The Nature of Poetry

Poetry
Poetry is derived from the Greek word “poiesis” which literally translates to “a making or
creating”. Thus, we can say that the Greek word “poiesis” meant creating works of poetry.
It is “a literary art where the evocative and aesthetic qualities of a language are brought
out in lieu, or together with the language’s apparent meaning”. It is “writing that
communicates intensely and intimately through and beyond language, using rhythm,
sound, style, and meaning”. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language
is used in a manner that is felt by its user and audience to differ from ordinary prose. It
may use condensed or compressed form to convey emotion or ideas to the reader's or
listener's mind or ear; it may also use devices such as assonance and repetition to
achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poems frequently rely for their effect on imagery,
word association, and the musical qualities of the language used. The interactive layering
of all these effects to generate meaning is what marks poetry. Poetry is whatever poetry
can be.
Because of its nature of emphasizing linguistic form rather than using language purely for
its content, poetry is notoriously difficult to translate from one language into another. As
Robert Frost aptly observes, “Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” In most poetry, it is
the connotations and the "baggage" that words carry that are most important. These
shades or nuances of meanings can be difficult to interpret and can cause different
readers to “read” or “hear” a particular piece of poetry differently. While there are
reasonable interpretations, there can never be a definitive interpretation.

The Elements of Poetry

It is useful, when examining poetry, to be armed with a certain knowledge of the formal
elements of poetry. The elements of poetry are a set of devices used to make a poem. It
is an indispensable part of the organization of a good poem. Exploring these formal
elements helps us to comprehend more deeply a poem’s meaning and the nuances that
enhance that meaning. This kind of formal close reading of the text is essential to any
analysis of literature.
Most good poems contain these elements in various forms. The basic elements of poetry
include the speaker, audience, content, theme, shape and form, structure, tone, imagery,
diction, figurative language and sound-effect devices.
A. Speaker
The poem’s speaker is the created narrative voice of the poem, i.e the person the reader
is supposed to imagine talking or speaking in the poem. The speaker is NOT necessarily
the poet. When the poet creates a character to be the speaker, that character is called
the persona and the poet imagines what it is like to enter someone else's personality. The
poet reveals the identity of the speaker in various ways. Choice of words, focus of
attention and attitudes will indicate the age, perspective and identity of the speaker.
B. Audience
The audience in the poem is the person or people to whom the speaker is speaking.
Identifying the audience within a poem helps you to understand the poem better. There
are different people the speaker can address in the poem: the speaker can address
another character in the poem; the speaker can address a character who is not present
or is dead; or the speaker can address you, the reader.
C. Content
The content of the poem is the subject or the idea or the thing that the poem concerns or
represents. Poetry often tells a story, describes a scene, event, or feeling, or otherwise
comments on the human predicament. The content is contained in description, narration,
and assertions.
D. Theme
The theme of the poem relates to the general idea or ideas continuously developed
throughout the poem. It is a thought or an idea the poet presents to the reader that may
be deep, difficult to understand, or even moralistic. Generally, a theme has to be extracted
as the reader explores the passages of a work. The poet utilizes the characters, content,
and other poetic or literary devices to assist the reader in this endeavor. A poem may
have one or more themes depending on the subject of the poem the persona deals with
and the feelings or experiences the persona undergoes. The theme may also be
suggested by the title of a poem or by segment of the poem. It may also be stated explicitly
by the poet or it may be stated impliedly.
E. Shape and Form
Basically, the actual shape and form of poems can vary dramatically from poem to poem.
When poets sit down to write, they have the option of following a form. A form is a pattern
