A Look at the Volta in Poetry

Poetry is not some uniform thing. Poems do not need to be about just one thing, and they do not need to talk about anything in only one way. The volta in poetry is one of the ways that this is achieved. The term tends to be stated alongside the sonnet structure, but we’ll discuss that some more in some of the sections below. The basic idea behind the volta is that it is a shift or change in how a poem is presented, and these can be subject or tonal shifts. These kinds of shifts can be found throughout literature, and when I would teach some of my favorite poems to my old students, I would try to show them how amazing these kinds of shifts could be. We will explore a number of examples of the volta in poetry near the end of this article but imagine this.

Sonnet 130 (1609) by William Shakespeare; William Shakespeare, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A poem tells us the story of two lovers. They adore one another and do everything together. The poem focuses on how they live their lives together. It tells us how they wanted to grow old together. And then the poem shifts. One of the partners dies a tragic death. Suddenly, the poem is not about love, but about the sorrow that can come from having love taken from us so early. The poem subverted our expectations by appearing to be happy. It wanted us to be lulled into a false sense of security, and once that has occurred, it can pull the rug out from under us! It’s sad, but also beautiful, and that is what the volta in poetry can do. So, let’s discuss this concept.

Summary at the Volta in Poetry

There are a lot of words and terms out there that we like to use when it comes to a wide array of poetic topics. The volta in poetry is just one of those concepts. However, we should have an overview look at this concept before we dig any deeper. So, let’s have a look at some of the points about the volta in poetry in a summarized form.

• The volta in poetry refers to a change in the tone or subject of a poem. This is the term that is used to describe a point in a poem during which the tone or subject shifts. This is a very basic term, but one that can be found in many examples of poetry from around the world. It can often be used to subvert something, such as starting a poem by talking about love to then shift to the end of a relationship.
• The volta is strongly associated with sonnets. Sonnets are generally arranged around the idea of having some kind of a setup for the first portion of the poem, and how long that portion is depends on the type of sonnet that it is in the first place. However, every standard sonnet features a turn at some point that changes the concepts being explored. This is the volta.
• The volta is not only found in sonnets. While there is a strong association between the volta and the sonnet, the volta in poetry is not exclusive to sonnets. Instead, the volta can be found in any poem that features some kind of a turn that can be defined as a volta. We could say that traditional sonnets that make use of the volta are a kind of volta sonnet.

We have given some brief discussions of this concept, but it is rather interesting that the main question many would ask, even though the volta in poetry does not have to be in a sonnet, is the question: “What is a volta in a sonnet?”.

We will explore this question, as well as the broader uses of the volta in poetry if you keep reading.

A Definition of the Volta in Poetry

We have already mentioned a brief explanation of the volta in poetry, but the primary idea behind this concept is that it allows for some kind of a shift from one way of writing to another. This shift could be towards anything. For instance, it could be a tonal or subject shift, and these are probably the most common types of shift. However, it could also shift towards a new speaker, style, and so on. Any kind of shift, that distances itself from the section before the volta, counts as an example of a volta in poetry.

Sonnet 129 (1609) by William Shakespeare; Watsonyurface, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

When it comes to the location of the volta, this can be subject to change. For instance, in a Shakespearean sonnet, it is generally near the last two lines because they serve as the rhyming couplet. In a Petrarchan sonnet, on the other hand, it generally occurs in the final sestet of the poem. When it comes to sonnets, most are generally volta sonnets. There is the use of a volta somewhere in the poem. However, the volta can be used outside of sonnets. It can be used throughout poetry types. For example, a free verse poem that is about one thing but then shifts to be about something else is still using a volta. This is what should be kept in mind when it comes to the use of the volta in poetry.

The Purpose and Use of the Volta in Poetry

The purpose of the volta in poetry is rather self-evident. A poem does not generally wish to be about only one thing. For this reason, a poet would make use of a volta to ensure that the poem can change the way in which it discusses a certain topic. This is useful for many reasons. Some of those reasons include the ability to serve as a means of contrasting certain elements against one another, to offer some sort of resolution to the ideas that had been expressed until that point, as a means of emphasizing what has come before, or even to create some kind of an effect.

There are numerous uses for the volta in poetry.

Examples of the Volta in Poetry

The volta in poetry is not solely found in sonnets. We have already discussed this. However, if you were my student, I would do exactly what I used to do with my own students and teach you how to see something in the place it is most likely to be seen. This is why we are going to take a look at volta sonnets alone. Here, we can more closely answer the question: “What is a volta in a sonnet?”. If you are learning how to understand this for some educational reason, these few examples of the volta in sonnets should be beneficial.

John Milton (1629) by an Unknown Artist; National Portrait Gallery, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Let me not to the marriage of true minds (1609) by William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds is a poem about love. However, while the first eight lines focus on a discussion and understanding of what love is in the first place, that shifts. The volta occurs in the ninth line, and from here, it becomes a discussion of how love cannot be subject to time. Love is often seen as something rather timeless in the work of Shakespeare, and this poem is one of the best instances of that recurring theme.

This alteration shows the ways that a volta in poetry can maintain the idea that has been explored until the volta but in a new way. It shifts the way that the idea is discussed at all.

Let me not to the marriage of true minds (1609) by William Shakespeare; William Shakespeare, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The World Is Too Much With Us (1807) by William Wordsworth

The World Is Too Much With Us is a great example of the way that a volta in a sonnet can be used in a Petrarchan sonnet. In addition, this volta takes place partway through a line. In this case, it’s halfway through the ninth line. Until that point, the poem had been a lamentation of the fact that humanity has become disconnected from the natural world. However, the volta brings about the way that Wordsworth sees things.

He recommends more of a shift in our mindset towards a Pagan mentality, in which the natural world was far more respected than it is in the Western society in which he wrote this poem.

