SYNTAX
•SYNTAX IS THE ORDERING OF WORDS INTO PATTERNS AND PHRASES
•THESE TERMS ARE HELPFUL WHEN DISCUSSING POETIC SYNTAX:
1. CAESURA
2.ENJAMBMENT
3.END-STOPPED
CAESURA
• A PAUSE, USUALLY NEAR THE MIDDLE OF A LINE OF VERSE, USUALLY
INDICATED BY THE SENSE OF THE LINE, AND OFTEN GREATER THAN THE
NORMAL PAUSE.
• EXAMPLE: “TO ERR IS HUMAN, TO FORGIVE DIVINE”
ENJAMBMENT
• THE CONTINUATION OF THE SENSE AND GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION
FROM ONE LINE OF POETRY TO THE NEXT
A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and asleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing
END-STOPPED
•A LINE WITH A PAUSE AT THE END
EXAMPLE:
TRUE EASE IN WRITING COMES FROM ART, NOT CHANCE,
AS THOSE MOVE EASIEST WHO HAVE LEARN’D TO DANCE.
RHYME
• CLOSE SIMILARITY OR IDENTITY OF SOUND BETWEEN ACCENTED SYLLABLES OCCUPYING
CORRESPONDING POSITIONS IN TWO OR MORE LINES OF VERSE
RHYME SCHEME
•THE WAY RHYMES ARE ARRANGED IN A POEM
RHYMING PATTERNS
• AABB – LINES 1 & 2 RHYME AND
LINES 3 & 4 RHYME
• POETS CAN CHOOSE FROM A • ABAB – LINES 1 & 3 RHYME AND
VARIETY OF DIFFERENT
RHYMING PATTERNS.
• (SEE NEXT FOUR SLIDES FOR
EXAMPLES.)
8
LINES 2 & 4 RHYME
• ABBA – LINES 1 & 4 RHYME AND
LINES 2 & 3 RHYME
• ABCB – LINES 2 & 4 RHYME AND
LINES 1 & 3 DO NOT RHYME
AABB RHYMING PATTERN
First Snow
SNOW MAKES WHITENESS WHERE IT FALLS.
THE BUSHES LOOK LIKE POPCORN BALLS.
AND PLACES WHERE I ALWAYS PLAY,
LOOK LIKE SOMEWHERE ELSE TODAY.
BY MARIE LOUISE ALLEN
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ABAB RHYMING PATTERN
Oodles of Noodles
I LOVE NOODLES. GIVE ME OODLES.
MAKE A MOUND UP TO THE SUN.
NOODLES ARE MY FAVORITE FOODLES.
I EAT NOODLES BY THE TON.
BY LUCIA AND JAMES L. HYMES, JR.
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ABBA RHYMING PATTERN
From “Bliss”
LET ME FETCH STICKS,
LET ME FETCH STONES,
THROW ME YOUR BONES,
TEACH ME YOUR TRICKS.
BY ELEANOR FARJEON
11
ABCB RHYMING PATTERN
The Alligator
THE ALLIGATOR CHASED HIS TAIL
WHICH HIT HIM IN THE SNOUT;
HE NIBBLED, GOBBLED, SWALLOWED IT,
AND TURNED RIGHT INSIDE-OUT.
BY MARY MACDONALD
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DEVICES OF SOUND
• POETRY IS MEANT TO BE READ AND HEARD
• THERE ARE MANY DEVICES THAT POETS USE TO
ADD QUALITIES THAT CAN BE HEARD IN POETRY
• RHYTHM
• REPETITION
• ALLITERATION
• CONSONANCE
• ASSONANCE
ALLITERATION
• THE REPETITION OF IDENTICAL OR
SIMILAR CONSONANT SOUNDS,
NORMALLY AT THE
BEGINNINGS OF WORDS
• GNUS NEVER KNEW PNEUMONIA
CONSONANCE
• THE REPETITION OF SIMILAR CONSONANT
SOUNDS IN A GROUP OF WORDS
• ADD AND READ
• BILL AND BALL
• BURN AND BORN
ASSONANCE
• THE REPETITION OF IDENTICAL OR SIMILAR
VOWEL SOUNDS
• A LAND LAID WASTE WITH ALL ITS YOUNG MEN
SLAIN
RHYTHM
• THE PRESENCE OF RHYTHMIC PATTERNS LENDS
•THE RECURRENCE OF STRESSED
BOTH PLEASURE AND HEIGHTENED EMOTIONAL
RESPONSE TO THE LISTENER OR READER
AND UNSTRESSED SYLLABLES
“TO BE OR NOT TO BE”
DICTION
• FORMAL: THE LEVEL OF USAGE COMMON IN SERIOUS
BOOKS AND FORMAL DISCOURSE
• INFORMAL: THE LEVEL OF USAGE FOUND IN THE
RELAXED BUT POLITE CONVERSATION OF PEOPLE
•THE WAY THE AUTHOR USES
WORDS IN A LITERARY WORK
• COLLOQUIAL: THE EVERYDAY USAGE OF A GROUP,
POSSIBLY INCLUDING TERMS AND CONSTRUCTIONS
ACCEPTED IN THAT GROUP BUT NOT UNIVERSALLY
ACCEPTABLE)
• SLANG: A GROUP OF NEWLY COINED WORDS WHICH
ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR FORMAL USAGE AS YET
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
• WRITING THAT USED WORDS TO MEAN SOMETHING OTHER THAN THEIR
LITERAL MEANING
• TYPES WE WILL BE DISCUSSING:
• SIMILE
• METAPHOR
• HYPERBOLE
• PERSONIFICATION
• APOSTROPHE
SIMILE
COMPARES TWO THINGS USING
“LIKE” OR “AS”
• EXAMPLES:
• MY LOVE IS LIKE A FEVER
• THE WINTER WIND IS LIKE A
HOWLING WOLF
METAPHOR
• A DIRECT COMPARISON OF ONE
• EXAMPLES:
THING TO ANOTHER UNLIKE THING
• MY LOVE IS A FEVER
• THE WIND IS A HOWLING WOLF
HYPERBOLE
• A DELIBERATE, FREQUENTLY OUTRAGEOUS AND
EXTRAVAGANT, EXAGGERATION
"I'll love you, dear, I'll love you till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,
I'll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky."
PERSONIFICATION
• A KIND OF METAPHOR THAT GIVES INANIMATE
I’D LOVE TO TAKE A POEM TO LUNCH
OBJECTS OR IDEAS HUMANLIKE QUALITIES
BUT I WAS GOING TO SAY WHEN TRUTH BROKE IN
WITH ALL HER MATTER-OF-FACT ABOUT THE ICESTORM
APOSTROPHE
• SOMEONE (USUALLY NOT PRESENT), SOMETHING,
OR SOME ABSTRACT IDEA IS DIRECTLY
ADDRESSED AS THOUGH THEY WERE PRESENT OR
COULD HEAR
PAPA ABOVE!
REGARD A MOUSE.
-EMILY DICKINSON
MILTON! THOU SHOULDST BE LIVING IN THIS
HOUR;
ENGLAND HATH NEED OF THEE . . ..
-WILLIAM WORDSWORTH