeen syllables organized into three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables. • Owing to language differences, English translations of haikus are approximated. Japanese haikus exist in time (Japanese syllables have duration). • The number of syllables in our sense isn’t as important as the duration in Japanese. • Projects intense emotion or vivid image of nature which leads to a spiritual insight in Japanese. • Examples: Matsu Basho’s “Under Cherry Trees”, page 254. Elegy • The word elegy has been used to describe a lyric poem written to commemorate someone who is dead • Elegy, the word, is also used to refer to a serious meditative poem produced to express the speaker’s melancholy thoughts • Elegies no longer conform to a fixed pattern of lines and stanzas, but their characteristic subject is related to death and their tone is mournfully contemplative.