7. Many ancient works, from
the Vedas to the
Odyssey, appear to have
been composed in poetic
form to aid memorization
and oral transmission, in
prehistoric and ancient
societies.
8. The oldest surviving poem is the Epic of
Gilgamesh, from the 3rd millennium BC in
Sumer (Mesopotamia, now Iraq), which was
written in cuneiform script on clay tablets
and, later, papyrus.
9. Other ancient epic poetry includes the
Greek epics, Iliad and Odyssey, and
the Indian epics, Ramayana and the
Mahabharata.
15. Dramatic Poetry
Is drama written in verse
to be spoken or sung, and
appears in varying and
sometimes related forms in
many cultures.
uses the discourse of the
characters involved to tell a
story or portray a situation.
16. Satirical Poetry
A punch of an insult
delivered in verse
often written for political
purposes.
A notable example is that
of
the
Roman
poet
Juvenal.
17. Lyric Poetry
Portrays the poet's own
feelings, state of mind, and
perceptions.
Derived from the word
"lyre―; implies that it is
intended to be sung
Includes
sonnets, elegy, ballads, odes
, villanelles and pastourelles
19. Basic Elements of Poetry
RHYTHM
is the actual
sound that
results from a
line of poetry.
20. Basic Elements of Poetry
RHYTHM
the pattern of
stressed and
unstressed
syllables in a
line.
21. RHYTHM
THUS, when we describe
the rhythm of a poem, we
―scan‖ the poem and mark
the
stresses
(/)
and
absences of stress (^) and
count the number of feet.
22. Kinds of feet (English):
Iamb — unstressed syllable (^)
followed by a stressed syllable
(/)
iamb
^
The
(^/)
/^
/
^
/^
/
^/^
/
^
/
falling
out
of
faithful
friends
renewing
is
of
love
27. Spondee and pyrrhic are called
feet, even though they contain
only one kind of stressed
syllable. They are never used as
the sole meter of a poem. But
inserted now and then, they can
lend emphasis and variety to a
meter.
33. Some examples of metric system
Iambic pentameter. It contains
five feet per line, in which the
predominant kind of foot is the
"iamb‖
Dactylic hexameter. It has six
feet per line, of which the
dominant kind of foot is the
dactyl.
34. REMEMBER!
1 foot = 1 syllable with a
stress and 1or 2 syllables
without a stress.
trochee (/^)
/^
Double,
/^
double
/
^
toil
and
/^
trouble
39. #1
If this be error and upon me proved
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
#2
Alas! What hereby shall I win
If he gainsay me?
40. #3
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass
So deep in love am I:
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.
41. #4
Continuous, as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
42. Basic Elements of Poetry
RHYME
consists of identical
(hard-rhyme) or
similar (soft-rhyme)
sounds placed at the
ends of lines or at
predictable locations
within lines (internal
rhyme).
43. Basic Elements of Poetry
THEME
can be
described as
the soul of a
poem
44. Basic Elements of Poetry
THEME
what the poet
wants to
express
through his
words.
45. Basic Elements of Poetry
THEME
may either be a
thought, a
feeling, an
observation, a
story or an
experience.
46. Basic Elements of Poetry
SYMBOLISM
virtual
substances and
themes to
express the
deep hidden
meaning behind
the words.
47. Basic Elements of Poetry
SYMBOLISM
The use of
symbolism gives
a more reflective
empathy to the
poem.
48. Basic Elements of Poetry
ALLITERATION
the repetition of
initial consonant
sounds in two or
more neighboring
words or
syllables.
49. Basic Elements of Poetry
ALLITERATION
several words in a
line may be
beginning from the
same word for
example 'musical
melody of the
mystic minstrels'.
50. Basic Elements of Poetry
FIGURES OF
SPEECH
Used when words
and phrases that
help the reader to
picture ordinary
things in new ways
are chosen in
poetic lines
51. Another important thing to
know
STANZA
consists of two or
more lines of
poetry that
together form one
of the divisions of
a poem.
52. COUPLETS
stanzas of only
two lines which
usually rhyme
TERCETS
stanzas of three
lines.
QUATRAINS
stanzas of four
lines.
Editor's Notes
is a short poem, descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the Idylls.
The pastourelle is a typically Old Frenchlyric form concerning the romance of a shepherdess. Villanelles do not tell a story or establish a conversational toneA villanelle has only two rhyme sounds.
