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OVERVIEW: THE MUSIC AND FORMS OF POETRY

OVERVIEW: THE MUSIC AND FORMS OF POETRY. WHAT IS A POEM?. NO UNIVERSALLY AGREED UPON DEFINITION. BUT ONE ESSENTIAL FACT IS THAT POETRY BEGAN AS SONG. POETRY AS SONG. WHAT MOST DISTINGUISHES POETRY FROM PROSE ARE ITS MUSICAL QUALITIES: I.E., ITS RHYTHM, SOUND, & STRUCTURAL PATTERNS. RHYTHM.

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OVERVIEW: THE MUSIC AND FORMS OF POETRY

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  1. OVERVIEW: THE MUSIC AND FORMS OF POETRY

  2. WHAT IS A POEM? • NO UNIVERSALLY AGREED UPON DEFINITION. • BUT ONE ESSENTIAL FACT IS THAT POETRY BEGAN AS SONG.

  3. POETRY AS SONG • WHAT MOST DISTINGUISHES POETRY FROM PROSE ARE ITS MUSICAL QUALITIES: I.E., ITS RHYTHM, SOUND, & STRUCTURAL PATTERNS.

  4. RHYTHM • LANGUAGE CONSISTS OF A SEQUENCE OF SOUNDS (VOWELS & CONSONANTS) ORGANIZED INTO SYLLABLES OF VARYING EMPHASIS (OR “STRESS”).

  5. RHYTHM (cont.) • IF A POEM’S RHYTHM IS ORGANIZED INTO A RECURRING PATTERN, THIS IS CALLED METER.

  6. METER • PROCESS OF ANALYZING A POEM’S METER (I.E., OF DETERMINING THE PATTERN OF UNSTRESSED & STRESSED SYLLABLES PER LINE) IS CALLED SCANSION.

  7. METER (cont.) • OF THE FOUR METRICAL SYSTEMS IN ENGLISH POETRY, THE MOST COMMON BY FAR IS ACCENTUAL-SYLLABIC METER.

  8. METER (cont.) • IN THIS METRICAL SYSTEM THE BASIC RHYTHMIC UNIT IS CALLED A FOOT (A COMBINATION OF 2 OR 3 STRESSED AND/OR UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES).

  9. METER (cont.) • THE FOUR MOST COMMON FEET IN ENGLISH POETRY: • IAMB (adj. IAMBIC) • unstressed-stressed (NEW YORK) • TROCHEE (adj. TROCHAIC) • stressed-unstressed (DELHI)

  10. METER (cont.) • COMMON FEET (cont.): • ANAPEST (adj. ANAPESTIC) • unstressed-unstressed-stressed (TENNESSEE) • DACTYL (adj. DACTYLIC) • stressed-unstressed-unstressed (DELAWARE)

  11. METER (cont.) • FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE RISE OF FREE VERSE IN THE 20TH CENTURY, IAMBIC METER WAS THE MOST COMMON IN ENGLISH POETRY, CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THE METER CLOSEST TO EVERYDAY SPEECH.

  12. METER (cont.) • NUMBER OF FEET PER LINE: • 1--MONOMETER • 2--DIMETER • 3--TRIMETER • 4--TETRAMETER • 5--PENTAMETER • 6--HEXAMETER • 7--HEPTAMETER

  13. METER (cont.) • MOST COMMON METRICAL LINE (OR BASE RHYTHM) IN ENGLISH POETRY IS IAMBIC PENTAMETER.

  14. METER (cont.) • TOO REGULAR OR OBVIOUS A METER CAN BECOME BORING, SO POETS OF-TEN INTRODUCE VARIATIONS INTO THE BASE RHYTHM OF A POEM.

  15. METER (cont.) • IT’S ALSO IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT SCANSION IS TO AN EXTENT A MATTER OF INTERPRETATION, B/C THE RHYTHM OF A POEM CAN VARY FROM SPEAKER TO SPEAKER & SITUA-TION TO SITUATION.

  16. RHYTHM (cont.) • IF A GRAMMATICAL PAUSE OCCURS AT THE END OF A LINE, THAT LINE IS SAID TO BE END-STOPPED. IT IS THE OPPOSITE OF A RUN-ON LINE, WHERE THERE IS NO PAUSE (OR PUNCTUATION) AT THE END.

  17. RHYTHM (cont.) • END-STOPPED LINES TEND TO SLOW DOWN THE PACE OF A POEM, WHILE RUN-ON LINES TEND TO SPEED IT UP.

  18. COMMON SOUND EFFECTS • MORE THAN ANY OTHER ELEMENT, RHYME IS WHAT MOST PEOPLE ASSOCIATE WITH POETRY.

  19. RHYME DEFINED • RHYME IS THE CORRESPONDENCE, IN TWO OR MORE WORDS, BETWEEN A VOWEL SOUND AND ANY SUBSEQUENT SOUNDS IN A STRESSED SYLLABLE (SUN/RUN, MAY/TODAY).

  20. RHYME (cont.) • RHYME MAY OCCUR AT THE END OF A LINE (END RHYME) OR IN THE MIDDLE (INTERNAL RHYME).

  21. RHYME (cont.) • POETS MAY EMPLOY PERFECT (TRUE, EXACT) RHYME, OR TAKE POETIC LICENSE AND USE VARIOUS FORMS OF IMPERFECT RHYME.

