Exploring the Language of Poetry: Structure

Ms. McPeak

Poem Structure: The Line is A Building Block

The basic building-block of prose (writing that isn't poetry) is the sentence. But poetry has something else -- the poetic line. Poets decide how long each line is going to be and where it will break off. That's why poetry often has a shape like this:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying:

And this same flower that smiles to-day

To-morrow will be dying.

That's the beginning of a poem by Robert Herrick. No matter where it is printed, the first line always ends with the word "may" and the second line with the word "a-flying" because the poet has written it this way.

Poem Structure: The Line is A Building Block

How might the structure of lines in poetry affect the readers experience of the poem?

( ie the length and the line breaks)

Lines of Poetry can Affect the Readers Experience with...

● The sound of the poem - When people read your poem out loud, or in their heads, they will

pause slightly at the end of each line.

● The speed of reading - Shortening or lengthening the lines can speed up or slow down the way

people read.

● How the poem looks on the page - Does the poem look light, delicate, with a lot of white space

around the lines? Or are the lines packed solidly together?

● Emphasis - Words at the end of a line seem more important than words in the middle.

Poem Structure: The Line is A Building Block

When you fit natural stopping points in a sentence to the end of your line, the reader takes a little pause. When a sentence or phrase continues from one line to the next,

the reader feels pulled along. If your line break interrupts a sentence or idea in a surprising place, the effect can be startling, suspenseful, or can highlight a certain

phrase or double-meaning.

Poem Structure: Types of Lines

Lines that finish at ends of sentences or at natural stopping points (for example, at a comma or a period ) are called end-stopped lines.

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate.Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

See how the lines each have their own units of sense? And they each end in a punctuation mark that

indicates a pause.

Poem Structure: Types of Lines

Enjambment, or run-on, lines occur when a phrase carries over a line-break without a major pause. When you read an enjambed line, these lines do not stop the natural flow of a line of poetry, rather, it encourages you to keep right on reading the next line, without stopping for a breather.

John Keat’s “Bright Star”

Or gazing on the new soft-fallen masque

Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—

Find the Lines“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”Robert Herrick

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying : And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he's a-getting,The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer ; But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may go marry : For having lost but once your prime You may for ever tarry.

“To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time- Robert Herrick”

End Stopped Lines

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying:

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he's a-getting,

The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer ;

Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may go marry :

Run on or Enjambed Lines

But being spent, the worse, and worst

Times still succeed the former.

And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying.

For having lost but once your prime You may for ever tarry.

Why might the poet use enjambment here?

To really emphasise a point!

Poem Structure: The Line is A Building Block

Poets also get to decide:

● Whether to use short lines or long lines, or to vary the length.

● Either to stack the lines evenly along the left margin, or to use a looser form.

● The shape of the thing they are writing about. For example, a circular poem about the moon.

You have many options as a poet, but these choices should never be made randomly.

Poem Structure: StanzasIn prose, ideas are usually grouped together in paragraphs. In poems, lines are often grouped together into what are called stanzas. Like paragraphs, stanzas are often used to organize ideas. Also, many modern poets do not have any identifiable structure ( free verse) so don’t panic if you can’t find it!

One way to identify a stanza is to count the number of lines.

● couplet (2 lines)● tercet (3 lines)● quatrain (4 lines)● cinquain (5 lines)● sestet (6 lines)● septet (7 lines)● octave (8 lines)

Shakespeare loved the Sonnet which had 14 lines

Poem Structure: Let’s Try it!

What lined stanzas would this poem have? What is each of the stanzas about?

That age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer;

But being spent, the worse, and worst

Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,

And while ye may, go marry:

For having lost but once your prime,

You may for ever tarry.

In the first of these stanzas, he is explaining that being young is great, but life just gets worse and worse as you get older.

In the second one, he is saying: "So

get married before you're too old and

have lost your chance."

Poem Structure: Choices, Choices

So many decisions to make -- line length, line breaks, arrangement, speed, rhythm. How should you choose?

The right form for your poem depends on, and works with, the poem's content, or what it's about. ie short/choppy lines for an angry poem

You may also feel overwhelmed by so many issues to think about. How can your inspiration flow freely if you have to keep track of all of these aspects of a poem? The answer is to do the work in two stages.