for making the poem. Some poems come with rules about the number of lines, line length,
rhyme scheme, meter, refrain. Some poems, such as the ode and the elegy, can only be
written about specific themes. Other forms, like spoken word, have a distinctive approach
to both theme and delivery. One form, free verse, is really a non-form, and might be the
most popular type of poetry written today.
In poetry, you will encounter two forms: structured and free verse. Structured poetry has
predictable patterns of rhyme, rhythm, line-length and stanza construction. In free verse,
the poet experiments with the form of the poem. The rhythm, number of syllables per line
and stanza construction does not follow a pattern.
F. Structure
The structure used in poems varies with different types of poetry. The structural elements
include the line, couplet, strophe and stanza. Poets combine the use of language and a
specific structure to create imaginative and expressive work. The structure used in some
poetry types are also used when considering the visual effect of a finished poem. The
structure of many different types of poetry results in groups of lines on the page which
enhance the poem's composition.
G. Tone
The tone of a poem is the attitude you feel in it — the writer's attitude toward the subject
or audience. The tone in a poem of praise is approval. In a satire, you feel irony. In an
anti-war poem, you may feel protest or moral indignation. Tone can be playful, humorous,
regretful, anything — and it can change as the poem goes along.
When you speak, your tone of voice suggests your attitude. In fact, it suggests two
attitudes: one concerning the people you're addressing (your audience) and one
concerning the thing you're talking about (your subject). That's what the term tone means
when it's applied to poetry as well. Tone can also mean the general emotional weather of
the poem.
Sometimes tone is fairly obvious. Sometimes you can pick up tone from clues in what a
person says or writes. Other times, the tone can also reside in the images and how they
are presented, the implications of a statement or story, or the very music and rhythms of
a poem.
H. Imagery
Imagery, in a literary text, occurs when an author uses an object that is not really there,
in order to create a comparison between one that is, usually evoking a more meaningful
visual experience for the reader. It is useful as it allows an author to add depth and
understanding to his work, like a sculptor adding layer and layer to his statue, building it
up into a beautiful work of art, and so it should usually have more than one description. It
refers to the “pictures” which we perceive with our mind’s eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin,
and through which we experience the “duplicate world” created by poetic language.
Imagery evokes the meaning and truth of human experiences not in abstract terms, as in
philosophy, but in more perceptible and tangible forms. This is a device by which the poet
makes his meaning strong, clear and sure. The poet uses sound words and words of
color and touch in addition to figures of speech. As well, concrete details that appeal to
the reader’s senses are used to build up images.
Querida
by Angela Manalang-Gloria
The door is closed, the curtains drawn within
One room, a brilliant question mark of light…
Outside her gate an empty limousine
Waits in the brimming emptiness of night.
I. Diction
Diction refers to the writer's or the speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of
expression in a literary work. The poet chooses each word carefully so that both its
meaning and sound contribute to the tone and feeling of the poem. The poet must
consider a word's denotation - its definition according to the dictionary and its connotation
- the emotions, thoughts and ideas associated with and evoked by the word.
J. Figurative Language
Figurative language is a type of language that varies from the norms of literal language,
in which words mean exactly what they say for the sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity,
or freshness. Also known as the "ornaments of language," figurative language does not
mean exactly what it says, but instead forces the reader to make an imaginative leap in
order to comprehend an author's point. It usually involves a comparison between two
things that may not, at first, seem to relate to one another and can facilitate understanding
because it relates something unfamiliar to something familiar. To comprehend figurative
language, it will require you to use your imagination to figure out the poet's point or
meaning.

