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Reading and Writing Poetry

Definitions of Poetry

Poetry is the record of the best and happiest moments of the happiest and best minds.
Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted. -Percy Bysshe Shelley

Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an
escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to
escape from these things.- T.S. Eliot

Poetry is at bottom a criticism of life; that the greatness of a poet lies in his powerful and beautiful application of
ideas to life to the question: How to live. -Matthew Arnold

Poetry is what in a poem makes you laugh, cry, prickle, be silent, makes your toe nails twinkle, makes you want to
do this or that or nothing, makes you know that you are alone in the unknown world, that your bliss and suffering is
forever shared and forever all your own. Dylan Thomas

Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an
escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to
escape from these things. T.S. Eliot

I have said that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in
tranquillity: the emotion is contemplated till, by a species of reaction, the tranquillity gradually disappears, and an
emotion, kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced, and does itself actually
exist in the mind. William Wordsworth

Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary. Kahlil Gibran

Elements of the Genre

a. Essential elements
a.1. Theme - the main idea or message about mankind or life conveyed by a piece of literary work.
Major and Minor Themes

A major theme is an idea that a writer repeats in his work, making it the most significant idea
in a literary work.
A minor theme, on the other hand, refers to an idea that appears in a work briefly and gives
way to another minor theme.
Presentation of Themes

A writer may express a theme through the feelings of his main character about the subject he
has chosen to write about.
Similarly, themes are presented through thoughts and conversations of different characters.
Moreover, the experiences of the main character in the course of a literary work give us an idea
about its theme.
The actions and events taking place in a narrative are consequential in determining its theme.
Function of Theme

Theme is an element of a story that binds together various other essential elements of a
narrative.
It is a truth that exhibits universality and stands true for people of all cultures.
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Through themes, a writer tries to give his readers an insight into how the world works or how he
or she views human life.
a.2. Tone - The writers attitude towards the subject of the piece, the audience, and self.
-Also known as, the way feelings are expressed.
-Refers to how the author/the authors characters feel towards the subject, or towards
something.
-You will know what the authors tone is implying by the words he uses.
-The tone can be formal, informal, serious, comic, sarcastic, sad, and cheerful or it may be any
other existing attitudes.

Conveyed through the use of:

Diction (the words that the author uses in his/her writing)
Point of View (the authors view and how it affects his/her writing)
Syntax (the arrangement of words to create sentences)
And, the authors level of formality (how formal or informal is the
piece?)
Robert Frost in the last stanza of his poem The Road Not Taken gives us an insight into the effect of tone:

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Frost tells us about his past with a sigh, this gives the above lines an unhappy tone. This tone leads us into thinking
that the speaker in the poem had to make a difficult choice.

Tone, in a piece of literature, decides how they readers read a literary piece and how they should feel while they are
reading it. It stimulates the readers to read a piece of literature as a serious, comical, spectacular or distressing.

b. Elements for specific forms

b.1. Conventional forms

Ang tanaga ay isang tulang Tagalog na palasak na bago pa dumating ang mga Kastila. Ito ay may mataas na uri.
Binubuo ito ng apat na taludturan na may pituhang pantig. Ang tanaga ay nahahawig sa haiku at muling naging
palasak ang tanaga noong panahon ng Hapon. Ang tanaga ay itinuturing na malayang tula at sagana sa
talinghaga.
Wala iyan sa pabalat Totoong sinungaling,
at sa puso nakatatak, At talagang malihim,
nadaramat nalalasap Pipi kung kausapin,
ang pag-ibig na matapat. Walang kiboy matabil,
(PAG-IBIG) Ang isa sa kaaway,
-ni Emelita Perez Baes Na marami ang bilang,
Ang iyong pangilangan,
Ayan katabi mo lang!
Ildefonso Santos
Ang diona ay uri ng katutubong tula na binubuo ng tatlong (3) taludtod. Ang bawat taludtod ay binubuo ng pitong
(7) pantig. Ito ay may tugma.
Kay sarap mag isa Diona sa Ina
Sapagkat nagagwa Ikaw ang aking duyan.
Nating maging malaya Nang akoy iluwal
Ang alay moy buhay. Raul Funilas
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Ang Dalt ay isang tula na maaaring mabuo sa isang saknong gaya ng tanga at diyna. Ito ay binubuo ng apat na
taludtod na may sukat na wawaluhin ang bawat taludtod. Sa dalt ipinahahayag ng mga Tagalog ang kanilang
matatayog na kaisipan at mabibigat na damdamin.
Dalit sa Anak
Ang bisig koy di namitig
Nang madama ang pag-ibig.
Anuman ang masasapit,
Kumapit ka nang mahigpit.

A traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often
focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression.
employs provocative, colorful imagery, and provides a sudden moment of illumination.
An old pond! In the moonlight,
A frog jumps in The color and scent of the wisteria
the sound of water. Seems far away.
-Matsuo Basho - Yosa Buson

Sonnet

- From the Italian sonetto, which means a little sound or song,"

- is a fourteen-line poem written in iambic pentameter, which employ one of several rhyme schemes and
adhere to a tightly structured thematic organization.
- Two sonnet forms provide the models from which all other sonnets are formed: the Petrarchan and the
Shakespearean.
Petrarchan Sonnet

- The first and most common sonnet is the Petrarchan, or Italian.

