ELEMENTS OF POETRY

Part Three: Sound, Rhythm, Meter, Structure and Theme

Sound Rhyme

Matching of sounds in two or more wordsEnd Rhyme

○ Corresponding sounds at the end of linesInternal Rhyme

○ Corresponding sounds occur within the lines

From “The Raven”by Edgar Allan Poe“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and

weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore ---

While I nodded nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As some one gently tapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“ ‘Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door ---

Only this and nothing more.”

Perfect/Exact RhymeRhyming words share corresponding

sounds and stresses, similar number of syllables

“Weary” and “dreary”; “lore” and “door” Imperfect/Approximate/Slant Rhyme

“dizzy” and “easy” Feminine Rhyme

Final syllable of a rhymed word is unstressed

Masculine RhymeFinal syllable of rhymed word is stressed

AlliterationRepetition of consonant soundsUsually at the beginning of wordsPeter Piper picked a pickle

AssonanceRepetition of vowel sounds

Rhythm and Meter

RhythmRegular occurrence of accent or stress in

poem or song“JACK and JILL went UP the HILL”

MeterMeasure or patterned count of a lineCount of stresses in a poem’s rhythm

Meter

FootUnit of poetic meterIambic

○ iamb○ Unstressed syllable followed by an accented

one○ “preVENT” “conTAIN”

Trochaic○ Trochee○ Accented syllable followed by unaccented one○ “FOOTball” “LANGuage”

FootAnapestic

○ Anapest○ Two unaccented syllables followed by an

unaccented one○ “com-pre-HEND”

Dactylic○ Dactyl○ Accented syllable followed by two unaccented

ones○ “CHEER-ful-ly”

FootSpondee

○ Two accented syllables together○ “KNICK-KNACK”

Pyrrhic○ Two unaccented syllables○ “of the”

Both can serve as the subsitute feet for iambic and trochaic feet

Cannot be the metrical norm for a poem

Rising MeterMove from unaccented to accentedIambic and anapestic

Falling MeterMove from accented to unaccentedDactylic and trochaic

Lines of Poetry

Named based on numbers of feet in the line

Tetrameter, pentameter, monometer, etc.

Foot Meter Example

Rising feet iambAnapest

iambicanapestic

Preventcomprehend

Falling feet TrocheeDactyl

TrochaicDactylic

FootballCheerfully

Substitute SpondeePyrrhic

SpondaicPyrrhic

Knick-knack(light) of the (world)

Number of Feet Per Line

One foot Monometer

Two feet Dimeter

Three feet Trimeter

Four feet Tetrameter

Five feet Pentameter

Six feet Hexameter

Seven feet Heptameter

Eight feet octameter

EnjambedRun-on lines that may confuse the

observation of meter and rhythm

Metrical VariationChange in meter to avoid monotony

Structure

Closed FormStrictly constrained formSonnet (MUST have 14 lines, etc.)

○ QuatrainFour line sections

○ CoupletPair of rhymed lines

Open Form/Free FormNOT formless, but allows poet to use

multiple forms and bend rules

Theme

Idea or meaning inherent in a work Poems are easy to oversimplify – be

aware of the increased imagery and metaphor.