Though there are hundreds of figures of speech, here we'll focus on just 19 of the most
common figures of speech.
1. Allusion
An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or a representation of, people,
places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. M. H.
Abrams defines allusion as "a brief reference, explicit or indirect, to a person, place or
event, or to another literary work or passage". The purpose of allusion is to broaden the
context and deepen the meaning of the literary work. Example:
After Palanan
by Angel Rene A. Iturralde
The pendulum
Is a thing of dread
To nervous persons like me.
It reminds one of swaying Iscariot
Suspended from a tree.
2. Antithesis
An antithesis is a rhetorical term for the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced
phrases or clauses. An antithesis is used when the writer employs two sentences of
contrasting meanings in close proximity to one another. The purpose of using an
antithesis in literature is to create a balance between opposite qualities and lend a greater
insight into the subject. Example: Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times.”
3. Apostrophe
An apostrophe is a figure of speech in which some absent or non-existent person or thing
is addressed as if present and capable of understanding or replying. Example:
The Sampaguita
by Natividad Marquez
Little sampaguita,
With the wandering eye,
Did a tiny fairy
Drop you where you lie?
In the witching hour
Of a tropic night,
Did a careless moonbeam
Leave you in its flight?
4. Asyndeton
An asyndeton is a stylistic scheme in which conjunctions are deliberately omitted from a
series of related clauses. The principal effect of asyndeton is to produce a hurried rhythm
in the sentence. Example: “She was young, she was pure, she was new, she was nice,
she was fair, she was sweet sixteen.”
5. Chiasmus
A chiasmus is a figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other
through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display
inverted parallelism. Chiasmus was used to articulate balance or order within a text.
Example: “Nice to see you… to see you, nice.”
6. Hyperbole
A hyperbole is an extravagant statement or the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose
of emphasis or heightened effect. Example: “I had to wait in the classroom for three hours
- an eternity.”
7. Irony
An irony is a statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance
or presentation of the idea. Example: “The student who didn't study passed the test.”
8. Litotes
A litotes is a figure of speech consisting of an ironical understatement in which affirmative
is expressed by the negation of the opposite. In this figure of speech, the usages are
intentional, ironical and provide emphasis to the words. This is mainly done through
double negatives. To put it in simple terms, in litotes, instead of saying that something is
attractive, you say that it is not unattractive. Example: “And she was no beauty queen.
She was in love at just sixteen.”
9. Metaphor
A metaphor is an implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have
something important in common. Example:
The Spinster
by Luis G. Dato
The dove, when newly hatched,
Has tasty meat and tender;
When old, how’ver you stew her,
You cannot rend her.
10. Metonymy
A metonymy is a figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another
with which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something
indirectly by referring to things around it. Example: “Scepter and crown / came tumbling
down.”
11. Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear
side by side or jammed together. Example: "I am a deeply superficial person."
12. Paradox
A paradox is a statement that is self-contradictory because it often contains two
statements that are both true, but in general, cannot both be true at the same time.
Example: “What comes up, goes down.”
13. Personification
A personification is a figure of speech in which an inanimate object, an animal or an idea
is endowed with human qualities or abilities. Example:
Ermita in the Rain
by Angela Manalang-Gloria
It is not the rain that wanly
Sobs its tale across the bay,
Not the sobs of lone acacias
Trembling darkly in the gray,
Not the groans of harried breakers
Flinging tatters on the shore,
But the phantom of your voice that
Stays me dreaming at my door.
14. Pun
A pun is a play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes
on the similar sense or sound of different words. In other words, a pun can: make you
laugh, make you think, increase clarity when we’re trying to discern the meaning of a text
and introduce ambiguity. Example: "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today
is a gift. That's why it is called the present."
15. Simile
A simile is a stated comparison (usually formed with “like”, “than” or “as”) between two
fundamentally dissimilar or unlike things that have certain qualities in common. Example:
Lenten Poem
by M. R. Avena
Her skin is warm, like ashes.
Within her love burns, like marble.
To the altar steps of her soul
There are fourteen stations.
So do not hope.
16. Synesthesia
A synesthesia is a description of one kind of sense impression by using words that
normally describe another. Example: Jose Garcia Villa, “It must be able to hear / The
luminance of dove and deer.”
17. Symbol
A symbol is a figure of speech where an object, person, or situation has another meaning
other than its literal meaning. It is a literary device that contains several layers of meaning,
often concealed at first sight, and is representative of several other
aspects/concepts/traits than those that are visible in the literal translation alone. A symbol
is using an object or action that means something more than its literal meaning. Example:
By Cokkis Lilly Woundis
by Jose Maria Sison
The lean leech emerges from watery birth
Blind, blessed, rubbery to lengthen more
Its blessing on and whiten flesh metaphysic;
Its green slimy back and sharp yellow lining
Darkly, deftly daggers, fine needle sticks
Invisibly draw blood in cannibal communion
Leaving an itchy red of its sure sinly making.
By cokkis lilly woundis!
By salt, lye, or let it stick and fall!
18. Synecdoche
A synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole, the whole for a
part, the specific for the general, the general for the specific, or the material for the thing
made from it. Example: “I drove my father’s wheels to the party.”
19. Understatement
An understatement is figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes
a situation seem less important or serious than it is. Example: "It's just a flesh wound."
(The Black Knight, after having both arms cut off, in Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
K. Sound-effect Devices
The poet, unlike the person who uses language to convey only information, chooses
words for sound as well as for meaning, and uses the sound as a means of reinforcing
meaning. Sound-effect devices or verbal music is one of the important resources that
enable the poet to do something more than communicate mere information. The poet may
indeed sometimes pursue verbal music for its own sake; more often, at least in first-rate
poetry, it is adjunct to the total meaning or communication of the poem.