William Wordsworth (1842) by Benjamin Haydon; Benjamin Haydon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Ozymandias (1818) by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ozymandias is an irregular sonnet, and so the way in which the volta is used is a bit different from both the Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnet styles. In this particular instance, the poem is concerned with a description of a once-glorious statue of Rameses II, also known as Ozymandias. And then, after the tenth and eleventh lines, in which an inscription is read that tells everyone how powerful and great the man depicted was, it tells us that everything around the statue has been destroyed by the sands of time. There is nothing around that would indicate anything about the supposed power that Ozymandias once possessed. It is a stark juxtaposition against the earlier words and the supposed might that could once be seen in that place.

Ozymandias (1818) by Percy Bysshe Shelley; Percy Bysshe Shelley, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Our purpose today was to understand the concept of the volta in poetry and, hopefully, that has been achieved. We examined a definition of the concept, its purpose and uses, and a number of examples which were comprised of volta sonnets. The shift in topic or tone of a literary text can be an immensely powerful device and one that we should pay close attention to when reading and engaging with literature. We can only hope that this brief article has helped you to see and understand why concepts like this are important to note, so, when you’re reading, see if you too can note the shifts in so many works of literature.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Volta in Poetry?

This term refers to the way in which there can be a turn, shift, or change in a poem that alters the way it is presented. This could mean that it alters the subject, tone, or even perspective. If there is some kind of a shift, it can be seen as a volta. They are also strongly associated with sonnets.

What Is a Volta in a Sonnet?

The volta in a sonnet is the same as a volta anywhere else. It is a shift or change that occurs somewhere in the sonnet. However, volta sonnets tend to have a more formalized means of using the volta. For instance, the volta in a Shakespearean sonnet often occurs shortly before the final two lines of the poem.

What Is the Purpose of the Volta in Poetry?

The volta in poetry is used for many reasons. It can often be used to contrast two things against one another, provide some sense of resolution, emphasize something, or even have some kind of a broader effect that leaves the poem with a kind of conclusive punch.

Are Voltas Only Found in Sonnets?

The volta can be found in any kind of poem. It is far from exclusive to the sonnet structure. We tend to associate them with sonnets though because the volta in sonnets is often part of the traditional sonnet structure.

What Are Some Examples of the Volta in Poetry?

Some great examples of sonnets, which are most associated with voltas, that make use of the volta include Let me not to the marriage of true minds (1609) by William Shakespeare, The World Is Too Much With Us (1807) by William Wordsworth, and Ozymandias (1818) by Percy Bysshe Shelley. There are far more than this though.

The post Volta in Poetry – When a Poem Takes a Sudden Turn% first appeared on Art in Context.

A Look at Foot in Poetry

When it comes to understanding poetry and poetic analysis, there are a few terms that need to be understood. Many of these terms are interchangeable in some or another way. For instance, the foot in poetry is just another term that is used to describe meter. And meter is another word that is related to the use of rhythm in poetry. It can be easy to become confused by the vast array of words that are all related to one another yet are different from each other or have very specific tiny distinguishing features. This was one of the harder things when it came to my old job as an English teacher. The teaching of poetry can be an especially difficult thing as the language in many poems is already rather complicated, but then you also need to use all these terms to describe everything!

The Raven (1875) by Edgar Allan Poe; Édouard Manet, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Rhythm is the flow of a poem, and, in my experience as a teacher, this is one of the harder aspects of poetry that needs to be taught to a student. The only real way to learn this idea is to actually sit there and read poetry with a very close eye. You must sound out the words and hear how they sound. This is what we will encourage today. You will learn meter best by engaging with it on a deeper level and sounding everything out. However, before we hop to that, let’s get to a short summary of things.

Summary of Foot in Poetry

Before we dive headfirst into a far lengthier examination of the question, “What is a poetic foot?”, we are first going to check out some summarized points. These points are for anyone who may not have the time for this whole article. So, have a look and check out these basic points:

• The foot in poetry refers to a metrical unit. The central idea behind the foot in poetry is that it shows the way that stressed and unstressed syllables are used in specific arrangements. The term is also known as a “metrical foot”, and, as a result, it is part of meter.
• The foot in poetry is part of rhythm in general. Seeing as an example of foot in poetry is simply an aspect of meter, the metrical foot is part of rhythm in general. This is the term that refers to the flow of a poem. The use of stressed and unstressed syllables in specific arrangements contributes to how a poem is read.
• The foot in poetry has many different varieties. There are numerous ways that the foot in poetry can be arranged. Some of the most notable forms of metrical feet include the iambic, trochaic, and spondaic forms of meter. However, there is quite a large variety of other examples of the form.

With this summary of things out of the way, we can instead focus on the remainder of our look at the foot in poetry. This is a very basic concept in poetry and, as such, we should have a lengthier look at it.

Keep reading the next section for a definition of the idea in more detail.

A Definition of Foot in Poetry

The idea of the foot in poetry is not a complicated thing in the slightest. So, what is a poetic foot then? In very basic terms, and these are the only real terms you’ll need anyway, it is a specific unit of meter that can be found within poetry. This means that it refers to the specific arrangement of syllables in a poem based on whether or not they are stressed or unstressed. In terms that are even more specified, the “foot” in question refers to each unit within a larger line framework.

Let’s use an example to illustrate this because I’ve often found that doing that works best. Each line of a poem that is written with specific meter will be made up of a number of beats. So, if it were to have iambic pentameter as its metrical arrangement, it would have five pairs of two syllables, and each of those pairs would be arranged as one unstressed and one stressed syllable. And this pair is the foot.

Charge of the Light Brigade First Draft (1854) by Alfred Tennyson; Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Basically, the “iambic” part refers to the kind of stress and the number of syllables in the foot, and “pentameter” refers to how many of those feet are used in each line. A poetic foot does not need to be only two syllables, it could be three. For instance, anapestic meter includes three syllables! However, that will be explored later in a lot more detail.

