Prosody
Main article: Meter (poetry)
Prosody is the study of the meter, rhythm, and intonation
of a poem. Rhythm and meter are different, although closely related.[26] Meter is the definitive pattern
established for a verse (such as iambic pentameter), while rhythm is the
actual sound that results from a line of poetry. Prosody also may be used more
specifically to refer to the scanning of poetic
lines to show meter.[27]Rhythm
The methods for creating poetic rhythm vary across languages and between poetic traditions. Languages are often described as having timing set primarily by accents, syllables, or moras, depending on how rhythm is established, though a language can be influenced by multiple approaches. Japanese is a mora-timed language. Syllable-timed languages include Latin, Catalan, French, Leonese, Galician and Spanish. English, Russian and, generally, German are stress-timed languages.[28] Varying intonation also affects how rhythm is perceived. Languages can rely on either pitch, such as in Vedic Sanskrit or Ancient Greek, or tone. Tonal languages include Chinese, Vietnamese, Lithuanian, and most Subsaharan languages.[29]Meter
Main article: Systems of scansion
In the Western poetic tradition, meters are customarily grouped according to
a characteristic metrical foot
and the number of feet per line.[38] The number of metrical feet in a
line are described using Greek terminology: tetrameter for four feet and hexameter for six feet, for example.[39] Thus, "iambic pentameter" is a meter
comprising five feet per line, in which the predominant kind of foot is the
"iamb". This metric system originated
in ancient Greek poetry,
and was used by poets such as Pindar and Sappho, and by the great tragedians of Athens. Similarly, "dactylic hexameter",
comprises six feet per line, of which the dominant kind of foot is the "dactyl". Dactylic hexameter was the
traditional meter of Greek epic poetry, the
earliest extant examples of which are the works of Homer
and Hesiod.[40] Iambic pentameter and dactylic
hexameter were later used by a number of poets, including William Shakespeare
and Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, respectively.[41] The most common metrical feet in
English are:[42]- iamb – one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (e.g. describe, Include, retract)
- trochee – one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (e.g. picture, flower)
- dactyl – one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (e.g.annotate an-no-tate)
- anapest – two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable (e.g. comprehend com-pre-hend)
- spondee – two stressed syllables together (e.g. e-nough)
- pyrrhic – two unstressed syllables together (rare, usually used to end dactylic hexameter)
Metrical patterns
Main article: Meter (poetry)
Different traditions and genres of poetry tend to use different meters,
ranging from the Shakespearean iambic pentameter and the Homeric dactylic hexameter
to the anapestic
tetrameter used in many nursery rhymes. However, a number of
variations to the established meter are common, both to provide emphasis or
attention to a given foot or line and to avoid boring repetition. For example,
the stress in a foot may be inverted, a caesura (or pause) may be added (sometimes
in place of a foot or stress), or the final foot in a line may be given a feminine ending to soften it or be replaced
by a spondee to emphasize it and create a hard
stop. Some patterns (such as iambic pentameter) tend to be fairly regular,
while other patterns, such as dactylic hexameter, tend to be highly irregular.[48] Regularity can vary between
language. In addition, different patterns often develop distinctively in
different languages, so that, for example, iambic tetrameter in Russian will generally
reflect a regularity in the use of accents to reinforce the meter, which does
not occur, or occurs to a much lesser extent, in English.[49]Some common metrical patterns, with notable examples of poets and poems who use them, include:
- Iambic pentameter (John Milton in Paradise Lost, William Shakespeare in his Sonnets)[50]
- Dactylic hexameter (Homer, Iliad; Virgil, Aeneid)[51]
- Iambic tetrameter (Andrew Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"; Aleksandr Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening)[52]
- Trochaic octameter (Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven")[53]
- Alexandrine (Jean Racine, Phèdre)[54]
Rhyme, alliteration, assonance
The Old English epic poem Beowulf is written in alliterative verse and paragraphs, not in lines or stanzas.
Rhyme, alliteration, assonance and consonance
are ways of creating repetitive patterns of sound. They may be used as an
independent structural element in a poem, to reinforce rhythmic patterns, or as
an ornamental element.[55] They can also carry a meaning
separate from the repetitive sound patterns created. For example, Chaucer used heavy alliteration to mock Old
English verse and to paint a character as archaic.[56]Rhyming schemes
Dante and Beatrice
see God as a point of light surrounded by angels. A Doré illustration to the Divine Comedy, Paradiso, Canto
28.
