This document provides an overview of poetry analysis, including defining poetry as a composition in verse using devices like figurative language, rhythm, and rhyme. It then discusses how poets reflect the events of their time period and how understanding the poet's background provides insight. Finally, it outlines several forms of poetry like narrative, lyric, sonnets, odes, and elegies as well as literary elements to analyze like theme, form, diction, tone, imagery, rhythm, and rhyme.

1. A poem is a composition in verse. It paints pictures by means
of poetic devices such as figurative language, rhythm and
rhyme.

2. Poets and
TheirTimes
Poets reflect the events
and ideas of their times
through poetry.
Understanding of a poet’s
time may lead to an
understanding of his
ideas.
Knowledge of a poet’s
background also gives us
insight into his intention.
We refer to “schools of
poets”:
Metaphysical Poets
(John Donne)
Romantic Poets
(Wordsworth)
War Poets
(Rupert Brooke)

3.  Theme/Main Idea
 Form
 Diction (Word Choice)
 Tone (Attitude)
 Imagery
 Rhythm
 Rhyme
 Metre

4.  Narrative Poetry:
Ballad, Epic, Allegory, Dramatic
Monologue
 Lyric: Sonnet
(Petrarchan, Shakespearean, Mo
dern), Ode, Elegy.

5. Analysis of Poetry
Theme/Idea
Each poem conveys
the messages or
intentions of the
poet and these may
be explicit (0bvious)
or implicit (implied).
The poem may be a
narrative, which tells
a story, or a
lyric, which describes
the personal feelings
of the poet.

6. Analysis of Poetry
Form
A poem is written in a
particular form.
Poems are usually
written in lines.
These lines can be
grouped into stanzas.
Enjambment or run-on
lines occur in poetry
where there is no
punctuation at the end
of a line. The poet’s
thoughts remain
unbroken.

7. Analysis of Poetry
Diction
The poet’s use of words
creates atmosphere
and sets the poem in
its correct time and
place.
Word choice influences
rhythm and mood.
In a rhyming
poem, appropriate
word choice is crucial.
Jargon and slang may
be used for effect.
The use of repetition is
also an effective
device.

8. Analysis of Poetry
Tone (Attitude)
The tone of the poem reveals the
poet’s subjective views and attitude
to the reader and to the subject.
Tone contributes to the mood or
atmosphere of the poem.
Best descriptive words for tone:
Friendly
Sharp
Sarcastic
Ironic
Angry
Humorous
Condescending
(Image the poet’sTONE OFVOICE –
“hear” the poet reading his/her
poem out loud…)

9. Analysis of Poetry
Imagery
 Poetry is a combination of
literal and figurative language.
 Imagery conjures up word
pictures – these affect us
emotionally and intellectually.
 Metaphors, similes, personifact
ion.
 Alliteration, assonance, conson
ance, onomatopoeia.

10. Analysis of Poetry
Rhythm
Rhythm sets the
pace and should
match the meaning.
Slow rhythm =
sombre meaning.
Quick pace = happy
mood.
When reading a
poem aloud, FEEL
the change of pace
and how it affects
the mood of the
poem.
Pace (tempo) and
pause affect rhythm.

11. Analysis of Poetry
Rhyme
 Rhyme depends on sound, not
sight.
 Rhyme schemes differ.
 Couplet: Two consecutive
rhyming lines.
 Quatrain: Four-lined stanza.
Aabb =
pair rhyme
Abab =
alternate/cross
rhyme
Aabb = enclosed
rhyme
Abca =
free verse

12. Analysis of Poetry
Metre
Metre is the
number of
stresses, beats or
feet in a line of
poetry.
Shakespeare
used the iambic
(rising rhythm of
two syllables)
pentameter (five
feet) to write his
sonnets.

13. NARRATIVE POETRY
 The Ballad
 The Epic
 TheAllegory
 Dramatic Monologue
THE LYRIC
 Elizabethan Sonnet
 Petrarchan Sonnet
 Modern Sonnet
 The Ode
 The Elegy

14.  A narrative form tells a story.
 It usually has a beginning, middle, climax and
conclusion.
 Direct and narrated speech can be used.
 Often composed to record historical, political
and family events.
 Passed down from generation to generation.
 Example: “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”

15.  The Lyric is a poem with a musical or song-
like quality.
 The Lyric conveys the personal thoughts of
the poet.
 The Lyric was originally accompanied by the
lyre.
 This form was favoured by romantic poets
likeWordsworth, Keats and Shelley.

16.  Oldest form of
narrative verse.
 At one stage it was
sung.
 Subject matter:
Love, death, war, brav
ery, adventure, action.
 Rhythm has strong
beat.
 Today = songwriters.

17.  Long, narrative
poem telling the
story of an historical
figure or event.
 Has been referred to
as a “novel in verse”.

18.  TheAllegory is a
narrative poem that
appears in the form of
an extended
metaphor.
 It conveys a veiled
moral meaning.
 Example: “Faerie
Queene” by Spencer.

19.  Spoken in the first
person (“I”).
 The speaker addresses
an invisible recipient.
 From his words, we
learn more about the
speaker.
 Story line = narrative.
 Example: Robert
Browning

20.  Shakespearean Sonnet
 English Sonnet
 14 Lines
 Three quatrains +
rhyming couplet.
 Iambic pentameter.
 Couplet: Ties up the
images and feelings
and states the
philosophy of the poet.

21.  Italian Sonnet
 Octave (8 lines) +
Sestet (6 lines).
 Octave: The Problem
 Sestet: The Solution
 Break =Volta
 Octave: abbaabba
 Sestet: cdecde or
cdcdc or cddcef.

22.  These often combine
aspects of the
Shakespearean and
Petrarchan forms.
 They may create their
own forms, but always
retain the 14 lines.

24.  The Ode is an address
or tribute in praise of
something.
 It describes the
personal feelings of
the poet.
 Originally sung as
accompaniment to a
Greek Dance.
 Later: Praise of
inanimate object.

25.  A reflective poem or
lament dealing with
topics such as death or
mourning.
 Examples: “Elegy
written in a Country
Churchyard” by Gray
and “Lycidas” by
Milton.

26. Poetry -
Concluding
Thoughts
A poet is, before
anything else, a person
who is passionately in
love with language.
(W.H. Auden)
To have great
poets, there must be
great audiences.
(WaltWhitman)
Poetry is nearer to vital
truth than history.
(Plato)