This document provides an overview of poetry, including its defining characteristics of rhyme and meter. It discusses three major classes of poetry - lyric, narrative, and dramatic poetry. Lyric poetry focuses on personal thoughts and feelings, narrative tells a story, and dramatic is intended for performance. The document also covers how to analyze and properly read a poem, focusing on elements like theme, author context, and form/structure. Finally, it discusses sonnets specifically, outlining their two-part structure and common rhyme schemes.

1. POETRY
Literary composition written in which
metrical structure is manifested.

2. Its striking lines are drawn from the
formation of rhyme and rhythm.
Rhyme is the regular recurrence or
occurence of similars sounds at the end of
the lines or verses.
Rhythm is the measured arrangement of
syllables according to stress. It may
otherwise known as meter.

3. A piece of poetry primarily pictures the
message. It does not dictate its meaning; it
only suggests it through awakening the
reader’s emotions. The reader’s feelings
may be aroused and kindled through
proper reading with rhyme and rhythm.

4. THREE MAJOR CLASSES OF
POETRY
LYRIC | NARRATIVE | DRAMATIC

5. LYRIC POETRY
primarily deals with subjects bordering on
personal thoughts and feelings. Some
forms are:
 Ode. Long lyric poem.
 Song. With musical melody.
 Sonnet. Love poem that dealt with lover’s
sufferings and emotions.
 Ellegy. Commemorate the dead.
 Rondeau. Short poem with repeating sounds.

6. NARRATIVE POETRY
tells a story. Some forms are:
 Epic. Elevated style of language and
supernatiral beings take part in the action.
 Ballad. Narrating a story in short stanzas.
 Idyll. Suggests a mood of peace and
contentment.
 Metrical Tale. Relays a story in just a number
of verses.

7. DRAMATIC POETRY
intended to be performed before an
audience. Some forms are:
 Tragedy. Human suffering and terrible events.
 Comedy. Humurous and amusing that causes
laughter.
 Melodrama. Plot is sensational and designed
to appeal strongly to the emotions.
 Interlude. Short simple poem in the middle of
something.
 Farce. Highly exaggerated comedy.
 Allegory. Hidden meanings.

8. HOW TO READ A POEM
Before a poem should be read aloud, the
reader should first study and answer the
following questions:
1. What does the title imply?
2. Who is the author? Look into the
conditions of the life of the author when
the poem is written.
3. What were the prevailing conditions
which might had been the sources of the
poet’s motivations?

9. 4. What particular force of emotion was
presented in the poem?
5. What is the theme or message of the
poem?
6. What is the relevance or significance of
the message in terms of human values at
the present time?

10. FORM AND STRUCTURE
In prose, the sentences are usually in
natural order. The verb ordinally follows the
subject, as of a sentence in an active
voice.
The woman stands bewildered.
In poetry, the verses in many instances are
in the inverted order. The subject follows
the verb.
Bewildered stands the woman.
One who reads the poem naturally expects
to pause at the end of the line. However,
the end

11. of the line or verse does not always
indicate the end of a complete thought.
The reader of a poem has to look for
periods, question or exclamation mark
which signify the completion of a thought
or idea.
“So bewildered stands the woman
In the stillness of the night;
Seized by the memories of man
For whom she lives with love and might.”

12. HOW TO READ A SONNET
A reader should first understand that a
sonnet is a lyric poem of 14 iambic
pentameter lines. It consists of two parts:
1. Octave. This part corresponds to the first
8 lines. It usually presents the poet’s
problems which are usually personal in
nature. It may delve on inquiries related
to inner thoughts and feelings as in love,
happiness, hate or anger.

13. 2. Sestet. This part refers to the poem’s last
6 lines. It embraces and explains the
poet’s resolutions, judgment and
conclusions on problems, inquiries or
matters presented in the sonnet’s octave.

14. KINDS OF SONNETS
1. SHAKESPEAREAN or ENGLISH
SONNET. the verse endings are rhyming
together. A verse is a pentameter in
rhythm if it consists of 5 feet. An iambic
foot consists of 2 syllables., one
unaccented ( ∂ ) and the other is
accented ( ∕ ).
∂ ∕ ∂ ∕ ∂ ∕ ∂ ∕ ∂ ∕
No lon ger mourn for me when I am
dead
1 2 3 4 5

15. 2. PETRARCHAN or ITALIAN SONNET.
the lines are rhyming together. The first,
the fourth and fifth, and the eighth lines
rhyme together; the second and third,
the sixth and seventh are also have the
same rhyme scheme. The ninth, the
eleventh, and the thirteenth lines rhyme
together; the tenth the twelfth, and the
fourteenth also rhyme together.