First, let your ideas flow.

Then, go back to the poem later and work on improving

the structure and form.

Poem Structure: Choices, Choices

It’s also a good idea to experiment a lot. Try breaking down the lines in different ways. Try changing the order of things. Try reorganizing things to move different words to the end of the lines so that the reader's attention goes to them. Don’t be afraid to experiment-- you can always go back to an earlier version if you don’t like the new change.

As you go through this process, ask yourself:

● What is my poem about?

● What words or phrases do I want to highlight?

● Do I want the poem to move quickly or slowly? Are there places I want it to speed up or slow down?

There are a lot of things to consider. But the more poetry you write -- and read, the more natural and instinctive some of these decisions about poem structure will become to you.

Poem Structure: Sound Patterns

Other structural elements of poetry include rhyme scheme and meter (ie. regular rhythm). These are sometimes collectively called sound play because they take advantage of the performative, spoken nature of poetry. It is also important to note that not every poem will have a rhyme scheme or meter but a lot of poetry does.

Poem Structure: Rhyme RHYME

Rhyme is the repetition of similar sounds. In poetry, the most common kind of rhyme is the end rhyme, which occurs at the end of two or more lines. It is usually identified with lower case letters, and a new letter is used to identify each new end sound. Take a look at the rhyme scheme for the following poem:

I saw a fairy in the wood, He was dressed all in green.He drew his sword while I just stood,And realized I'd been seen. Lines that rhyme are labeled with the same letter so the rhyme scheme of the poem is abab.

You Try! There are also other rhyming patterns, can you pick them out?

“Your World” Georgia Douglas Johnson

Your world is as big as you make it.I know, for I used to abideIn the narrowest nest in a corner, My wings pressing close to my side.

“The Ecchoing Green”

William Blake

The sun does arise,

And make happy the skies.

The merry bells ring

To welcome the Spring.

aabb abcb

You Try!

From:T'is So Much Joy, by Emily Dickinson

Life is but life, and death but death!Bliss is but bliss, and breath but breath!And if, indeed, I fail,At least to know the worst is sweet.Defeat means nothing but defeat,No drearier can prevail!

From:The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;

aabccb abaab

Poem Structure: Rhyme Internal rhyme is rhyme that occurs within lines rather than at the end. Edgar Allan Poe was a master at this type of rhyme and used it quite often in his works.

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 of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.“’Tis some visiter,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door— Only this and nothing more.”

Poem Structure: RhymeHalf rhyme or slant rhyme, also called near-rhyme or imperfect rhyme, is formed by words with similar but not identical sounds. This can be used to avoid obvious rhymes, and gives the writer greater freedom and flexibility in forming lines of verse. Half rhymes are also very popular in rap and pop music.

Hayley Williams - Stay The Night Lyrics

I know that we are upside downSo hold your tongue and hear me out

You kill the lights, I'll draw the blindsDon't dull the sparkle in your eyes

Are you gonna stay the nightDoesn't mean we're bound for life

Poem Structure: Rhyme Scheme

Rhyme schemes are also found in the lyrics to songs just like they are found in poetry. Take the song “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” by Train and find the rhyme scheme using the letter model.

Poem Structure: Meter Meter is a way to measure rhythm (stresses) in poetry. To understand meter though we first have to understand how syllables work. Every word has syllables. when we pronounce words we also have to put emphasis on certain syllables

For example:It doesn’t make sense to put the wrong emphasis on the wrong syllable

Poem Structure: MeterIt is important to know consider the way the author wants you to hear that beat/rhythm in your head

so how do you know what rhythm a line of poetry has?

1) Count the syllables2) Look for words with more than one syllable 3) Find the rhythm ( the pattern of stresses in the line of poetry)

*Its important to note that poets will occasionally switch up the rhythm of the poem or not follow a pattern at all

Poem Structure: Meter

Find the number of syllables below:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may

You also have to find the stresses

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may

Meter in Poetry

In conclusion:

Meter is a way to see patterns of rhythm (stresses) in poetry.

It is important to know consider the way the poet wants you to hear that beat/rhythm in your head

These rhythms can have patterns