- Named after one of its greatest practitioners, the Italian poet Petrarch
- Petrarchan sonnet is divided into two stanzas, the octave (the first eight lines)
followed by the answering sestet (the final six lines).
- The tightly woven rhyme scheme, abba, abba, cdecde or cdcdcd, is suited for the
rhyme-rich Italian language, though there are many fine examples in English.
- Since the Petrarchan presents an argument, observation, question, or some other
answerable charge in the octave, a turn, or volta, occurs between the eighth and
ninth lines. This turn marks a shift in the direction of the foregoing argument or
narrative, turning the sestet into the vehicle for the counterargument, clarification,
or whatever answer the octave demands.

Shakespearean Sonnet

The second major type of sonnet, the Shakespearean, or English sonnet, follows a different set of rules. Here, three
quatrains and a couplet follow this rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The couplet plays a pivotal role, usually
arriving in the form of a conclusion, amplification, or even refutation of the previous three stanzas, often creating an
epiphanic quality to the end. In Sonnet 130 of William Shakespeares epic sonnet cycle, the first twelve lines compare
the speakers mistress unfavorably with natures beauties. But the concluding couplet swerves in a surprising direction:
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My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

Sonnet Variations

Though Shakespeares sonnets were perhaps the finest examples of the English sonnet, John Miltons Italian-patterned
sonnets (later known as Miltonic sonnets) added several important refinements to the form. Milton freed the sonnet
from its typical incarnation in a sequence of sonnets, writing the occasional sonnet that often expressed interior, self-
directed concerns. He also took liberties with the turn, allowing the octave to run into the sestet as needed. Both of
these qualities can be seen in When I Consider How My Light is Spent.

The Spenserian sonnet, invented by sixteenth century English poet Edmund Spenser, cribs its structure from the
Shakespeareanthree quatrains and a coupletbut employs a series of couplet links between quatrains, as revealed
in the rhyme scheme: abab, bcbc, cdcd, ee. The Spenserian sonnet, through the interweaving of the quatrains, implicitly
reorganized the Shakespearean sonnet into couplets, reminiscent of the Petrarchan. One reason was to reduce the
often excessive final couplet of the Shakespearean sonnet, putting less pressure on it to resolve the foregoing argument,
observation, or question.

Sonnet Sequences

There are several types of sonnet groupings, including the sonnet sequence, which is a series of linked sonnets dealing
with a unified subject. Examples include Elizabeth Barrett Brownings Sonnets from the Portuguese and Lady Mary
Roths The Countess of Montgomerys Urania, published in 1621, the first sonnet sequence by an English woman.

Within the sonnet sequence, several formal constraints have been employed by various poets, including the corona
(crown) and sonnet redoubl. In the corona, the last line of the initial sonnet acts as the first line of the next, and the
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ultimate sonnets final line repeats the first line of the initial sonnet. La Corona by John Donne is comprised of seven
sonnets structured this way. The sonnet redoubl is formed of 15 sonnets, the first 14 forming a perfect corona, followed
by the final sonnet, which is comprised of the 14
Alliteration
Two or more words which have the same initial sound. The alliteration may be separated by
prepositions. Alliteration example: Pretty princess. Busy as a bee. Example of usage in a poem: William Blake's
"The Tiger".
Assonance
A partial rhyme which has the same internal vowel sounds amongst different words. Assonance
example: The tundra left the man hungry for buns
Metaphor
A comparison which does not use the words like or as. Metaphor example: "Life is a journey." Example
of usage in a poem: Gary R. Hess's "Seasons".
Onomatopoeia
Words that sound like their meaning. Onomatopoeia examples: buzz, moo, pow, bang. Example of
usage in a poem: William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper".
Repetitions
The repetition of the same word throughout the poem to emphasize significance.
Rhyme
The repetition of sounds within different words, either end sound, middle or beginning. Rhyme
example: loose goose. Example of usage in a poem: Oliver Wendell Holmes's "Old Ironsides".
Rhythm
The flow of words within each meter and stanza. Rhythm example: Iambic pentameter. Example of
usage in a poem: Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116".
Simile
A comparison using the words like or as. Simile example: Life is like a box of chocolates. Example of
usage in a poem: Amy Lowell's "A Decade".
Style
The way the poem is written. Free-style, ballad, haiku, etc. Includes length of meters, number of
stanzas along with rhyme techniques and rhythm.
Symbol
Something that represents something else through association, resemblance or convention.
Theme
The message, point of view and idea of the poem.
In the 20th and 21st century, poets have tried to come up with new ways of adding elements.
Nonetheless, many of these versions still stem from some of the older, tried and true elements.
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b.2. Free verse -the line and line break -enjambments -metaphor c. Other experimental texts c.1. typography
c.2. genre-crossing texts (e.g. prose poem, performance poetry, etc.) d. Tone 2.3. Techniques and literary devices
(modelling from well-known local and foreign poets)

http://www.poemofquotes.com/articles/elements-of-poetry.php
https://literarydevices.net/tone/
https://literarydevices.net/theme/
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/sonnet-poetic-form