POETRY

It refers to those expressions in verse, with measures, rhymes, lines,

stanzas and melodious tones.
It came from the Greek word poiesis which means making.
Divisions and Types of Poetry
A. Lyric Poetry
B. Narrative Poetry
C. Dramatic Poetry
Lyric Poetry
In earlier days, it was meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a
musical instrument known as lyre. Examples are:
a. Simple Lyric embraces a wide variety
of poems and is
characterized by
subjectivity, imagination, melody and
emotion.
b. Song short lyric poem which has a
quality and is
intended to be sung

specific melodious

c. Sonnet a poem expressing of 14 lines

rhyme
d. Elegy a poem expressing lament or

with a formal
grief for the dead.

e. Ode most splendid type of lyric poetry that expresses a noble

feeling with dignity.
Narrative Poetry
It tells a story following an order of events. It includes:
a. Ballad short simple narrative poem composed to be sung
and is orally told from one generation to another
b. Metrical Romance a long rambling love story in verse
which is centered around the adventures of knights and lords, and their
royal ladies during the age of chivalry.
c. Epic a long, majestic narrative poem which tells the
adventures of a traditional hero and the development of a nation.
Dramatic Poetry

It has the elements that are closely related to drama because it is written in
dramatic form or makes use of a dramatic technique. It includes:
a. Dramatic Monologue a combination of drama and poetry which
presents the speech of a character in a particular situation at a critical moment.
b. Soliloquy passage spoken by the speaker in a poem of a by the
character in a play except that there is no one present to hear him except the
audience or the reader.
c. Character Sketch poem which the writer is concerned less with
complete or implied matters of a story, but rather with arousing sympathy or
antagonism for, or some interest in an individual.
Characteristics of Poetry
A. Rhythm
1. Meter ( Organized Rhythm )
2. Rhyme and other Sound Devices
B. Imagery
1. Figures of Speech
2. Symbols
C. Sense or Meaning
A. Rhythm is the regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed, long and
short, or high-pitched and low-pitched syllables creating a pattern in the
lines of a poem.
1. Meter ( Organized Rhythm )
Meter is the measured pattern or grouping of syllables, called metric foot,
according to accent and length.
A group of metric feet forms a poetic line or verse.
A group of poetic lines or verses is called stanza.
According to the placement of accent, there is a variety of a pattern or feet of
which the four basics are.
The Iambic foot consists of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented
syllable ( X / )
Ex.

/ x

/ x

x / x

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day.

-Gray,
Elegy in a Country Churchyard
The Anapestic foot consists of two unaccented syllables followed by an
accented syllable. ( X X / )
Ex.
x

/ x

Did you fall in the race?

The Trochaic foot consists of an accented syllable followed by an unaccented
syllable. ( / x )
Ex.
/

x /x

Up the airy mountain

The Dactylic foot consists of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented
syllables. ( / x x )
According to the number of feet in a poetic line, the principal verse lengths
are: monometer, dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter,
heptameter, octameter, and nonameter.
Scansion is the system by which a poem is described according to its metrical
structure by identifying its accents and verse lengths.
2. Rhyme and other sound devices
Rhyme is the regular recurrence of similar sounds usually at the end of lines
or also within one line.
The pattern or sequence in which the rhyme words occur in a stanza or poem
is called the rhyme scheme.
To find the rhyme scheme, the same letter of the alphabet is usually
assigned to each similar sound in a stanza.
B. IMAGINARY