This is a very simple and fundamental term in poetry that does not have another deeper meaning. This is a term that is essentially as important as knowing a term like “stanza” or “rhyme” in poetic analysis. Every example of foot in poetry is very simple, but the reasons that poetic feet are used at all are far more varied. We will get to that. Hopefully, this explanation of the concept itself is a good one. Many academic texts will insist on explaining concepts in difficult ways, but there really isn’t anything complicated about the foot in poetry. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! However, the reasons for its specific use can sometimes be a little bit more complicated.

The Different Types of Poetic Feet

Many different varieties of poetic feet can be found in poetry, and we are going to have a quick look at some of the most basic of these varieties. You must also keep in mind that the concept of meter is far broader than the foot in poetry. The foot is only a part of meter as a larger category, and so any discussion of meter will also, inevitably, become a conversation about foot in poetry too.

Some of the most basic poetic feet are types that make use of two syllables. The iambic meter is made up of a pair of syllables, and they are arranged as one unstressed and one stressed. The opposite of this form is the trochaic meter. However, you could also look at something like a spondaic foot, which is comprised of two stressed syllables, and the opposite of this one, in which there are two unstressed syllables, is a pyrrhic meter.

These are the two-syllable varieties of foot in poetry.

There Was an Old Man with a Beard (1888) by Edward Lear; Edward Lear, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, a foot could also be made up of three syllables. These include the use of two unstressed and one stressed, which is anapestic meter. There could also be one stressed and two unstressed, and this would be called dactyllic. There could even be one unstressed, one stressed, and another unstressed, and this is known as an amphibrachic meter. These are the varieties that make use of three syllables.

It can be easy to view these in pure isolation but remember that these terms are used within a broader poetry context. So, they are typically arranged within lines that make use of a number of them. For example, if there are four of these feet in each line, then it is known as a tetrameter. So, if a poem uses iambic tetrameter, that means that each line has eight syllables, seeing as iambic meter uses a two-syllable structure. The number of syllables in each of the lines of a poem can have immense variability for many potential reasons.

The Uses of Foot in Poetry

Every different instance of poetic feet in a poem can be used for different reasons. They all add to the rhythm, but the way in which they are used contributes to the specific mood that that rhythm is being used to create. They can often be somewhat onomatopoeic in their presentation and so emulate something natural. For instance, iambic meter is noted for being quite similar to everyday language.

There are many different uses of metrical feet, but we are only really going to learn those few things by actually having a closer look at a number of examples of foot in poetry. This is the best way to learn, or at least the best way that I found to teach it to my own students, and so let’s try that!

A Few Examples of Foot in Poetry

The best way to understand an example of foot in poetry is to look at how poetic feet are used in poetry in the first place. This list will go over some of the poems that make use of specific forms of meter, but we will only do so very briefly. Let’s investigate some of these examples of the foot in poetry.

Annabel Lee (1849) by Edgar Allan Poe; Edgar Allan Poe, “Annabel Lee”, 1849 fair copy., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (1609) by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? is, like all Shakespearean sonnets, an example of iambic meter. It uses this unstressed and stressed syllable pairing to create a steady rhythm throughout the poem.

This variety of the foot in poetry is often used to make a more natural flow to the writing in question.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (1609) by William Shakespeare; William Shakespeare, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Garden (1681) by Andrew Marvell

The Garden is a poem that makes good use of the more unusual two-syllable structure known as pyrrhic poetry. In this case, the meter, which consists of two unstressed syllables, is used at various points to add a certain bouncy musicality to the poem in question.

However, the poem also uses iambic meter, and so these two varieties are mixed together.

Andrew Marvell (nd) by Godfrey Kneller; Godfrey Kneller, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Tyger (1794) by William Blake

The Tyger is a poem that makes strong use of trochaic meter. This reverse of the iambic meter is used to heighten the stress on the first syllable to add to the weight in general. The Tyger is by far one of the most famous William Blake poems, asking us whether to appreciate and understand beauty requires the understanding of ferocity and anger.

The trochaic meter adds a rhythmic quality that has a stronger force behind each line as the stressed syllable comes first.

The Tyger (1794) by William Blake; William Blake, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Destruction of Sennacherib (1815) by Lord Byron

The Destruction of Sennacherib is a great instance of a poem that makes use of this three-syllable metrical structure. The effect that is produced by this use of two unstressed and one stressed syllable is a sort of action-oriented feeling.

The two short beats followed by the longer one emphasize the dramatic events depicted.

Pied Beauty (1918) by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Pied Beauty is a great example of a poem that makes use of two stressed syllables in a row. This creates a greater sense of momentum in the text. However, it is not the only form of metrical structure used in this particular text. It operates alongside other forms of the foot in poetry to add to the general feeling of the poem.

Today, we have examined the use of the foot in poetry, and it is a very pervasive and important part of poetry in general. This overview should be beneficial to those who did not understand this particular concept in poetry. It can be hard to read poetic feet at first, but practice makes perfect. If you want to get better at it, you need to grab some poems and attempt to read out where the particular stress can be found within each of those words!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Poetic Foot?

This term describes the smallest unit of meter. Each metrical structure is made up of a specific arrangement of syllables based on which are stressed and which are unstressed. The foot is the term used for each pair or trio of syllables that make up meter in general.

What Are the Different Types of Poetic Feet?

There are many different types of poetic feet. Some of the most notable include iambic, trochaic, and spondaic meter. However, there are many other types of poetic feet that exist and can be analyzed in poetry. Each type has its own specifics, such as anapestic meter being made up of three syllables arranged as unstressed-unstressed-stressed.

What Are Some Prominent Examples of Poetic Feet?

