POETRY

POETRY
•Usually written in lines or verses that make up stanzas.
•May be of various lengths; some poems have rhyme
and meter.
•The recitation of a poem reveals its rhythm (regular
sound patterns) and thought units that help out the
meaning it wishes to convey.
ELEMENTS OF POETRY - SYMBOLS
•signs that point to meaning beyond its literal
significance
•The idea symbolized by an object or a place may differ
from person to person depending on the person’s
experience with it
•Used by poets to shorten and enliven description
ELEMENTS OF POETRY - IMAGERY
•Use of words to create the image and make it seem real and easy to imagine
•Images – words or phrases that communicate sensory expressions and
convey moods and emotions
Example:
Why does the sea sob so, Mother,
As it breaks on the rocky shore?
It recalls the sorrows of the world,
And weeps forever more.
- The Sea by Natividad Marquez
ELEMENTS OF POETRY - SOUND
•This is the result of the rhythm or the creative
combination of words.
a. Meter - the duration, stress, or number of syllable per
line.
b. Rhyme scheme – the formal arrangement of rhymes
in a stanza or in the whole poem.
ELEMENTS OF POETRY – FIGURATIVE LANGUAGES

•creates vivid word pictures when their imaginative meanings

are applied.
•a language device intended to bring to the reader or to the
listener fresh reactions to a scene or an object. They
•represent or make comparisons between familiar objects or
impressions in order to bring out less familiar impressions.
SIMILE
comparison between two things that are actually unlike but have something
in common. Similes are introduced by the words as or like.
1. Silence dropped like a curtain around them. -Norton Juster, The Phantom
Tollbooth
2. Eyelids like feather’s edge
Tresses long and black as night,
Lips and cheeks like jasmine blooms… -Procopio L. Solidum, Fair Rosario of
Sagay
3. Envy consumes a man as a moth gnaws on a garment. - Chrysostom
METAPHOR
makes a direct comparison of two unlike objects that have something in
common. It does not use the words like or as.
1. The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor.
-Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman
2. In the rough sea, the yacht lights were ever-vanishing fireflies.
3. Variety is the spice of life.
PERSONIFICATION
gives human qualities to an object, an animal, or an idea. It
can make ideas clear to a reader.
Examples:
The sun smiles at me.
The flowers were dancing in the breeze
The handkerchief wiped my tears.
APOSTROPHE
used when addressing one who is absent as though he or
she is present. Breaking off discourse to address some
absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate
object, or a nonexistent character.
Examples:
"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.”
APOSTROPHE
"Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own."
-Lorenz Hart, "Blue Moon“

"Then come, sweet death, and rid me of this grief."

-Queen Isabella in Edward II by Christopher Marlowe
ALLUSION
a clever word-or-two reference to a well-known person, event,
saying, or thing to put it into comparison with the present scene.
Examples:
Were I Midas, I would make nothing else but such golden days as
these.
The Chicago Tribune once said that America was bound to defend
the Philippines from invasion and that, as long as we felt thus, the
Philippine Islands would be our Achilles’ heel.
LITERARY ALLUSIONS AND EXPRESSIONS
a. Penelope’s web – a task that is never ending or done repeatedly and
never finishes
b. Achilles’ heel – the weakest point of one’s personality or something that
marks the weakest point of a person
c. Herculean task – a great or almost impossible task; something that is
almost impossible to be accomplished or it will take a great effort to do
d. Apple of discord – the object of conflict
e. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts – be careful if an enemy suddenly
becomes very friendly
HYPERBOLE
making comparison by creating exaggerated simile or
metaphor to make the desired effect.
Examples:
I have told you a million times not to lie!
His smile was a mile wide.
Melissa cried her eyes out.
These books weigh a ton.
IRONY
the use of words to express something other than and especially the
opposite of the literal meaning. It is a statement or situation where the
meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the
idea.
Darra loves the way you lie.
It was so hot that Myca wore her jacket.
Mitch was so pretty that no one wanted to be with her.
I saw the man of my dreams with his beautiful wife.
IRONY
the use of words to express something other than and especially the
opposite of the literal meaning. It is a statement or situation where the
meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the
idea.
Darra loves the way you lie.
It was so hot that Myca wore her jacket.
Mitch was so pretty that no one wanted to be with her.
I saw the man of my dreams with his beautiful wife.
IRONY
• Verbal Irony – when the opposite of what is said is actually
meant
• Situational irony – the outcome of the events is not parallel or
the opposite of what was expected by the characters or
readers
• Dramatic irony – the readers or audience knows more than
the characters of the story
ONOMATOPOEIA
- the use of words that imitate the sounds
associated with the objects or actions they refer to.
- mimic sounds of nature.
Examples:
water plops into pond, splish-splash downhill, warbling
magpies in tree, trilling, melodic thrill - Lee Emmett
SYNECDOCHE
 A part stands for a whole
 An individual stands for a class
 A material stands for a thing
Examples:
All hands on deck.
Lend me your ears.
The ship was lost with all hands. (sailors)
Jun has many mouths to feed.
METONYMY
used when one idea or phrase is substituted for another idea with
which it is closely associated

• 'He is a man of cloth', which means he belongs to a religious order.

• 'He writes with a fine hand', means he has a good handwriting.
• 'We have always remained loyal to the crown', means the people are
loyal to the king or the ruler of their country.

• 'The pen is mightier than the sword' refers that the power of literary works
is greater than military force.

• ‘The House was called to order', refers to the members of the House.
PARADOX
contradictory but thought-provoking statement which makes sense. It
is often contrary to common beliefs, a brain teaser, and oftentimes
used to intrigue and question common thoughts.

Examples:
Less is more. You have to be cruel to be kind
This is the beginning of an end. You are my bliss and my heart break.
You can save money by spending it. War is peace.
OXYMORON
a combination of two contradictory words.
Example:
Pretty ugly
Perfectly imperfect
Deafening silence
Recent past
ALLEGORY
an extended metaphor in which objects, persons, and actions in
a narrative/poem are associated with the meanings that lie
outside the piece itself. It has two meanings: a literal and a
symbolic meaning, with a purpose of explaining a principle or
teaching a lesson.
Example:
George Orwell’s Animal Farm
William Cullen Bryant’s To a Waterfowl