Poetry Terminology

Stanza

• Section of line, or verse, of a poem that form a unit

• Similar in _____and _____scheme• Much like the “paragraphs” of a poem,

however, not necessarily divided by the completion of ___________

Types of Stanzas

• Couplet – two rhyming lines• ______ – three lines, may or may not _____• Quatrain – four lines, may or may not rhyme• Cinquain – _____ lines, may or may not rhyme• Sestet – six lines, may or may not rhyme• _______ – seven lines, may or may not rhyme• Octave - ______ lines, may or may not rhyme

Stanza exampleThe Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

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

• Then took the other, as just as fair And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that, the passing there Had worn them really about the same,

• And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.

• 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.

Rhyme Scheme

• Regular pattern of rhyme• ____________ throughout the poem• Poems can rhyme without any regular pattern can

be called _________ poems, but only those with ____________ pattern can be said to have rhyme scheme

• Labeled according to their rhyme sounds– Each rhyme sound is given its own ______ to

distinguish it from other rhyme sounds that may appear in the poem

Rhyme Scheme Examples

• AloneEdgar Allen Poe

From childhood’s hour I have not been aAs others were; I have not seen aAs others saw; I could not bring bMy passions from a common spring. bFrom the same source I have not taken cMy sorrow; I could not awaken cMy heart to joy at the same tone; dAnd all I loved, I loved alone. dThen—in my childhood, in the dawn eOf a most stormy life—was drawn eFrom every depth of good and ill f

The mystery which binds me still: fFrom the torrent, or the fountain, gFrom the red cliff of the mountain, gFrom the sun that round me rolled hIn its autumn tint of gold, hFrom the lightning in the sky iAs it passed me flying by, iFrom the thunder and the storm, jAnd the cloud that took the form j(When the rest of Heaven was blue) kOf a demon in my view. k

Meter

• Rhyme of a ______• Determined by how many ___ per line

Foot

• The basic unit of _____________ in poetry• Made of ___ or ______ syllables• Combination of _________ and __________• Must have at least one ______• It’s like music, only in poetry the accent is used

instead of a ____ to make the rhythm• ˘ (_____ mark) represents unstressed syllables• / (slash or _____ mark) represents stressed

syllables

Types of Meter

• Dimeter: the line has two feet• ________ : the line has three feet • Tetrameter: the line has four feet• Pentameter: the line has _____ feet• Hexameter: the line has six feet• Hendecasyllabics have _______ syllables per

line. – This is very unusual

Types of Meters

• Iambic: 2 syllables - first unaccented, second accented (in LEAVES no STEP)

• ________: 2 syllables - first accented, second unaccented (SOME-where AG-es)

• Spondee: 2 syllables - _____accented (TWO ROADS) – even though there are two accents, a spondee is one foot

• Anapest: _ syllables - first and second unaccented, third accented (with a SIGH)

• Dactyl: 3 syllables - first accented, second and third ___________ (one trav - el / (er))

Examples of Meter

• See Meter_new.ppt

• Second .ppt on the blog

Chorus

• Part of the poem that ________ itself, usually without any change in wording, but not always

• Usually reveals the ____ _____or subject• Usually a _______ stanza than the rest of the

poem (not all poems have a chorus)• Also referred to as a ______