There are lots of techniques poets use to make a poem sound good. Here we'll focus on
just 10 of the most common sound-effect devices.
1. Alliteration
Also called head rhyme or initial rhyme, it is the repetition of the initial consonant sounds
of stressed syllables in neighboring words or at short intervals within a line or passage.
Alliteration plays a very crucial role in poetry and literature. It provides a work with musical
rhythms. Poems that use alliteration are read and recited with more interest and appeal.
Poems with alliteration can be easier to memorize. Alliteration lends structure, flow, and
beauty to any piece of writing. Example:
Rain
by Marcelo D.G. Concepcion
After the rain,
darkness lifts to luminous acres
of space above –
and earth’s sweet scents
breathe anew.
2. Anaphora
An anaphora is a rhetorical device that consists of repeating a sequence of words at the
beginnings of neighboring clauses, thereby lending them emphasis. Example:
“Friendzone now, friendzone tomorrow, friendzone forever.”
3. Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming within phrases or
sentences. It is the repetition of internal vowel sounds to set the mood or add to the
meaning of the word. Example: “A stitch in time saves nine.”
4. Cacophony
Cacophony refers to the juxtaposition of words producing a harsh sound. The word
cacophony originates from the Greek word meaning "bad sound". The term in poetry
refers to the use of words that combine sharp, harsh, hissing, or unmelodious sounds.
Example: Lewis Caroll, “'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the
wabe; / All mimsy were the borogoves, / And the mome raths outgrabe.”
5. Consonance
A consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds, most commonly within a short
passage of verse. Example: “Crabs, crickets, and crocodiles are creepy creatures.”
6. Euphony
Euphony refers to the juxtaposition of words producing a pleasant sound. It is a term used
to refer to a word or phrase that is pleasing in sound, specifically one that includes
consonants and vowels that work well together. Example: Jose Garcia Villa, “First, a
poem must be magical / Then musical as a seagull.”
7. Onomatopoeia
Strictly speaking, onomatopoeia is the formation or use of words which imitates or
suggests the source of the sound that it describes. Example: Lee Emmett, “Water plops
into pond / splish-splash downhill / warbling magpies in tree / trilling, melodic thrill /
whoosh, passing breeze / flags flutter and flap / frog croaks, bird whistles / babbling
bubbles from tap.”
8. Repetition
A repetition is the repeated usage of words or group of words in the same sentence to
create a poetic or rhythmic effect. Example:
Love Story
by Conrado S. Ramirez
I walked last summer into the barrio of Niyugan.
A pretty girl was singing at a lighted door;
Now a woman sits weeping at my darkened window:
I walked last summer into the barrio of Niyugan…
9. Rhyme
Rhyme is a type of echoing which utilizes a correspondence of sound in the final accented
vowels and all that follows of two or more words, but the preceding consonant sounds
must differ, as in the words, bear and care. In a broader poetic sense, however, rhyme
refers to a close similarity of sound as well as an exact correspondence; it includes the
agreement of vowel sounds in assonance and the repetition of consonant sounds in
consonance and alliteration. Usually, but not always, rhymes occur at the ends of lines.
Rhymes add a musical component to poems and make them easier to remember. They
can also enhance the meaning. Poetry can have end rhymes or internal rhymes. An
internal rhyme is a rhyme that happens within a single line of poetry while and an end
rhyme occurs when a poem has lines ending with words that sound the same. Example:
Swan Song
by Procopio L. Solidum
One sigh before I leave,
Some lines before I go;
Comrades, my songs receive,
I give them all to you.
10. Rhythm
Rhythm is the pattern of stresses in a line of verse. When you speak, you stress some
syllables and leave others unstressed. When you string a lot of words together, you start
seeing patterns. Rhythm is a natural thing. It's in everything you say and write, even if you
don't intend for it to be. Traditional forms of verse use established rhythmic patterns called
meters (meter means "measure" in Greek), and that's what meters are — premeasured
patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables. Much of English poetry is written in lines
that string together one or more feet (individual rhythmical units). Feet are the individual
building blocks of meter. Here are the most common feet, the rhythms they represent,
and an example of that rhythm. Example:
Old Maid Walking on a City Street
by Angela Manalang-Gloria
She had a way of walking through concupiscence
And past the graces her fingers never twirled:
Because her mind refused the heavy burden,
Her broad feet shovelled up the world.

