Warm-Up Items
Skill 2 --The Definitions
We need a common language to discuss history, science, or poetry. This page is the beginning of developing that common language. The vocabulary is not difficult, but you must actually use the language. All of your discussion boards must use the correct terminology. This page will give you the basis you need for the rest of the poetry section. We will begin with definitions and move to applying the definitions.
Poetry—Poetry conveys images, emotions, and meanings. Thus simply grouping words into short lines, with or without a rhyme, does not create a poem. Poetry must also supply something that gives enjoyment and understanding to readers or listeners.
Poetry format is not always the straight lines of high school. Concrete poetry is in the shape of the object described and some poetry is actually presented in what appears to be a paragraph (more about the formats on later slides).
Here is Wikipedia’s definition of poetry. “Poetry (from the Greek "πoíπáç", poiesis, a "making" or "creating") is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. Poetry may be written independently, as discrete poems, or may occur in conjunction with other arts, as in poetic drama, hymns, or lyrics.”
If the group of words laid out as a poem has no meaning beyond dictionary definition, engenders no emotional response, or is meant for a very limited group (such as children learning to read) we will refer to it as pseudo-poetry. Rhymes not withstanding.
One such pseudo-poetry that I loved (and you probably did, too) goes like this…
| I do not like them in a box. I do not like them with a fox. I do not like them in a house. I do not like them with a mouse. I do not like them here or there. I do not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am. |
Taken from: Geisel, Theodore (Dr. Seuss). Green Eggs and Ham. New York: Random House 1960.
Pseudo-poetry has its purposes, but it should never be confused with meaningful, imagistic, thoughtful poetry.
End stopped—Poets often confine a thought to a single line to emphasize or clarify the thought. That line of the poem ends with a period, semi-colon, or colon to tell the reader to pause and recognize the idea and its relationship to the other ideas in the poem. When a poet wishes to extend the idea to more than one line there is a comma or no punctuation at the end of the line. While all of this seems self-evident, failure to notice the use or lack of use of punctuation causes many readers to miss meanings.
Word Order—Traditionally, English places the words of the sentence in the order of subject, verb, and predicate. However, that word order is not completely fixed in concrete. We change the order whenever we ask a question, or want to emphasize one portion of the sentence. Poets will also invert word order as necessary to control meaning, meter, or rhyme scheme. The poets using free verse or blank verse (definitions on other pages) generally do not need to invert order for rhyme or meter, but they may for emphasis.
Scansion—Scansion (or scanning) is reading poetry to determine where the author has placed the stressed syllables. Scansion is used to determine rhythm and number of feet in a line (see next two definitions). Learning how to scan a poem takes a bit of practice, but it is not difficult. When you scan a poem, what you are looking for is where the stress naturally falls based on the meaning. Where the stress is placed can change the tone, mood, and potentially the meaning of a poem. Always look for the tone and mood that clarifies meaning.
Beat or rhythm patterns—Poetry is a very close cousin to music so it is no surprise that poetry often has a measured beat (rhythm). The beat in poetry is created by stressed and unstressed syllables (or sounds). Therefore, the best way to determine where the stressed syllable occurs is to read the poem varying the stress pattern until you find the pattern that feels natural and appropriate to the poem. Additionally, and quite importantly, look for meaning and determine what stress pattern supports that meaning.
Feet—Just as in music each beat has a repeated pattern or timing. In poetry, each pattern is called a foot. When a line of poetry has five measured beats, we say the line is a pentameter. Hexameter equal six feet, heptameter equal seven feet, and octameter equal eight feet. Poets very rarely use as many as eight feet in a line because the line would be extremely long and the ear would normally break it into two lines anyway.
Beat or rhythm is the use of stressed and unstressed syllables. Just as in music, you can listen for the patterns.
Below there are discussions of the four most common beats in English language poetry.
Skill 3-- The Beats
Iambic (Iamb)–this pattern is the backbone of English poetry
An iamb is a pair of syllables with the first one soft ( S ) and the second one stressed (H). Iambic refers to the use of the iamb pattern, i.e. the poem was iambic beat. When the poet puts five iambs on a line the poem is iambic pentameter. Poems can have more or less than five iambs in a line, but the most common is iambic pentameter.
In the two examples below note that it is not the length of the word, but rather the syllabic make up of the word that controls the stress.
But soft| what light|through yon| der win|dow breaks? (Shakespeare)
When I | have fears| that I | may cease | to be (Keats)
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Trochaic (trochee) – the foot of trochee is a stressed followed by an unstressed syllable. In definition trochee appears to be a reverse iamb, but in its history and effect, it is far more than just a reversal.
Consider: The iamb and trochee versions of a famous line:
As an iamb I came, I saw, I conquered.
As a trochee I came, I saw, I conquered.
This example may be a bit extreme, but it does show that by simply changing the point of emphasis the entire focus shifted from what was done to who did it.