There are many poems that use specific instances of poetic feet, such as Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (1609) by William Shakespeare being an example of iambic meter, The Tyger (1794) by William Blake being an instance of trochaic meter, and Pied Beauty (1918) by Gerard Manley Hopkins having spondaic meter. There are far more types of foot in poetry than only those that have been listed here.

The post Foot in Poetry – A Broad Overview of Poetic Rhythm% first appeared on Art in Context.

A Look at the Couplet in Poetry

There are so many different structures that can be found in poetry, and the couplet just happens to be one of them! We will, in one of the sections of this article, examine the other structures that exist so that we can compare the couplet against them, but a basic understanding is often good before jumping into things. Luckily, the way to understand what a couplet is is right there in the name! It can be harder to know what other structures like this mean if you’re less familiar with the prefixes needed to understand them, such as the sestet. Here, it’s really easy. The couplet is made of a couple. This indicates that it is made up of two lines.

On Being Brought from Africa to America (1814) by Phyllis Wheatley; Phyllis Wheatley, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

That’s all that a couplet in poetry is! It’s a two-line structure. We will go into more depth with regard to this particular poetic structure, but before we get into that, let’s first have a look at a good old summary of things for those who might not have the time or drive to read this whole article! So, let’s get to that before we move into the article at large and investigate the ways in which the couplet can be used in poetry.

Summary of the Couplet in Poetry

Sometimes, we just need a summary of things rather than having to read a whole article. This often makes sense, and that’s why we’ve thrown one right over here! This is hardly a comprehensive look at the kinds of things that can be done with the couplet in poetry, but it should be a good starting point for someone interested in how the couplet can be used in poetry:

• A couplet in poetry is a two-line stanza. The basic premise behind a couplet in poetry is rather simple. It is simply a stanza of some kind that uses a pair of lines. There can be rules on what these two lines do depending on the specific variety of poetry in which said couplets have been found, but the term itself is very generic and has no other real rules attached to it.
• A couplet can have or not have rhyme. While a term like “rhyming couplet” is commonly used, there are many instances of non-rhyming couplets. There are types of poetry that make use of couplets but do not force those couplets to rhyme with one another. However, the use of rhyme to join the two lines of a couplet together is probably better known than non-rhyming couplets.
• A couplet can be part of a different poem. One of the best-known uses of the couplet in poetry is its use in a Shakespearean sonnet. This type of poetic structure has a rhyme scheme that is presented as ABABCDCDEFEFGG. The last two lines rhyme with one another and generally form some kind of a final send-off to the poem as a whole. Other poetic types also incorporate couplets.

These few points are very basic, but they should at least point you in the right direction. However, if you want to learn quite a lot more about the couplet in poetry, you’ll need to keep reading.

There is a lot more that can be discussed in relation to this particular structure that is so commonly found in poetry.

A Definition of the Couplet in Poetry

It has already been mentioned that the basic idea behind the couplet can be found in the name and that it is a type of poetic structure that only includes two lines. That is the primary thing that differentiates a couplet from other types of stanza structure. However, there are different ways in which the couplet can be used, as will be explored in time, and the couplet can also be rather interesting as something that either exists within other structures or as a standalone structure. However, this will be further explored in one of the sections below.

There Was an Old Man with a Beard (1888) by Edward Lear; Edward Lear, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The couplet can be used in all manner of ways, and some of those ways will be touched on in more detail throughout this article, but the one thing that must always be remembered is that the couplet requires two lines. If it has three lines, then it is an example of a tercet. However, to ensure that these different stanza structures are understood within the context of the couplet, let’s have a quick look at the different stanza structures.

The Different Types of Stanza Structure

There are numerous different ways that stanzas can be arranged. The couplet can often serve as a standalone stanza, but it can also form part of a larger stanza. That is the case with each of the different structures that are often seen as “stanza structures”. Each of these forms is defined by the number of lines in them. So, the couplet has two lines. The monostich has one. The tercet has three.

This is the only definitive thing that defines each of these poetic structures against one another.

There are a number of standard ones, such as the quatrain, quintain, sestet, and octave that follow on from the tercet by a factor of one each time. There are many different ways that these can be used, but they are always defined by their number of lines. We will not go into each of these different stanza lengths today, but we will go into the uses of the couplet as it is our focus for the day.

The Uses of the Couplet in Poetry

When it comes to how the couplet can be used in poetry, we already know that it can stand alone. A couplet can be used as a kind of stanza, such as those found in ghazal poems. However, while there are many types of poems that can make use of the couplet structure as standalone stanzas, they can also be within other structures.

The easiest one to examine is the sonnet, especially the Shakespearean sonnet. This variety of poetry ends with a rhyming couplet. The last two lines often serve as the volta, or shift in tone, that changes the course of the sonnet in question. The way in which this can manifest will be explored in one of the examples of the couplet in action in the last section of this article.

The Tyger (1794) by William Blake; William Blake, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, other than this use, the couplet can also be found in poetic varieties like heroic couplets. These are a type of poetry that makes use of rhymed couplets written in iambic pentameter, or there could be the use of split couplets, which have an asymmetrical rhythmic structure where the first line has iambic pentameter and the second has iambic dimeter.

This should demonstrate that the couplet can be found in a great variety of different poetic structures and types. It is a highly versatile form of poetic expression, and it has some characteristics that make it immensely useful within poetry.

The Characteristics of the Couplet in Poetry

The primary characteristic of the couplet in poetry has been exhaustively stated until now, and that is the fact that it has two lines. However, other common factors include the use of rhyme and meter. While these will be explored more in the section below, the couplet can often make use of rhyme and specific meter. Other than this, the couplet is often known for containing some kind of a complete thought.

This is not always true, but it is a fairly common feature of the form.

This is especially the case when it serves as the end of a Shakespearean sonnet. It usually concludes the poem with a final statement for us to leave with. Lastly, the couplet is just highly versatile as a poetic form. It can be used in many different ways, such as ending off thoughts, providing persistent rhythm, and so on. Some of the uses of this form will be explored when we have a look at the different examples of the couplet in poetry.