Main article: Rhyme scheme
In many languages, including modern European languages and Arabic, poets use
rhyme in set patterns as a structural element for specific poetic forms, such
as ballads, sonnets and rhyming couplets. However, the use of
structural rhyme is not universal even within the European tradition. Much
modern poetry avoids traditional rhyme schemes. Classical Greek and Latin
poetry did not use rhyme.[61] Rhyme entered European poetry in
the High Middle Ages,
in part under the influence of the Arabic language in Al Andalus (modern Spain).[62] Arabic language poets used rhyme
extensively from the first development of literary Arabic in the sixth century,
as in their long, rhyming qasidas.[63] Some rhyming schemes have become
associated with a specific language, culture or period, while other rhyming
schemes have achieved use across languages, cultures or time periods. Some
forms of poetry carry a consistent and well-defined rhyming scheme, such as the
chant royal or the rubaiyat, while other poetic forms have
variable rhyme schemes.[64]Form
Poetic form is more flexible in modernist and post-modernist poetry, and continues to be less structured than in previous literary eras. Many modern poets eschew recognisable structures or forms, and write in free verse. But poetry remains distinguished from prose by its form; some regard for basic formal structures of poetry will be found in even the best free verse, however much such structures may appear to have been ignored.[68] Similarly, in the best poetry written in classic styles there will be departures from strict form for emphasis or effect.[69]Among major structural elements used in poetry are the line, the stanza or verse paragraph, and larger combinations of stanzas or lines such as cantos. Also sometimes used are broader visual presentations of words and calligraphy. These basic units of poetic form are often combined into larger structures, called poetic forms or poetic modes (see following section), as in the sonnet or haiku.
Lines and stanzas
Poetry is often separated into lines on a page. These lines may be based on the number of metrical feet, or may emphasize a rhyming pattern at the ends of lines. Lines may serve other functions, particularly where the poem is not written in a formal metrical pattern. Lines can separate, compare or contrast thoughts expressed in different units, or can highlight a change in tone.[70] See the article on line breaks for information about the division between lines.
Alexander Blok's
poem, "Noch, ulitsa, fonar, apteka" ("Night, street,
lamp, drugstore"), on a wall in Leiden
.[75]Visual presentation
Visual poetry
Main article: Visual poetry
Even before the advent of printing, the visual appearance of poetry often
added meaning or depth. Acrostic poems
conveyed meanings in the initial letters of lines or in letters at other specific
places in a poem.[76] In Arabic, Hebrew and Chinese poetry, the visual presentation of
finely calligraphed poems has played an important
part in the overall effect of many poems.[77]With the advent of printing, poets gained greater control over the mass-produced visual presentations of their work. Visual elements have become an important part of the poet's toolbox, and many poets have sought to use visual presentation for a wide range of purposes. Some Modernist poets have made the placement of individual lines or groups of lines on the page an integral part of the poem's composition. At times, this complements the poem's rhythm through visual caesuras of various lengths, or creates juxtapositions so as to accentuate meaning, ambiguity or irony, or simply to create an aesthetically pleasing form. In its most extreme form, this can lead to concrete poetry or asemic writing.[78][79]
Diction
Main article: Poetic diction
Poetic diction treats the manner in which language is used, and refers not
only to the sound but also to the underlying meaning and its interaction with
sound and form.[80] Many languages and poetic forms
have very specific poetic dictions, to the point where distinct grammars and dialects are used specifically for poetry.[81][82] Registers
in poetry can range from strict employment of ordinary speech patterns, as
favoured in much late-20th-century prosody,[83] through to highly ornate uses of
language, as in medieval and Renaissance poetry.[84]Poetic diction can include rhetorical devices such as simile and metaphor, as well as tones of voice, such as irony. Aristotle wrote in the Poetics that "the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor."[85] Since the rise of Modernism, some poets have opted for a poetic diction that de-emphasizes rhetorical devices, attempting instead the direct presentation of things and experiences and the exploration of tone.[86] On the other hand, Surrealists have pushed rhetorical devices to their limits, making frequent use of catachresis.
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