A.
Definition of
Poetry
From
Merriam-Webster dictionary poetry is writing that formulates a
concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and
arranged to create a specific emotional response through its meaning, sound,
and rhythm. It may be distinguished from prose by its compression, frequent use of
conventions of metre and rhyme, use of the line as a formal unit,
heightened vocabulary, and freedom of syntax. Its emotional content is
expressed through a variety of techniques, from direct description to
symbolism, including the use of metaphor and simile.[1]
One
way to define poetry is to call it language at its best: Poets use its full
potential, using more of it and using it to better advantage than we usually
do. Poets mobilize to the fullest the image-making capacity of language. Poetry
has the ability to delight the car and the power to stir our emotions. It has
the potential if we let it, of making us more responsive and thoughtful human
beings. [2]
Poetry
is related to rhetoric: poetry is language that makes abundant use of figures of
speech and language that aims to be powerfully persuasive. And, ever since
Plato excluded poets from his ideal republic, when poetry has been attacked or
denigrated, it has been as deceptive or frivolous rhetoric that misleads
citizens and calls up extravagant desires. Aristotle asserted the value of
poetry by focusing on imitation (mimesis) rather than rhetoric. He argued that
poetry provides a safe outlet for the release of intense emotions. And he claimed that poetry models the valuable experience of passing
from ignorance to knowledge. (Thus, in the key moment of ‘recognition’ in
tragic drama, the hero realizes his error and spectators realize that ‘there
but for the grace of God go I’.) Poetics, as an account of the resources and
strategies of literature, is not reducible to an account of rhetorical figures,
but poetics could be seen as part of an expanded rhetoric that studies the
resources for linguistic acts of all kinds.[3]
B.
Elements of
Poetry
1. Stanza
A stanza is to a poem what a paragraph is to a piece of
prosaic writing - a fixed number of lines of verse forming a single unit of a
poem. A poem is usually composed of multiple stanzas that are separated from
each other an empty line in between. Usually, all stanzas are made up of equal
number of lines in a single poems.
Based
on the number of lines present in a stanza, they are assigned different names.
They are :
a. A couplet is
composed of 2 lines.
b. A tercet is composed of 3 lines.
c. A quatrain consists of 4 lines.
d. A cinquain has 5 lines.
e. A sestet comprises 6 lines.
f. A sonnet is an entire poem with exactly 14 lines.
d. A cinquain has 5 lines.
e. A sestet comprises 6 lines.
f. A sonnet is an entire poem with exactly 14 lines.
Examples:
A Couplet
True wit is nature to advantage dress'd;
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd.
- From Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Criticism"
A Tercet
furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
- Haiku by Matsuo Bashō, roughly translating to:
An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
A Couplet
True wit is nature to advantage dress'd;
What oft was thought, but ne'er so well express'd.
- From Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Criticism"
A Tercet
furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto
- Haiku by Matsuo Bashō, roughly translating to:
An old silent pond...
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
2.
Rhyme
Rhyming in poetry is one convention that makes this form of
literature quite popular, rhyme in poesy is
what renders it poetic. A very unique quality of rhyme in poetry is that it has
the ability to provide a systematic flow to a bundle of thoughts that may seem
absolutely chaotic if put together otherwise.
Examples:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
3.
Rhythm
The primary thing to keep in mind here is that
'rhyme' and 'rhythm' are not the same at all. Rhythm is basically the pattern
in which a poet chooses to sequence the stressed and unstressed syllables in
every line of a poem, for the creation of oral patterns. The three factors that
help determine the rhythm in a poem are:
The total number of syllables present in each line.
a.
The total count of accented (stressed) syllables in each
line.
b.
The tally of recurring patterns of two or three syllables -
stressed and unstressed - clubbed in every line.
4.
Alliteration
Alliteration
is the repetition of a particular consonant or a vowel sound in the initial
stressed syllables of a series of words or phrases in close succession.
Examples:
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping... - From Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet. - From Robert Frost's "Acquainted with the Night
Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields. - From Alfred Tennyson's "Sir Galahad"
Examples:
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping... - From Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet. - From Robert Frost's "Acquainted with the Night
Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields. - From Alfred Tennyson's "Sir Galahad"
5.
Simile
A
simile is a figure of speech
that directly compares two things through some connective word, usually being
"like", "as", "than", or a verb such as
"resembles". A simile differs from a metaphor
in that the latter compares two unlike things by saying that the one thing is
the other thing. Sometimes similes force us to consider
how the two things being compared are dissimilar, but the relationship between
two dissimilar things can break down easily, so similes must be rendered delicately
and
carefully.
Examples:
O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
That's newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.
6.
Metaphor
Metaphor is an indirect parallel drawn between two
completely unrelated things. It is a comparison, yes, but metaphors do not use
the connectives 'like', 'as' and 'than'.
Example:
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
7.
Symbolism
The presentation of a tangible
object that actually represents an abstract or intangible concept or idea is
symbolism. A symbol can be presented to the readers in the form of a character,
an object strategically placed in the narrative, a word or phrase, or even a
place. A symbol is mostly subtle in nature or at least never blatantly
explained.
Example:
Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun:
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the travellers journey is done.[4]
Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun:
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the travellers journey is done.[4]
c.
Genre of Poetry
The genre of poetry is often
subdivided into the two major categories of narrative and lyric
poetry.
1.