Rhyming Couplets Versus Non-Rhyming Couplets in Poetry

The couplet has been around for a very long time, and as a result, there have been those who have used it alongside rhyme and those who have used it without rhyme. While both of these have been used and can be seen as entirely valid on their own, we do tend to see the rhyming couplet more commonly when a couplet structure is used.

When a rhyming couplet is used in poetry, it also often makes use of certain elements. For instance, a rhyming couplet will probably have the same meter across both lines. This can also be the case with non-rhyming couplets, but it is often more expected in the rhyming variety. For instance, heroic couplets, which have already been mentioned, make use of iambic pentameter.

An Essay on Criticism (1716) by Alexander Pope; Pope, Alexander, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Non-rhyming couplets are also more likely to break the idea of structural unity. Many couplets contain a single idea across the two couplets because it feels right for it to be done that way. However, non-rhyming couplets will be more likely to make use of enjambment or more disjointed ways of expressing the poem in question. This shows us that the couplet in poetry can be arranged along either rhyming or non-rhyming lines. Some varieties necessitate rhyme, but this does not make the use of non-rhyming couplets any less valid as a means of poetic expression.

However, it would be best to see this reflected in some actual couplet examples.

Examples of the Couplet in Poetry

When we need to understand something, it can often be highly beneficial to actually examine some specific examples of it. This is why we are going to have a look at five different ways in which the couplet can be used in practical examples of poetry. Each of these poems uses the couplet in a different way, and this can be beneficial to show you why and how this is such a versatile poetic form. Let’s check out these examples of the couplet in poetry to better understand this form.

L’Allegro (1855) by John Milton; John Milton, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun (1609) by William Shakespeare

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun makes use of a type of sonnet structure that has come to be known as a Shakespearean sonnet and, as a result, the final two lines of the poem make use of a rhyming couplet structure. The couplet in poetry can be found in many different poetic varieties, and this type of sonnet is perhaps one of the best-known of them all to make use of the couplet.

In this particular case, the couplet ends off the poem and serves as the volta that shifts the tone of the poem from the earlier dedication to a discussion of the lack of beauty of a specific person to an affirmation that regardless of this lack of traditional beauty, this person is beautiful to the speaker.

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun (1609) by William Shakespeare; William Shakespeare, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (1807) by William Wordsworth

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is a poem with a very specific sestet stanza structure. Each of these stanzas makes use of the rhyme scheme ABABCC. Here, you can see that the first four lines are made up of an alternating rhyme quatrain, but the final two lines make use of a rhyming couplet style. This serves as a means of capping off each stanza with a more rhythmic endpoint. Take the first stanza of the poem as an example.

The first four lines set up the tone and end with the introduction of the field of daffodils that are so prominently featured within this poem, and this last couplet ends off the setup with an image of the tree and the breeze.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (1807) by William Wordsworth; Austroungarika, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nothing Gold Can Stay (1923) by Robert Frost

Nothing Gold Can Stay is a perfect example of a couplet in poetry because it is literally entirely made up of couplets. The entire poem’s structure is one rhyming couplet after the next. In addition to this, the poem uses trimeter, and so there are comparatively few syllables per line. This means that the jump to the next rhyme is short and occurs in rapid succession. The beat of the poem as a whole is aided by this dedication to the use of couplets throughout the poem.

It is not a particularly standard variety of poetry, but it does allow the poem to have a far snappier presentation.

Nothing Gold Can Stay (1923) by Robert Frost; Robert, Frost, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Uses of Sorrow (2007) by Mary Oliver

The Uses of Sorrow is a very short poem that is made up of one monostich, or stanza with one line, and two couplets. The entire length of the poem is only five lines, but that first line is only to state that the poem itself came from a dream. So, we could say that the poem as a whole is actually only made up of two non-rhyming couplets. Each of the couplet stanzas has a particular message that it wishes to convey, and they are presented as single sentences that are broken up through enjambment.

So, you read this poem as if it is only a few sentences, and that kind of flow is aided along by the couplet structure that it uses.

Ghazal for Becoming Your Own Country (2016) by Angel Nafis

Ghazal for Becoming Your Own Country is an example of a ghazal poem. This poetic structure features a series of couplets. These couplets also have specific rules attached to them. For instance, there needs to be the repetition of certain phrases in each stanza. This type of poetry can show us that the couplet in poetry has a long history and has been used for entire poetic structures. This isn’t like the use of the couplets in a sonnet, where it serves to cap off the poem as a whole but is instead a poem comprised entirely of couplets.

We have just finished looking at five separate examples of poems that make use of couplets in some or another way. This last section should have shown some of the versatility of the couplet in poetry, but the article as a whole also explored various aspects of the couplet structure. We have had a look at a definition of the couplet in poetry, the different types of stanza structure against which we can compare the couplet, the different uses of the couplet in poetry, the use of either rhyming or non-rhyming couplets, and the aforementioned examples of poems that made use of couplets. With that, we have come to the end of our discussion, but hopefully, it has been a useful one. It is good to always try and remember that there are many other poems out there that have made use of couplets, so if you want to find them, they’re all out there to find!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Couplet in Poetry?

Sometimes a term very much wears its meaning on its sleeve. This logic applies to the couplet in poetry. This is, very simply, a structure, such as a stanza, that makes use of two lines. They are often made to have the same meter and can rhyme, but these are not strictly necessary. In addition, couplets can stand as their own stanzas, or they can exist within a larger poem structure, such as those that are commonly found within examples of Shakespearean sonnets.

Which Poetic Structures Use Couplets?

The most famous of all the types of poem structures that make use of couplets is the Shakespearean sonnet. However, the couplet can also be found in other poetic forms, such as heroic couplets, split couplets, and Chinese couplets. There are a great many types of poems out there that incorporate the couplet in some way or another. This could easily be because of the accessibility of the couplet over other stanza structure styles.

