BASIC ELEMENTS OF

POETRY
What is Poetry?
 Poetry can be defined as 'literature in a metrical
form' or 'a composition forming rhythmic lines'.
 a poem is something that follows a particular flow
of rhythm and meter.
 Compared to prose, where there is no such
restriction, and the content of the piece flows
according to story, a poem may or may not have a
story, but definitely has a structured method of
writing.
Elements of Poetry
Rhythm: This is the music made by the statements of
the poem, which includes the syllables in the lines.
The best method of understanding this is to read the
poem aloud, and understand the stressed and
unstressed syllables.
Elements of Poetry
Meter: This is the basic structural make-up of the
poem. Do the syllables match with each other?
Every line in the poem must adhere to this structure.
A poem is made up of blocks of lines, which convey
a single strand of thought. Within those blocks, a
structure of syllables which follow the rhythm has to
be included. This is the meter or the metrical form of
poetry.
Elements of Poetry
 Stanza: Stanza in poetry is defined as a smaller
unit or group of lines or a paragraph in a poem. A
particular stanza has a specific meter, rhyme
scheme, etc. Based on the number of lines, stanzas
are named as couplet (2 lines), Tercet (3 lines),
Quatrain (4 lines), Cinquain (5 lines), Sestet (6 lines),
Septet (7 lines), Octave (8 lines).
Elements of Poetry
 Rhyme: A poem may or may not have a rhyme.
When you write poetry that has rhyme, it means
that the last words or sounds of the lines match with
each other in some form. Rhyme is basically similar
sounding words like 'cat' and 'hat', 'close' and
'shows', 'house' and 'mouse', etc. Free verse poetry,
though, does not follow this system.
Elements of Poetry
 Rhyme Scheme: As a continuation of rhyme, the rhyme
scheme is also one of the basic elements of poetry. In
simple words, it is defined as the pattern of rhyme.
Either the last words of the first and second lines rhyme
with each other, or the first and the third, second and
the fourth and so on. It is denoted by alphabets like
aabb (1st line rhyming with 2nd, 3rd with 4th); abab
(1st with 3rd, 2nd with 4th); abba (1st with 4th, 2nd
with 3rd), etc.
Elements of Poetry

 Theme: This is what the poem is all about. The theme

of the poem is the central idea that the poet wants
to convey. It can be a story, or a thought, or a
description of something or someone; anything that
the poem is about.
Elements of Poetry
 Symbolism: Often poems will convey ideas and
thoughts using symbols. A symbol can stand for
many things at one time and leads the reader out
of a systematic and structured method of looking at
things. Often a symbol used in the poem will be
used to create such an effect.
Elements of Poetry
 Imagery: Imagery is also one of the important
elements of a poem. This device is used by the poet
for readers to create an image in their imagination.
Imagery appeals to all the five senses. For e.g.,
when the poet describes, 'the flower is bright red',
an image of a red flower is immediately created in
the reader's mind.