 Imagery refers to expressions evocative of objects of sensuous appeal. It may

be in the form of direct description or may be figurative, which latter involves
the use of figures of speech and symbols.
C. Sense or Meaning
A poem must say something.
It must enlighten, reveal a truth, open new vistas, give new perceptions,
enable to understand the world around us more deeply, and see things
beyond the physical senses.
Kinds of Poetry
1. Lyric
2. Narrative
3. Dramatic
1. It is the utterance of the human heart in poetic form. It is described as
brief and subjective, marked by imagination, melody and emotion, and
creating a single unified expression
Popular types of lyric poetry:
1. Simple lyric
2. Song
3. Sonnet
4. Elegy
5. Ode
Simple lyric includes those lyrical poems that do not properly belong under any of
the other types of lyrics.
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.
Sonnet is a lyric of fourteen lines with a formal rhyme scheme or pattern.
Types:
Italian or Petrarchan, named after Italian poet Francesco Petrarch,
consists of an octave which develops the theme, followed by a sextet which

recapitulates the idea. The octave has a rhyme scheme of abba abba and the
sextet, cde cde or cdcdcd, or some other combination.
Elegy is a lamentation or an expression of mourning for the dead. By its very
nature, the poems mood is solemn and sorrowful, yet it usually contains
suggestions of hope and faith to allay the sorrow.
Ode is the most majestic type of lyric poetry. It is exalted in tone and
expresses lofty praise for some person, event, object or idea. It is elaborately
designed and is formal in structure and content.
Narrative Poetry
It tells a story following a chronology of events.
Types:
1. Ballad is a short simple narrative poem composed to be sung, and altered
as it was orally transmitted from generation to generation until it was written down
much later.
2. Metrical Tale relates real or imaginary events in simple straight forward language.
It can choose from a wide range of subjects, characters, life experiences, emotional
situations, and may project a mood that is serious or light. It is usually concerned
with ordinary events.
3. Metrical Romance is a long rambling love story in verse revolving around the
adventures of knights and lords and their highborn ladies during the age of chivalry.
Heavily flavored with romance, fantastic events, supernatural occurrences, magic
and the ideals of the medieval period such as honor, truth, courage, justice, and
reverence for woman, the story is often rich in allegory and permits a great play of
fancy and the conflict between the forces of good and of evil.
4. Epic is a long majestic narrative poem which tells of the exploits of a traditional
hero and the development of a nation.
Characteristics of an epic:
-the story is broad in scope and theme; its subject matter is often a mixture
of legend, history, myth, religion, and tradition
-the action is grand and on a huge scale, the supernatural element is highly
pronounced and the characters are larger-than-life (gods, demi-gods and highborn
mortals)
-the source of conflict involves elemental passions; the events center on a
prodigious struggle or effort to achieve a great purpose or carry out a great task
against powerful forces

-the plot consists of numerous episodes and sub-plots peopled by numerous

characters
-the plot often begins in media res and the story is completed by a series of
flashbacks
-the style is solemn and majestic in keeping with the grandeur of the subject
matter
Dramatic Poetry
It has elements that closely relate it to drama, either because it is written in
some kind of dramatic form, or uses a dramatic technique. It may also
suggest a story, but there is more emphasis on character rather than on the
narrative.
Forms of dramatic poetry:
-Dramatic Monologue presents the speech of a single character who
addresses one or more persons who are present and who are listening to the
speaker, but remain silent.
-Soliloquy is a passage spoken by a speaker in a poem or by a character in a
play, except that there is no one present to hear him.
-Character Sketch is a poem in which the writer is concerned less with matters
of story, complete or implied, than he is with arousing sympathy, antagonism, or
merely interest for an individual.
Prose

Essay

Fiction

Reflective
essays

Prose Allegory
Fable
Myths
Legends

Divisions:

Special
types:

Comedy

Closet
Drama

Prose romances
Fairy Tales
Folk Tales
Myths and

Tragedy

Tragicomedy

Narrative or
story essay

Prose Drama

Non-fict
prose typ

Biography
Autobiograp

Letters
(Epistles),Dia
Journals

Legends

Descriptive
essay

Prose satires

Melodrama

Problem
plays

Biographical
essay

Novels

Farce

Comedy of
manners

Literary Criti

Nature essay

Short Story

History Play

Comedia del
l arte

Scientific a
Current Public

Critical Essay

Novelettes

Periodical
essays
Didactic
Essays

Book revie