  22. IMPERFECT RHYME (cont.) • AN EXAMPLE OF IMPERFECT RHYME IS SLANT (OFF, NEAR, HALF) RHYME. • USUALLY A MATCH OF CONSONANT SOUNDS FOLLOWING DIFFERENT VOWELS (MYTH/MATH, FORCE/ FARCE).

  23. IMPERFECT RHYMES (cont.) • EYE RHYMES ARE WORDS WHOSE ENDINGS ARE SPELLED THE SAME BUT THAT OVER TIME HAVE COME TO BE PRONOUNCED DIFFERENTLY (E.G., LOVE, PROVE).

  24. SOUND EFFECTS (cont.) • ASSONANCE • REPETITION OF IDENTICAL OR SIMILAR VOWEL SOUNDS FOLLOWED BY DIFF-ERENT CONSONANTS (LAKE/FATE, KILL/ KISS).

  25. SOUND EFFECTS (cont.) • ALLITERATION • USUALLY THE REPETITION OF INITIAL CONSONANT (OR VOWEL) SOUNDS IN A SEQUENCE OF NEARBY WORDS (EX.: THE FAIR BREEZE BLEW, THE WHITE FOAM FLEW). • CAN ALSO APPLY TO STRESSED SYLLABLES WITHIN WORDS.

  26. SOUND EFFECTS (cont.) • ONOMATOPOEIA • USE OF WORDS THAT IMITATE SOUNDS OR THAT MATCH THE SOUND WITH THE SENSE OF THE WORD (E.G., SPLASH, ZIP, CRACK).

  27. MAJOR TYPES OF POETRY • ONE USEFUL WAY OF THINKING ABOUT POETRY IS IN TERMS OF THREE BROAD CATEGORIES: • NARRATIVE POEMS • DRAMATIC POEMS • LYRIC POEMS

  28. TYPES OF POETRY (cont.) • NARRATIVE POEMS TELL STORIES, STRESS ACTION. THIS CATEGORY INCLUDES EPICS (SUCH AS BEOWULF) & BALLADS (LIKE “SIR PATRICK SPENS”).

  29. TYPES OF POETRY (cont.) • DRAMATIC POEMS ARE EITHER MONOLOGUES OR DIALOGUES WRIT-TEN IN THE VOICE OF A CHARACTER CREATED BY THE POET.

  30. DRAMATIC POEMS (cont.) • EXAMPLES INCLUDES DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES SUCH AS BROWN-ING’S “MY LAST DUCHESS” AND TENNYSON’S “ULYSSES.”

  31. TYPES OF POETRY (cont.) • LYRIC POEMS EXPRESS THE THOUGHTS OR EMOTIONS OF A SINGLE SPEAKER WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE THE POET HIM- OR HERSELF.

  32. LYRIC POEMS (cont.) • THIS IS THE MOST BROADLY INCLU-SIVE TYPE OF POETRY AND INCLUDES SONNETS, ODES, AND ELEGIES, AMONG OTHERS.

  33. BASIC FORMS OF POETRY • BLANK VERSE • UNRHYMED IAMBIC PENTAMETER; THE VERSE FORM CLOSEST TO THE RHYTHMS OF EVERYDAY ENGLISH SPEECH.

  34. BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.) • COUPLET • A TWO-LINE UNIT OF VERSE, USUALLY LINKED BY RHYME. • TERCET • A STANZA OF THREE LINES TRADITION-ALLY LINKED W/ A SINGLE RHYME.

  35. BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.) • QUATRAIN • A STANZA OF FOUR LINES, RHYMED OR UNRHYMED. • THE MOST COMMON STANZA FORM IN ENGLISH POETRY.

  36. QUATRAIN (cont.) • MOST COMMON TYPE OF QUATRAIN IS THE BALLAD STANZA, IN WHICH LINES OF IAMBIC TETRAMETER ALTERNATE W/ IAMBIC TRIMETER, RHYMING ABCB (OR ABAB).

  37. BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.) • SONNET • ONE OF THE OLDEST & MOST WIDELY USED VERSE FORMS IN ENGLISH. • TRADITIONALLY A 14-LINE LYRIC POEM IN IAMBIC PENTAMETER W/ AN INTRI-CATE RHYME SCHEME.

  38. SONNET (cont.) • ENGLISH SONNET • CONSISTS OF THREE QUATRAINS (RHYM-ING ABAB CDCD EFEF) + A COUPLET (RHYMING GG) THAT PROVIDES A COMMENTARY OR CONCLUSION.

  39. THE FORMS OF POETRY (cont.) • UNLIKE CLOSED FORM POEMS SUCH AS SONNETS, OPEN FORM (OR FREE VERSE) POEMS MAKE LITTLE OR NO USE OF TRADITIONAL RHYME & ME-TER, ARE NOT WRITTEN ACCORDING TO ANY ESTABLISHED RULES OF VERSIFICATION.

  40. POETIC SYNTAX • READERS OF POETRY MUST BE ALERT TO THE FACT THAT POETS OFTEN EXERCISE POETIC LICENSE WHEN IT COMES TO THE RULES THAT GOVERN EVERYDAY SPEECH (E.G., BY INVERT-ING NORMAL WORD ORDER), THUS POSING A CHALLENGE FOR THE READER.

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