What Are the Characteristics of the Couplet in Poetry?

The primary characteristic of the couplet in poetry is that it has two lines. However, other than this, they often, but not always, share some kind of rhyme and meter with one another. In addition, they can often cap off thoughts or be self-contained in some way. It is also a highly versatile form and so it can be found lurking within various types of poems. The couplet is a very common element within many poems.

How Does the Rhyming Couplet Differ from a Non-Rhyming Couplet in Poetry?

The only real difference between these two different versions of a couplet in poetry is that one rhymes and one does not. However, rhyming couplets are also more likely to follow specific rules. For instance, a couplet that shares a rhyme across the two lines is also likely to share a meter of some kind. Rhyming couplets are also often found within formalized types of poetry, such as the limerick.

What Are Some Famous Examples of the Couplet in Poetry?

There are innumerable poems that have made use of couplets. However, some good examples of the use of couplets can be found in poems like My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun (1609) by William Shakespeare, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (1807) by William Wordsworth, and Nothing Gold Can Stay (1923) by Robert Frost. However, there are far more poems that use couplets than just these.

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A Look at Anaphora in Poetry

Anaphora is simply one of many different types of poetic devices out there. It certainly is a powerful one when used correctly, and we will soon have a look at a few anaphora examples that do use it very effectively. However, before we jump into our more in-depth discussion of anaphora in poetry, we are first going to provide a brief summary for those who don’t have the time to read the entire article.

Mosaic of William Blake’s London (2010); Graham C99 from London, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Summary of Anaphora in Poetry

Let us have a quick look at a summary of anaphora in poetry. Not everyone has the time or energy to read through an entire article, and you may also need a quick refresher rather than an explainer:

• Anaphora is the repetition of phrases at the beginning of lines. This technique entails the use of a repetitive phrase at the beginning of a number of separate lines. This produces a rhythmic effect that serves as a powerful means of reinforcement.
• Anaphora can be used for emphasis. One of the primary functions of anaphora in poetry is to highlight some important thematic ideas. It allows for reinforcement that forces the reader to pay attention to the ideas being expressed.
• Anaphora is often used in rhetoric too. There are many examples of non-poetic texts, such as speeches, that also make use of this technique. For instance, the famous I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King is a good example of this technique outside of poetry.

This has been our short and sweet summary of anaphora in poetry, but if you want to learn more about this poetic technique, then you’ll have to keep reading.

Let’s first start with what exactly anaphora is in the first place.

A Definition of Anaphora in Poetry

Poetry is absolutely riddled with different examples of repetition. There are many different types, such as rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, assonance, and so on. Furthermore, anaphora is one of the many different examples of repetition in poetry. In this case, the repetition is at the start of lines, and it entails the repeated use of a certain phrase or line.

This means that successive lines do not deviate from their openings, but they can deviate from other parts of the line. A made-up example may help to illustrate this a little better to show how there is repetition while also allowing for variation:

I like hawks.

I like walks.

I like talks.

There may be needless rhyme here for the sake of it, but there is also a repetition of the “I like” idea while adding on something different each and every time. This reinforces the idea of a poem that uses a technique like this, but we will explore some of those ideas in more depth below.

Sonnet 66 (1609) by William Shakespeare; William Shakespeare, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

However, before we get to that next part, anaphora can be seen as an opposite, of sorts, of epistrophe. This is a form of repetition, and it entails the repeating of words or phrases at the end of lines rather than the start of lines. So, it is the same kind of repetition but in a different place. With that explainer over, let’s hop straight into what anaphora can do in poetry.

The Characteristics and Uses of Anaphora in Poetry

Anaphora has a number of different characteristics that we could discuss. The most obvious of these being the fact that as a type of repetition, it can help through the use of a repetitive structure, to reinforce and highlight a certain idea. This is a means of emphasis. This is probably the most common way in which anaphora can be used in poetry. We want to make sure that the reader understands us, so, we repetitively use a certain phrase to ensure that it is reinforced.

However, other than this, it is not purely repetitive. The repetition does contribute to rhythm, but it also allows for variation.

If you vary what is said after the anaphora sections, you can use that basic structure to create a reinforcing idea that uses many different images. For instance, imagine repetitively using “I can” and then each time adding something onto it that reinforces the idea that you can do all of these things. This can also contribute to a certain sense of unity within a text. The use of anaphora, which is a repetitive technique, has the ability to allow you to see it as a unified whole. This can be beneficial to many poems. And all of these elements operate together to aid in the emotional impact of what is being repetitively stated.

A Few Anaphora Examples in Poetry

Anaphora has been used in poetry for a very long time as it is an effective device for a number of reasons, as has been discussed above. However, it can often be beneficial to examine a few examples of something when trying to understand it. And so, to aid in answering the question, “What is anaphora in poetry?”, we are going to have a look at three separate anaphora poems to see how this device can be used in a practical sense.

The Tyger (1794) by William Blake; William Blake, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Waste Land (1922) by T.S. Eliot

The Waste Land is a poem that cannot be classified as a simple anaphora poem. Instead, it includes a good anaphora example. The reason for this is that this poem is a very long one. It is multiple pages long and has a number of different sections that all have their own unique ideas and features in them. In terms of anaphora, we need to look at section five of the poem.

This section, called “What the Thunder Said”, makes use of anaphora three times in a row.

This section uses “after the” to imply and reinforce a future of some kind. In this case, it is after torchlight, silence, and agony. Each of these ideas serves to further reinforce the ideas of disillusionment that the poem is attempting to convey to us. However, The Waste Land is a famously difficult poem to read, and so, while it does make use of anaphora here, there are a variety of other sections that do not use any poetic techniques that are anywhere near similar to this repetitive device.