Types of Poetry
Poetry can be classified into three types: narrative, lyric, and dramatic poetry.
A. Narrative Poetry
Along with dramatic and lyric verse, narrative poetry is one of the three main groups of
poetry. It is a form of poem that tells a series of events using poetic devices such as
rhythm, rhyme, compact language, and attention to sound. In other words, a narrative
poem tells a story, but it does it with poetic flair. Many of the same elements that are
found in a short story are also found in a narrative poem. Here are some elements of
narrative poetry that are important: 1. character; 2. setting; 3. conflict; and 4. plot.

Kinds of Narrative Poetry

1. Epic
An epic is a long unified narrative poem, recounting in dignified language the adventures
of a warrior, a king or a god, the whole embodying the religious and philosophical beliefs,
the moral code, customs, traditions, manners, attitudes, sciences, folklore and culture of
the people or country from which it came. Characteristics of the classical epic include
these:

1. The main character or protagonist is heroically larger than life, often the source
and subject of legend or a national hero;

2. The deeds of the hero are presented without favoritism, revealing his failings as
well as his virtues;

3. The action, often in battle, reveals the more-than-human-strength of the heroes

as they engage in acts of heroism and courage;

4. The setting covers several nations, the whole world, or even the universe;

5. The episodes, even though they may be fictional, provide an explanation for
some of the circumstances or events in the history of a nation or people;

6. The gods and lesser divinities play an active role in the outcome of actions; and

7. All of the various adventures form an organic whole, where each event relates
in some way to the central theme.
There are around 20 known Filipino epic poems. Among the more famous ones are:
Luzon
1. The Hudhud of the Ifugao;
2. The Biag ni Lam-ang of the Ilocano;
3. The Ullalim epic songs of the Kalinga;
4. The Ibalon epic from Bicol;
Western Visayas
5. The Hinilawod which is the longest and oldest epic of the Hiligaynon people;
Mindanao
6. The Darangen of the Maranao which was recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece
of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

2. Metrical Romance
A metrical romance recounts the quest undertaken by a single knight in order to gain a
lady’s favor. Frequently, its central interest is courtly love, together with tournaments
fought and dragons and monsters slain for the damsel’s sake. It stresses the chivalric
ideals of courage, loyalty, honor, mercifulness to an opponent, and exquisite and
manners; and it delights in wonders and marvels.
3. Metrical Tale
A metrical tale is a simple, straightforward story in verse. It is a long narrative poem which
tells of the lives of ordinary people and has element of realism.
4. Ballad
A ballad is a narrative poem which is meant to be sung, usually composed in the ballad
stanza. Although some ballads (literary ballad) are carefully crafted poems written by
literate authors and meant to be read silently, the folk ballad (or popular ballad or
traditional ballad) is derived from the oral tradition.
B. Lyric Poetry
In the most common use of the term, a lyric is any fairly short poem, consisting of the
utterance by a single speaker, who expresses a state of mind or a process of perception,
thought and feeling. It is generally considered the most intense genre of poetry, the form
that honors its musical origins. The term lyric comes from the Greek word for the lyre, a
stringed instrument similar to a guitar and suitable for the accompaniment of a solitary
singer. Like the concert of an impassioned singer, the lyric poem is a private, often
visionary act of intelligence and emotion that becomes public through the music of
language. It is also a highly concentrated poem of direct personal emotion, most often
written in the first person. Moreover, lyric poetry is an artefact of language, capable of
great beauty and excitement in its exploration of new perceptions. Many lyric speakers
are represented as musing in solitude.

