Transcript 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
LANGUAGE CONSISTS OF A SEQUENCE
OF SOUNDS (VOWELS & CONSONANTS)
ORGANIZED INTO SYLLABLES OF
VARYING EMPHASIS (OR “STRESS”).
RHYTHM (cont.)
IF A POEM’S RHYTHM IS ORGANIZED
INTO A RECURRING PATTERN, THIS IS
CALLED METER.
METER
PROCESS OF ANALYZING A POEM’S
METER (I.E., OF DETERMINING THE
PATTERN OF UNSTRESSED & STRESSED
SYLLABLES PER LINE) IS CALLED
SCANSION.
METER (cont.)
OF THE FOUR METRICAL SYSTEMS
IN ENGLISH POETRY, THE MOST
COMMON BY FAR IS ACCENTUALSYLLABIC METER.
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).
METER (cont.)
THE FOUR MOST COMMON FEET IN
ENGLISH POETRY:
IAMB (adj. IAMBIC)
unstressed-stressed (NEW YORK)
TROCHEE (adj. TROCHAIC)
stressed-unstressed (DELHI)
METER (cont.)
COMMON FEET (cont.):
ANAPEST (adj. ANAPESTIC)
unstressed-unstressed-stressed
(TENNESSEE)
DACTYL (adj. DACTYLIC)
stressed-unstressed-unstressed
(DELAWARE)
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.
METER (cont.)
NUMBER OF FEET PER LINE:
1--MONOMETER
2--DIMETER
3--TRIMETER
4--TETRAMETER
5--PENTAMETER
6--HEXAMETER
7--HEPTAMETER
METER (cont.)
MOST COMMON METRICAL LINE (OR
BASE RHYTHM) IN ENGLISH
POETRY IS IAMBIC PENTAMETER.
METER (cont.)
TOO REGULAR OR OBVIOUS A METER
CAN BECOME BORING, SO POETS OFTEN INTRODUCE VARIATIONS INTO
THE BASE RHYTHM OF A POEM.
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.
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.
RHYTHM (cont.)
END-STOPPED LINES TEND TO SLOW
DOWN THE PACE OF A POEM, WHILE
RUN-ON LINES TEND TO SPEED IT UP.
COMMON SOUND EFFECTS
MORE THAN ANY OTHER ELEMENT,
RHYME IS WHAT MOST PEOPLE
ASSOCIATE WITH POETRY.
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).
RHYME (cont.)
RHYME MAY OCCUR AT THE END OF
A LINE (END RHYME) OR IN THE
MIDDLE (INTERNAL RHYME).
RHYME (cont.)
POETS MAY EMPLY PERFECT (TRUE,
EXACT) RHYME, OR TAKE POETIC
LICENSE AND USE VARIOUS FORMS
OF IMPERFECT RHYME.
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).
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).
SOUND EFFECTS (cont.)
ASSONANCE
REPETITION OF IDENTICAL OR SIMILAR
VOWEL SOUNDS FOLLOWED BY DIFFERENT CONSONANTS (LAKE/FATE, KILL/
KISS).
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.
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).
MAJOR TYPES OF POETRY
ONE USEFUL WAY OF THINKING
ABOUT POETRY IS IN TERMS OF
THREE BROAD CATEGORIES:
NARRATIVE POEMS
DRAMATIC POEMS
LYRIC POEMS
TYPES OF POETRY (cont.)
NARRATIVE POEMS TELL STORIES,
STRESS ACTION. THIS CATEGORY
INCLUDES EPICS (SUCH AS
BEOWULF) & BALLADS (LIKE “SIR
PATRICK SPENS”).
TYPES OF POETRY (cont.)
DRAMATIC POEMS ARE EITHER
MONOLOGUES OR DIALOGUES WRIT-
TEN IN THE VOICE OF A CHARACTER
CREATED BY THE POET.
DRAMATIC POEMS (cont.)
EXAMPLES INCLUDES DRAMATIC
MONOLOGUES SUCH AS BROWN-
ING’S “MY LAST DUCHESS” AND
TENNYSON’S “ULYSSES.”
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.
LYRIC POEMS (cont.)
THIS IS THE MOST BROADLY INCLUSIVE TYPE OF POETRY AND INCLUDES
SONNETS, ODES, AND ELEGIES,
AMONG OTHERS.
BASIC FORMS OF POETRY
BLANK VERSE
UNRHYMED IAMBIC PENTAMETER; THE
VERSE FORM CLOSEST TO THE RHYTHMS
OF EVERYDAY ENGLISH SPEECH.
BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.)
COUPLET
A TWO-LINE UNIT OF VERSE, USUALLY
LINKED BY RHYME.
TERCET
A STANZA OF THREE LINES TRADITIONALLY LINKED W/ A SINGLE RHYME.
BASIC FORMS OF POETRY (cont.)
QUATRAIN
A STANZA OF FOUR LINES, RHYMED OR
UNRHYMED.
THE MOST COMMON STANZA FORM IN
ENGLISH POETRY.
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).
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.
SONNET (cont.)
ENGLISH SONNET
CONSISTS OF THREE QUATRAINS (RHYM-
ING ABAB CDCD EFEF) + A COUPLET
(RHYMING GG) THAT PROVIDES A
COMMENTARY OR CONCLUSION.
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 & METER, ARE NOT WRITTEN ACCORDING
TO ANY ESTABLISHED RULES OF
VERSIFICATION.
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 INVERTING NORMAL WORD ORDER), THUS
POSING A CHALLENGE FOR THE
READER.