T.S. Elliot (nd); Sneh Vatsa, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I Have a Dream (1963) by Martin Luther King Jr.

I Have a Dream is likely the most famous instance of this technique. However, it is not actually an anaphora poem. It isn’t a poem at all. This is instead the most famous speech of the American Civil Rights Movement. The poem was addressed to the American people as a whole, and as King stood upon the podium, he repeatedly told them all that he has a dream. And the repetition of the phrase, “I have a dream”, has likely contributed to this speech being one of the best-known in the world.

From an anaphora perspective, it is a means of emphasizing the idea of this dream.

However, each time King used the phrase, he would add something to the end of the anaphora section. He would use some kind of an image that was associated with this dream of equality. The most famous of them all, of course, being the statement that “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”. This section, especially the judgment of character instead of skin color, has become one of the most famous slogans of equality around the world.

Martin Luther King at the Civil Rights March (1963) by Rowland Scherman; Rowland Scherman, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Still I Rise (1978) by Maya Angelou

Still I Rise is a phenomenal example of anaphora in poetry, but the use of this technique is not persistent throughout the poem. Instead, there are a handful of differing variations of “I rise”. The title itself obviously has a similar layout to this, and other examples of the form, in this poem, include “I’ll rise”, “Still I’ll rise”, and “I rise”. The last of these is repeated twice in the second last stanza and five times in the final stanza (the last three lines are also simply “I rise” three times in a row).

Portrait Photograph of Maya Angelou (1978) by Marlene Callahan Wallace; Marlene Callahan Wallace, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This shows a stunning use of this particular technique, and it operates on a thematic level too. The poem is about standing up to the bigotries and prejudices of the world and the people in it and continuing to rise above it all. So, repetitively stating that “I rise” becomes something of a battle cry in this instance. It is a way of repeatedly telling all of those bigots that they have no power over her. They are nothing. She’ll just rise.

Today, we have had a look at the poetic technique known as anaphora. We have discussed a definition of this device, some of the characteristics and uses of it, and a number of anaphora examples to illustrate. Hopefully, this has helped with understanding what anaphora is in the first place. This is a potent device that has been used in many poems, and if you like this technique, seek out some other anaphora poems that were not in this article and try to see why this device was used in that particular poem!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Anaphora in Poetry?

This is a poetic device that makes use of repeated phrases or lines that have the same beginning words. This creates a kind of rhythmic effect as line after line repeats the same phrase. It is a useful technique, which can also be a powerful one, that can be found in many poems.

What Are the Characteristics of Anaphora in Poetry?

The primary characteristic of the use of anaphora in poetry is as a rhythmic device that adds emphasis and allows seemingly disparate elements to be related to one another. The constant repetition of the same phrase also allows for variation within those repeated segments as the same opening is used, but with different elements that follow.

What Is the Difference Between Anaphora and Repetition?

Repetition is a very general term that refers to practically everything that is repetitive in some way. Rhyme, meter, alliteration, and so on, are all examples of repetition. Anaphora is the repetition of opening phrases, and, as a result, it is also an example of repetition.

What Are Some Famous Anaphora Poems?

There are many texts that make use of anaphora. For instance, there are poems like Still I Rise (1978) by Maya Angelou that make phenomenal use of it throughout, and others that use it more sparingly, such as The Waste Land (1922) by T.S. Eliot. However, this technique is used far more widely than only in poetry, and can be seen in places such as the I Have a Dream speech (1963) by Martin Luther King Jr. This is a very useful poetic device that can be used in many different contexts.

Why Do Poets Use Anaphora in Poetry?

There are many reasons that a poet may decide to make use of anaphora in their poems. For instance, as it allows for emphasis, a poet may use it to highlight a certain thematic element. It also allows for better rhythm, and this may be desirable for a poet. It could also be for a kind of structural unity. Thus, there are many reasons for the use of anaphora in poetry.

The post Anaphora in Poetry – A Specific Style of Poetic Repetition% first appeared on Art in Context.

A Look at Hyperbole in Poetry

There are a great many different types of poetic techniques in this world, and every now and then, one of these techniques comes along that is a little bit more on the annoying side because of the language that it uses. Many poetic techniques have specific terminology that is not applicable elsewhere, but hyperbole can be found in far more than poetry alone. It is actually a rather common way of speaking in an ordinary sense too. The reason for this is that “hyperbole” is the more literary term for “exaggeration”.

Sonnet 18 (1609) by William Shakespeare; William Shakespeare, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

If you are familiar with what it means to exaggerate something, and what exaggeration can do in a poem or ordinary conversation, then you may not have as much to learn from this particular article as others. However, for those who are not certain about how exaggeration can be used, this article will explore this useful technique and why we like to use it so much. Hyperbole, or exaggeration, is one of the most interesting things that humans like to do with language.

However, before we dive into some poems with hyperbole, and other aspects of language that also use this device, we are instead going to have a quick look at a summary of hyperbole in poetry. If you want more than just a summary, stick around until after the summary to learn a lot more.

Summary of Hyperbole in Poetry

We do not all have the time to read through an entire article, and so that is what this short summary is for. However, you will learn far more about hyperbole in poetry if you keep reading. In addition, there are many examples of hyperbole in poetry that can help illustrate how and why hyperbole is used, but that does require reading further. For those who do not wish to do that, here are a few points to help understand ordinary language and poems with hyperbole:

• Hyperbole refers to poetic exaggeration. This term does not have some kind of a special meaning and is instead a synonym for “exaggeration”. This particular term is generally used when referring to the device within literary texts, but it can also be applied to ordinary language.
• Hyperbole in poetry is used to emphasize. There are many different reasons for the existence of hyperbole poems, but some of the most common uses of hyperbole in poetry is to serve as a means to emphasize something. This can often be done to highlight some particularly important idea or theme in a text that needs to have a special focus.
• Hyperbole can be used in ordinary language. While we generally use the term “hyperbole” in a more literary sense, it can also be used when talking in an ordinary capacity. It has similar reasons for existence in ordinary language as it has in poetic language. It is also often used for humorous reasons.