Kinds of Lyric Poetry

1. Ode
An ode is a dignified and elaborately structured lyric poem praising and glorifying an
individual, commemorating an event, or describing nature intellectually rather than
emotionally. Odes originally were songs performed to the accompaniment of a musical
instrument.
2. Elegy
A light poem of mourning, most often written to mourn the loss of a loved one, or a leader
or hero, an elegy may also be written for a thing, or a time or expressing sorrow in general.
The traditional elegy mirrors three stages of loss. First, there is a lament, then praise for
the idealized dead, and finally consolation and solace. In the last few centuries, more and
more poets write elegies not to people, but to mourn the passing of ideas, or the fate of
man, national tragedies or any numerous causes of sadness.
3. Sonnet
A sonnet is a short poem with fourteen lines, usually written in iambic pentameter. There
are many rhyming patterns for sonnets. The Italian or Petrarchan has two stanzas: the
first of eight lines is called octave and has the rhyme-scheme abba abba; the second of
six lines is called the sestet and has the rhyme cdecde or cdcdcd. The Spenserian sonnet,
developed by Edmund Spenser, has three quatrains and a heroic couplet, in iambic
pentameter with rhymes ababbcbccdcdee. The English sonnet, developed by
Shakespeare, has three quatrains and a heroic couplet, in iambic pentameter with rhymes
ababcdcdefefgg.
4. Song
A song is a short lyric poem which has a particularly melodious quality and is intended
primarily to be sung, or can easily be set to music. It is the most spontaneous lyric poem.
All songs have a strong beat created largely through the 3R’s: rhythm, rhyme, and
repetition.
A song, whose history can be traced to the ancient past, can be either sacred or secular.
Sacred or religious songs are specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or
prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or
personification. Sacred songs include hymns, anthems, and oratorios. Secular songs are
non-religious music. Secular songs deal with different themes and emotions, including
present day protest.
5. Simple Lyric
If a poem does not feature elaborate stanza structures and stateliness in tone and style,
or if it does not contain fourteen lines usually in iambic pentameter, or if it is not a poem
of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead or if it is not meant to be sung, then it
is a simple lyric. Most lyrics poems are examples of simple lyrics. A simple lyric is a short
poem expressing the poet’s thought, feeling, or emotion.
C. Dramatic Poetry
Dramatic poetry is any poetry that uses the discourse of the characters involved to tell a
story or portray a situation. It involves the technique of drama, and it tells a story. Dramatic
poetry is typically meant to be performed for an audience.

Kinds of Dramatic Poetry

1. Dramatic Monologue
A dramatic monologue is a literary device that is used when a character reveals his or her
innermost thoughts and feelings, those that are hidden throughout the course of the story
line, through a poem or a speech. This speech, where only one character speaks, is
recited while other characters are present onstage. This monologue often comes during
a climactic moment in a work and often reveals hidden truths about a character, their
history and their relationships. Also it can further develop a character’s personality and
also be used to create irony.
2. Soliloquy
A soliloquy is the act of speaking while alone, especially when used as a theatrical device
that allows a character’s thoughts and ideas to be conveyed to the audience.
3. Blank Verse
Blank verse, also known as unrhymed iambic pentameter is the most common form of
dramatic poetry. This is written so that the pattern of the spoken words closely resembles
normal human speech patterns and not the stylized, often consistent rhythms and
patterns commonly associated with poetry. Most of the plays of William Shakespeare
stand out as the classic example of the use of blank verse and dramatic poetry.