Lidra Lesson
Lidra Lesson
Lidra Lesson
Elements of Poetry
• There are many different kinds of poetry. Did you know there are
over 50 different forms of poetry? Here are a few: Haiku, Shape/
Calligram, Free Verse, Kenning, Sonnet, Villanelle, Acrostic, Limerick,
Ode, Elegy, and Ballad.
Answers to the listening exercise
• Review
• Great! Now you understand what poetry is and why authors write
them!
What are the Elements of Poetry?
Answers to the listening exercise
What are the Elements of Poetry?
Elements in Poetry
• Structure is how the words of a poem are organized. The elements of structure
include stanza, verse, and canto.
• A stanza is a group of lines separated from other groups of lines by a blank line or
indentation. A verse is a stanza that doesn’t have a specific number of lines but it all
goes together and makes sense.
• A canto is a pattern that can be found in some medieval poetry and long poems like
Dante Alighieri's Commedia (The Divine Comedy) and Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie
Queene.
• Form means the different types of poetry. Some common forms of poetry are
Sonnets, Limericks, Haiku, Lyrics, and Ballads. There are over 50 forms of poetry!
Answers to the listening exercise
Subject
• The subject is what a poem is all about and can be different depending on the
form of poetry. Some examples of poem subjects are Love, Separation,
Enlightenment, Happiness, and Loss.
Speaker
• The speaker is the person or people who narrate the poem. Sometimes we think
the speaker of a poem is the poet themselves, but that is not always true. Poets
can use imaginary characters, and write the poem from that character’s
perspective. Usually, a poem is written from the perspective of the first- or third-
person speaker. When poets use the second-person point of view, they are
usually trying to communicate directly with their readers. Understanding the
speaker can help us understand the tone and mood of a poem!
Answers to the listening exercise
• Diction
• Diction is a poet’s use of language, choice of words, and syntax. Poetic diction is a
very important element in poetry because it separates poetry from other forms of
literature. Examples of poetic diction are irony, symbolism, juxtaposition, metaphors,
and similes.
• The Tone is the author’s attitude towards the subject of their poem or the audience
reading their poem.
• The Mood of a poem describes how the poet’s choice of words, the subject, and the
author’s tone show how the poet wants their readers to feel.
• In poetry, the sound of a poem is how lines or the sounds of specific words make a
reader think.
• Figurative Language is a word or phrase that does not have its normal,
everyday, literal meaning. Poets use figurative language to create a dramatic
effect, make a comparison, or make their readers think about ideas that are
not connected with the words they write in their poems.
• Poetic Devices
• Rhyme is the repetitive pattern of sounds found in a poem. It can be used to reinforce a
pattern or rhyme scheme. Some kinds of rhymes you might find in poetry are End Rhyme,
Imperfect Rhyme, Internal Rhyme, Masculine Rhyme, and Feminine Rhyme.
• End Rhyme is a common type of rhyme in poetry that occurs when the last word of two or
more lines rhyme.
• Imperfect Rhyme is a type of rhyme that occurs in words that do not have an identical sound.
• Masculine Rhyme is the rhyming between stressed syllables at the end of verse lines.
• Feminine Rhyme is the rhyming between unstressed syllables at the end of verse lines.
Answers to the listening exercise
• Meter
• A Meter is the pattern of a poem. Poets carefully arrange the words and word
parts in their poems to make specific patterns and explain how they want
these patterns to be read. Examples of meter are:
• Theme is a repeating idea that is spread out through a poem. Some common
themes in poetry are love, nature, beauty, and death. Understanding the
theme of a poem helps readers to recognize the main message behind a
poet’s reason for writing the poem.
Answers to the listening exercise
• Syntax
• Syntax is the order that a poet uses to organize their words into meaningful
patterns. Poets use syntax to bring attention to specific words which can help
to define a poem’s tone and mood.
• The 14 elements in poetry are structure, form, subject, speaker, diction, tone,
mood, sound and rhythm, figurative language, poetic devices, rhyme, meter,
theme, and syntax.