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The World Is Full of Poetry. A poem begins as a lump in the throat,a sense of wrong, a home sickness, a love, sickness. It is a reaching -- out toward. Expression; an effort to find fulfillment.

A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and thought has found the words.

~~~~Types of poetry~~~~

  1. Blank verse

  2. Free verse

  3. Narrative

  4. Elegy

  5. Limerick

  6. Sonnet

  7. Ballad

  8. Concrete

  9. Ode

  10. Lyric

  • Blank verse is a form of verse, which is written in iambic pentameter and is not rhymed.

  • Free verse is a poem that does not have any fixed meter, rhyme, or line length. The rhythm may vary from line to line or within a line. The verse is called "free" because the poet is free to change the patterns or to use no pattern at all. Much twentieth-century poetry is written in free verse.

  • Narrative poetry that tells a story and organises its action according to a sequence of time. The story may be true or it may be imagined.

  • Elegy is a formal poem, often written as a lament for a departed friend of respected person. The poet usually sets forth his or her ideas about death or some other serious subject.

  • Limerick is a humorous, five-line poem, usually in anapaestic rhythm: the first, second, and fifth lines have three feet and rhyme with each other; the third and fourth lines have two feet and rhyme with each other. Limericks usually tell of the actions of a person.

  • Sonnet : a lyric poem of fourteen lines in iambic pentameter following one of several possible rhyme schemes. The two main types of sonnet are the Italian and the English.

  • Ballad: a narrative poem, usually containing much repetition and often a repeated refrain. Ballads were originally folk songs that passed on from age to age. Ballads often tell of a single dramatic episode such as the sinking of a ship or a fight over a beautiful woman.

  • Concrete: poetry that conveys meaning through its visual shape on the page. Concrete poem have been written in the shapes of wing, trees, falling rain and even the motion of a person swimming laps in a pool.

  • Ode: a poem on an exalted theme, expressed in dignified, sincere language, serious in tone, and usually in praise of something of somebody.

  • Lyric: a short poem expressing the internal and emotional thoughts of a single speaker. Lyrics are usually an expression of the poet's feelings about a person, an object, an event or an idea.

    ~~~~Comprehending Poetry~~~~

    Purpose

    1. The poet wishes to express a theme, which will help him/her understand life.

    2. The poet wishes to immortalise an instant in time.

    3. The poet wishes to describe a scene.

    4. The poet wishes to tell a story.

    5. The poet wishes to experiment with specific, accepted poetic form.

    ~~~How to understand a poem~~~

    1. read the poem 2-3 times and understand its purpose;

    2. recognize its dominant image -- what "mental picture" do you get in your mind?

    3. what " building blocks" is the author using? Figures of speech, rhyme or rhythm.

    4. establish the theme -- what is the author trying to tell the reader.

    Theme

    Poems, like words of fiction and drama, have themes. Because poem usually are much briefer than other forms of writing, the theme sometimes appears throughout the poem. At other times, the poet does not introduce the theme until late in the poem, often as a contrast to or an expansion upon ideas already resented.

    Do not confuse the theme of the poem with subject of the poem. The theme is the main idea of the poem, not merely the topic tha6t the poet addresses.

    Point of View

    Poetry can be written from different points of view. The first-person point of view often is used in lyric poems in which the poet explores an original idea. The "I" of the first-person point of view makes the poem more personal. The third-person point of view puts a distance between the poet and the subject of the poem. It seems to be a more intellectual and less emotional way to approach a subject. Figures Of Speech and Sound Devices

    Figures of speech are words or phrases that creates a vivid image by contrasting unlike things. Figures of speech have meanings other than its ordinary meaning.

      Figures of speech

    1. Simile: a direct comparison between two unlike things that are connected by like, as, or resembles or the verb appears or seems. The purpose of a simile is to give the reader a vivid new way of looking at one of the things.
    2. Metaphor: an imaginative implied comparison between two unlike things. A metaphor is a comparison that suggests one thing is another. The purpose of a metaphor is to give the reader an unusual way of looking at one of the things.
    3. Personfication: a figure of speech in which an animal, an object, or an idea is given human qualities. Poets often use personefication to describe abstract ideas such freedom, truth, and beauty.
    Sound Devices
    1. Alliteration: the close repetition of the same first sounds in words, usually consonant sounds, at the beginnings of words, it can also occur within words.
    2. Assonance: the repetition of similar vowel sounds within words to emphasize certain sounds and add a musical quality.
    3. Onomatopoiea: the use of words whose sounds imitate, echo, or suggest their meanings. Poets use onomatopoiea to add humour, to reinforce the meaning of a line, or to create an image.