Historically, in English, trochee is associated with songs, chants, and magical spells. The famous witches prophecy opening of Macbeth (Shakespeare) is laid out as trochaic lines. The difference in a rhyme and a spine tingling rhyme is the reading and or speaking of the lines using the correct stress pattern.
Dou-ble, | dou-ble, | toil and | trou - ble
Fi - re | burn and | caul - dron | bub- ble.
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Anapestic (anapests)—A line of poetry having beats composed of two unstressed syllables and one stressed is using anapest beat. A poem made of pure anapest lines often tends to sound like it is running and the rapid beat may interfere with the tone and mood the poet is creating. This running sensation is caused by having the unstressed syllables first. Therefore, poets often slow down the poem by changing the beat. “Annabel Lee” by Poe uses anapest with a few feet of iamb to slow down the beat.
It was ma | ny and ma | ny a year |a go
In a king| dom by |the sea
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
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Dactylic-- Lines of poetry made up of dactyls have one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. This form is rarely used for poems that will be very long, because the form can sound prancing and propulsive. In some poetry, the form can sound stately (read Longfellow’s “Evangeline” for an example), but it is often, in modern writing, used for comic verse. Quite frequently, poets will omit the final unstressed syllable (s).
Pussy cat, | pussy cat, | where have you |
I've been to London to visit the Queen.
Pussy cat, pussy cat,
What did you do there?
I chased a little mouse right under her chair.
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One comment I hear frequently is “nobody writes poetry anymore.” Poetry did not end with Shakespeare, Keats, and Shelly. Poetry is still very much a portion of modern literature. It is quite possible is to read new poetry—new as in written within the past year. The newest poetry has not made it to the anthologies or other standard national distribution points, it is found in magazines, local newspapers, and other smaller distribution points. A point to remember is that none of the “great” poets was internationally distributed immediately. Robert Frost’s poetry was not accepted or recognized nationally for years, but it was published in smaller venues.
I have put portions of two poems J. K. Rowling wrote for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The poems are meant to serve different purposes and therefore have distinctly different tones. Rowling is coming from the tradition of “free verse” (we will discuss that format later), and is therefore freer to pick and mix words and beats than a poet working in a “fixed form.”
These two poems have meaning beyond the words because they are written to fit into the meaning of the entire novel. Each poem is used to give the reader information or act as foreshadowing. Outside of the novel, the poems quickly become pseudo-poems. I am using them because they do have this duplicity of character.
Note that Rowling has allowed her thoughts to run to the next line. She end stops every other line in the first poem and uses even less pausing in the more serious poem. See how running her thoughts to the next line creates a specific tone, mood, or feeling. By not end stopping the poet can carry rhyme patterns to the next line. (End stops are periods or other definite breaks in the thought.)
In the sorting hat poem, Rowling has mixed her beats to maintain the light mood and tone. In her poem describing robbing Gringotts, she is far less free to mix her beats—she has a definite traditional magical tone that she wants to invoke.
Sorting Hat
Oh, you may | not think | I’m pretty
But don’t | judge on | what you see.
I’ll eat | myself | if you | can find
A smart | er hat | than me.
Gringotts Bank
Enter | stranger, | but take | heed
Of what | awaits | the sin |of greed;
For those| who take, | but do not | earn,
Must pay |most dear| ly in their| turn.
Poetry Assignment 1
Everyone who has been to a sporting event has sung “We will, We will Rock you” followed by the line “For we are the champions.” These two lines are taken from two of Queen’s songs (written by Brian May). Well no surprise, the sporting version is not quite what Queen had in mind when they sang those two songs. The blending of the two is simply used to create a common easy to remember chant with a comfortable beat. Trivial pursuit: Queen was the first to combine the songs upon the request of their producer.
Read the song/ pseudo poem We will Rock You by Brian May. Determine what beat you actually read (not chant at the games). The beat you read should be the same as the original We Will Rock You song. (For help hearing the beat, go out onto the web and find clips of Queen singing this song.) How does the beat pattern and line feet affect this song/pseudo-poem—meaning, readability, mood, tone, and understandability? Use the discussion board BEAT page to chat about the meaning, readability, mood, tone, and understandability. Be sure to discuss the stress patterns you found in both poem and song. Do not forget you will need to add your comments and react to someone else’s posting in order to get full credit.
******Being the clever soul that you are, you have a suspicion that all of the words and ideas presented above will show up on the poetry quiz. Good thinking. ********
We will rock you by Brian May
Buddy youre a boy make a big noise
Playin in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on yo face
You big disgrace
Kickin your can all over the place
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
Buddy youre a young man hard man
Shoutin in the street gonna take on the world some day
You got blood on yo face
You big disgrace
Wavin your banner all over the place
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
Buddy youre an old man poor man
Pleadin with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day
You got mud on your face
You big disgrace
Somebody better put you back in your place
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
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