varied length, meter, and form. • d. Sonnet: 14 lines, the Italian (or
Petrarchan: 8-line octave + 6-line sestet; typical rhyming: abbaabba+cdcdcd/cdecde) and the English (or Shakespearean: three 4line quatrains + a concluding 2-line couplet)
eg. bright and night heaven and seven see and thee
1.3.7. Sound
Rhyme: two or more words or phrases
contain an identical or similar vowel-sound, usually stressed, and the consonant sounds that follow the vowel-sound are identical and preceded by different consonants.
1.2.2. Lyram[诙谐诗]: short poem expressing an idea in clear and amusing way
• b. Elegy: a lament for the dead. • c. Ode: a long stately poem in stanzas of
1.2.Types of poetry
• 1.2.1. Narrative poetry • a. Epic: long narrative poems that record
the adventures of a hero whose exploits [brave or adventurous deeds or action] are important to the history of a nation. As Homeric epics (a blind bard): The Iliad and The Odyssey • b. Ballad: a simple poem(less ambitious than epics) that tells a story. • c. Romance: another type of narrative poem, in which adventure is a central feature.
• d.“A good poem is the crystalization of word and emotions.”
• e. The traditional American dictionary defines poetry as : A verbal composition designed to convey experiences, ideas, or emotions in a vivid and imaginative way, characterized by the use of condensed languages chosen for its sound and suggestive power and by the use of literary techniques such as meter, metaphor, and rhyme.
1.3. Elements of poetry
• 1.3.1. Voice: speaker and tone • 1.3.2. Diction: the best words in the best order
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge) • 1.3.3. Imagery: a concrete representation of a
• 1.3.5. Symbolism: a symbol is any object or action that means more than itself, any object or action that represents sth beyond itself.
• 1.3.6. Syntax: the grammatical structure of words in sentences and the development of sentences in longer units throughout the poem.
Edgar Allan Poe
(1809-1849)
I. Introduction to poetry 1.1. What is poetry
• a. Emily Dickinson: “when I read something I feel so cold that no fire can warm me, I know it’s poetry; when I read something I feel my head is chopped off, I know it’s poetry.”
sense impression, a feeling, or an idea. • Images: visual, aural, tactile, olfactory
(something smelled), gustatory (sth tasted) • 1.3.4. Figures of speech: simile and metaphor
• b. The poet has found the emotion, the emotion has found the word.
• c. Wordsworth: “All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”.