POETIC TERMS
The subject of a poem is whatever the poem talks about. The theme of a poem is its idea, its general content which is possible to talk about in larger terms (honesty, truth, loss, etc). Both the subject and the theme of a poem are part of its meaning, but neither individually nor together do they make a complete meaning. Instead, the whole meaning of the poem is the whole poem itself, which takes into consideration all the elements below.
Diction: The words a poet uses are generally the first device a reader notices. We need to be aware of meaning: denotation, which is the dictionary definition, and connotation,
which is what the word suggests beyond the definition. For example, the denotation of the word witch indicates a woman who is believed to possess magical powers, a sorcerer. But the connotation is of an ugly woman dressed in black, with a long nose and chin, tall pointed hat, riding a broomstick, etc. Connotation often can be associated with imagery.
Often there is more than one definition of a word, so readers should take the time to look up a word, even when they are fairly certain they know what it means.
Imagery: This is the poet’s use of language to create or re-create a sensory experience. Often the image is visual – a word picture – but imagery can also represent a sound (pop, screech), a smell (smoky), a taste (salty), a touch (slap, caress), an internal feeling (nausea), a movement (jolting).
Syntax: The pattern of the sentences in the poem can be part of the meaning. The four types of sentences: 1) Declarative = Statement of fact or belief
Interrogatory = Question
Exclamatory = Expressing strong emotion
Imperative = Command
Within the analysis of a sentence might be included:
Anaphora: emphasizing words by repeating them at the beginnings of neighboring clauses. In contrast, an HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistrophe" \o "Epistrophe" epiphora is repeating words at the clauses' ends
Chiasmus: might be called "reverse parallelism," since the second part of a grammatical construction is balanced or paralleled by the first part, only in reverse order. Instead of an A,B structure (e.g., "learned unwillingly") paralleled by another A,B structure ("forgotten gladly"), the A,B will be followed by B,A ("gladly forgotten")
The way a sentence is built can be of strategic importance. You might notice:
Appositive: a noun or noun substitute placed next to (in apposition to) another noun to be described or defined by the appositive. The appositive can be placed before or after the noun:
Enumeratio: detailing parts, causes, effects, or consequences to make a point more forcibly:
Parallelism: can occur in the syntax in terms of nouns, verbs, phrases or clauses. Antithesis establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together or juxtaposing them, often in parallel structure. Human beings are inveterate systematizers and categorizers, so the mind has a natural love for antithesis, which creates a definite and systematic relationship between ideas:
To err is human; to forgive, divine. --Pope
Rhetorical question: is not answered by the writer, because its answer is obvious or obviously desired, and usually just a yes or no. It is used for effect, emphasis, or provocation, or for drawing a conclusionary statement from the facts at hand
Figures of Speech are a way of saying something not in the ordinary way; they are a way of saying one thing, but meaning something deeper or larger.
Metaphor and Simile: the comparison of two unlike things. The simile expresses the comparison using like or as or seems, while the metaphor implies the comparison by substituting the qualities of one thing for another. Both the metaphor and the similie, then, always have two equal parts, an X and a Y, to which the poet adds an = sign. For example, the waves line up on the horizon like soldiers: waves = soldiers. Metaphors also are used to express feelings: rain = sadness. Metaphors are important because of the reliance on both denotation and connotation for the literal term and because they allow the poet to express ideas that otherwise couldn’t be..
Personification: Giving human characteristics to something non-human – an animal, an object, or even an idea (Justice, Psyche, etc). Personification is a form of comparison, an implied metaphor, as it were.
Apostrophe: The speaker addresses someone who is absent or dead or something not human as if the person or thing were present and could reply. “Go lovely rose . . .”
Synecdoche and Metonymy: Both of these substitute some part of an experience for the experience itself. Synecdoche substitutes part for the whole (All hands on deck with hands substituting for sailors); Metonymy uses something related to the whole, such as Washington to stand for the U.S. government. The two are closely related, and many readers simply combine them under the heading of metonymy.
Symbol: An object, person, situation, or action that means more than what it is. In other words, it can be read both literally and figuratively. In Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” for example, the path is both literally a path and also a symbol for choices in life.
A symbol can seem to merge into imagery and metaphor. Sound and Sense distinguishes them in this way: an image means only what it is; the figurative term of a metaphor means something other than what it is; and a symbol means both what it is and something more as well. Regardless, symbols are often the most difficult of the figures of speech for students to identify and work with, especially if the symbol isn’t clearly presented.
Paradox: A situation or statement that appears to be a contradiction but is, nonetheless, true. For example, Pope’s “Damn with faint praise” or Dickinson’s “Much madness is divinest sense / To a discerning eye,” or Robinson’s “Poetry is a language that tells us something that cannot be said” seem at first glance contradictory, but upon reflection, the truth of the statement becomes clear.
Hyperbole (Overstatement, Exaggeration): Emphasizing the truth by saying more than what we mean or what is literally true (You’re the most beautiful woman in the world).
Litotes (Understatement): Saying less than what we really literally mean or what is literally true in order to emphasize truth. (“The Man He Killed,” “Yes; quaint and curious war is!”
Irony: A situation or use of language that involves some kind of incongruity or discrepancy; as such, it has meanings that extend beyond its use simply as a figure of speech. Irony should not be confused with Sarcasm (bitter or hurtful speech intended to wound someone) nor with Satire (written words of ridicule with the intent of bringing about reform).
Verbal Irony – meaning both what is said and the opposite of what is said.
Dramatic Irony – 1) a speech or action that has much greater significance to the audience than to the character who speaks or performs it, because the audience possesses knowledge the character does not have; 2) in poetry, it is the discrepancy between what the speaker says and what the poem means.
Irony of Situation – 1) a discrepancy that exists between the actual circumstances and those that would seem appropriate or 2) between what one anticipates and what actually comes to pass.
Socratic Irony – a pretence of ignorance or foolishness (often by a teacher); the audience realizes this, but the victim/student does not.
Structural Irony – the double level of meaning, both surface and deeper implications, are present throughout the text by using a naïve hero or narrator (his judgment is impaired by prejudice, personal interests, or limited knowledge). Swift’s Guilliver’s Travels and “A Modest Proposal” are examples, as is Candide.
Cosmic Irony – the incongruity between our expectations of an outcome and what actually occurs; it’s as if God or Fate or Destiny is manipulating us in order to mock us.
Allusion: An explicit or implicit reference to something in previous literature or history. A writer uses allusions as a way to reinforce or enhance the emotions or ideas in his own work by referring to those from another work.
Tone: In literature, this is defined as the writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward his subject, his audience, or himself. In essence, it’s the emotional meaning of a work (ecstatic, incredulous, despairing, resigned, angry, etc). In spoken language, the inflections of the voice indicate tone, but in written language, tone is more subtle. We rely on the other poetic elements and devices to guide us in correctly identifying tone: connotation, imagery, metaphor, irony and understatement, rhyme, sentence construction, etc.
Sound: Word repetition
Alliteration (repeating the initial consonant sounds in a series of words)
Assonance (repeating the vowel sounds in a series of words)
Rhyme
A poet may employ these devices for how they appeal to our ear, but more significantly, they are additional tools the poet uses to enhance meaning.
Speaker: The fictional persona whose words we read – we must NOT assume that the speaker is the poet himself.
Structure: A poem can be arranged in several ways –
in stanzas
in a continuous form with no stanza breaks
in a representation of an external form, such as a tree, a shape, etc
Audience: For whom is the poem intended? To whom is the speaker talking? The answer could be another persona within the poem or the reader of the poem or some larger abstract group.