Narrative poetry is a form of poetry
which tells a story, often making use of the voices of a narrator and
characters as well; the entire story is usually written in metred verse. The
poems that make up this genre may be short or long, and the story it relates to
may be complex. It is usually dramatic, with objectives, diverse characters,
and metre. Includes
genres such as the epic long poem, the romance and the ballad.
2.
lyric poetry typically express
personal or emotional feelings and are traditionally the home of the present
tense. They have specific rhyming schemes and are often, but not always, set to
music or a beat. Aristotle,
in Poetics
1447a, mentions lyric poetry (kitharistike played to the cithara,
a type of lyre) along with drama,
epic poetry, dancing,
painting
and other forms of mimesis.
Some of the
precursors of modern poetry can be found in Old English riddles and charms.
These cultic and magic texts, for example the following charm “Against a Wen”,
which is supposed to help to get rid of boils, seem strange today, but were
common in that period.
Wen,
wen, little wen,
here
you must not build, here have no abode,
but
you must go north to the nearby hill
where,
poor wretch, you have a brother.
He
will lay a leaf at your head.
Under
the paw of the wolf, under the eagle’s wing,
under
the claw of the eagle, may you ever decline!
Shrink
like coal on the hearth!
Wizen
like filth on the wall!
Become
as small as a grain of linseed,
and
far smaller than a hand-worm’s h[5]
d.
How to Teach
Poetry
Teach is give
somebody lesson or skill or knowledge[6]. In
some country teaching
poetry as part of a language subject. There are ten steps for teaching poetry.
a. Students should be taught meter, rhythm, rhyme, and literary
terminology first.
b. Students should then bring in the
lyrics to songs that they consider good representations of poetry.
c. Students should then define what poetry is to them.
d.
Students should be given a T chart on the differences
between prose and poetry so that they can talk the talk of poetry. (syllables, lines, stanzas, couplets,
alliteration, metaphors, etc...)
e.
Songs work well because poetry is about sounds. It is meant to be read aloud.
f. Students then should be given the
background of the poet before any of his or her poems are read. Poets write
what they know and feel. Poetry is
about emotions.
g. Students should read a poem two or
three times aloud before they do anything with it.
h. There is no scale for grading good
poetry. Ask Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. He got it right. Poetry is good if you like it.
i.
After it is determined that you like a poem or did not like
it, try to figure out why or why not. Was it the short hand of metaphors,
similes, personification? Was it the rhythm or rhyme. Yes, good poetry can and does rhyme; and sometimes it does not.
j.
Emotion cannot be explained. Teachers, please don't ruin the
poetry for your students. Let them
appreciate the piece for what it is. [7]
In addition there are some games, Many of these games require reciting poetry aloud, which
will help students to connect with it more than reading silently often does.
1.
Memory
This
game uses the same rules as the Memory game that you probably played as a child.
Write excerpts from poems on notecards, with the corresponding authors' names
on another set of cards. To play, mix them up and lay them face-down in neat
rows on a table, as in traditional Memory. When a student lifts a card, she
tries to remember where the corresponding one lies, to create a match. To do
this, she must be able to match the author with the poem. Students take turns
trying to create a match.
2.
Group Charades
Students
could act out charades as small groups, while other students guess which poem
they are depicting. Unlike in traditional charades, they should recite select
lines from a poem, while being careful not to give the answer away too easily.
3.
Trivia Challenge
Make
a list of interesting characters, events and places from English poems of the
time period your class is studying, and create note cards with questions about
them. For a class review, divide students into two teams and give a point to
whichever team calls out the correct answer to a question first.[8]
4.
Re-Write a Poem
Have
students pair up for this activity, and ask them to re-write in modern language
one of the poems they've recently read. They can use slang expressions and
casual dialogue, depending on who they believe the speaker is addressing.
Whether it's addressed to a friend or an authority figure, their language will
be very different than the language in the original poem. Students will have a
lot of fun with their comparisons of new and old ways of expressing the same
feelings.po;[o/’.
5.
Re-Assemble a Poem
Have
students reassemble a poem that you've cut into pieces, as Pie Corbett suggests
in "Jumpstart! Poetry." They might work in small groups or pairs for
this exercise, talking about why each line belongs where they've placed it.
Students aren't showing that they can memorize a poem; it's unlikely that they
would know it line by line. Rather, the exercise helps them to think about what
the speaker is saying, so they'll know how the poem progresses.[9]
E.
Conclusion
Poem is a literary work
which full of imagination, we can use it to give a message to others or
entertain to the reader or listener. It has some elements which influence the
arrangement of poetry and its rules, they are stanza, rhyme, rhythm,
alliteration, simile, metaphore, and symbolism. It also can be taught to others
by some exciting way. Poetry is an exciting literary work to learn because it
can improve our emotional skill, imagination, our writing skill, etc.
References
Anggari, Indriani Dewi, Introduction to Literature, Jakarta, 2005
Jonathan Culler, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction., New York: Oxford
University Press Inc, 1997
Oxford University, Oxford Learners Pocket Dictionary, New York: Oxford University Press, 2008
Klarer,Mario ,In introduction to
Literary Studies (E-Book)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poetry
[1]http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poetry
[2] Indriani Dewi Anggari,
Introduction to Literature (Jakarta: 2005), pp.99—100.
[3] Jonathan Culler, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction. (New
York: Oxford University Press Inc,1997) pp.69—70.
[4]
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/basic-elements-of-poetry.html
[5] Klarer,Mario ,In introduction to Literary Studies. p.
27
[6] Oxford University, Oxford Learners Pocket Dictionary (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2008) p.455
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