This is the conclusion of our short and sweet summary of hyperbole in poetry. There are many different reasons for hyperbole poems to exist and make use of this technique. However, to understand more of those aspects, you will need to keep reading this article.

We will start with our deeper look at hyperbole itself as a concept.

A Definition of Hyperbole

This poetic device is obviously the most important one that has ever been created! Well, not really, but it is entertaining to be hyperbolic sometimes. So, that is basically what hyperbole is regardless of where it can be found. It is the use of exaggeration for a deliberate purpose. It is often found in poetry, as well as prose, drama, and ordinary communication, because it is a device that has a number of fantastic functions. However, we will get to those functions in time.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (1802) by William Wordsworth; © The British Library Board, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This is, in very basic terms, what hyperbole is though. It is basically a poetic synonym for exaggeration, but there is generally some kind of a purpose behind hyperbole whereas exaggeration does not necessarily have a more poetic purpose. So, let’s check out some of those functions of hyperbole in poetry.

The Functions of Hyperbole in Poetry

When it comes to the use of hyperbole in poetry, there are many reasons that one may wish to use this device. Firstly, it is a poetic device that allows us to exaggerate and, therefore, highlight something. If we wish to focus on some particular thing or thought, we may wish to proclaim that it is the greatest thing in the world! This is obviously not realistic, but human emotion is not usually particularly realistic in its interpretation of anything. So, we use hyperbole because we want to highlight something or increase the emotionality of what we show.

Hyperbole is, by its very nature, metaphorical. When we say that it feels like we’ve been doing something for a thousand years, no, we haven’t. It only feels that long.

It is a metaphorical way of perceiving reality, and so even though it is against a more literal understanding of the world, we will often find it in poetry. In addition to this, hyperbole in poetry can be used as a means of creating a contrast between different ideas. For instance, what is presented to us in a hyperbolic sense, and what is not in a poem? Which elements of a poem are more understated and which ones are exaggerated? This is a phenomenal way to get to the heart of how human beings perceive the world. We are not objective creatures, and we like to claim that things are AMAZING or TERRIBLE rather than just fine.

The Functions of Hyperbole in Ordinary Language

When it comes to the use of hyperbole in ordinary language, the reasons are often very similar to what they are in poetry. There are many different expressions that are highly hyperbolic, such as “fast as lightning” or “this [insert name of object] weighs a ton”. We like to be hyperbolic with our speech regardless of its place as being factually inaccurate. Humans often like to speak in a way that is not objective because that is the way the human mind often works.

Iliad (15th Century) by Homer; Homer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

So, hyperbole can be used to exaggerate, make a humorous claim, or be sarcastic. We can say that something is the best thing we’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing in our lives! Or we can joke that it is the worst thing we’ve seen since watching a terrible mumble rap video that an overconfident twenty-something posted on TikTok. There are endless possibilities for the use of hyperbole in both ordinary and poetic language. There is also often overlap between what is used in poetic and non-poetic language. The reason for this is that the differences between these two supposedly opposite ways of producing language are actually not so different from one another. We often use ordinary language in poetic language, and we often use poetic language in ordinary language.

It’s almost as if they’re both part of language and so they naturally coexist with one another. Almost.

The Opposite of Hyperbole

We often talk about the use of hyperbole in literary texts, but we hardly seem to discuss the opposite of it. So, what is the opposite of hyperbole in poetry then? Well, the opposite is a deliberate understatement. If hyperbole is exaggerating something, an understatement is trying to decrease the impact of something. Rather than using exaggerated claims, this will instead use extremely restrained language that refuses to give the full truth of the matter. Basically, it is coyer as a style and allows someone to sneak information in instead of pronouncing it loudly. This is not as commonly found as hyperbole is though.

Nothing Gold Can Stay (1923) by Robert Frost; Robert, Frost, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Examples of Hyperbole in Poetry

When it comes to poems with hyperbole, there are so many to choose from. This is not a particularly unusual poetic technique, and many famous texts have also doubled as hyperbole poems. However, we will consider a handful of these texts today. It is always worth remembering that while these examples of hyperbole in poetry may be some of the most famous, there are so many others that also make use of hyperbole that attempting to log them all in one article would ultimately be a fool’s errand.

This should give a good enough understanding of hyperbole poems and why this technique is used.

To His Coy Mistress (1681) by Andrew Marvell

To His Coy Mistress is from a tradition of poetry known as carpe diem poetry. This is a type of poem that encourages us, as mortal things, to seize the day! We must grab life by the horns and just live it rather than play it safe. This poem is a fantastic example of that mentality. In addition, it is a rather playful and often silly poem that many people appear to take very seriously. The reason it is a rather silly poem is because it is about a man who wants to try and convince a woman to go to bed with him, and it uses a staggering array of hyperbolic statements to try and seduce this woman.

Andrew Marvell (17th Century) by Godfrey Kneller; Godfrey Kneller, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

For instance, the poem proclaims that this woman deserves to have a hundred years of praise for the beauty of her eyes, two hundred for each of her breasts, thirty thousand for everything else, and an age to her heart. However, it tells us that there is no time for this. So, um, you should probably just sleep with me now instead seeing as we’re both going to get old and die soon anyway. It’s a silly, but rather fun poem provided it doesn’t seem too misogynistically creepy.

Although, it may be difficult to escape that reality.

A Red, Red, Rose (1794) by Robert Burns

A Red, Red, Rose is a love poem that makes use of some fantastic hyperbole. This device is often found in love poetry because when we are in love with someone, we often elevate them. We no longer see them as beings on par with the rest of humanity. Instead, they are special and unique. They are better than everyone else! We love them and we see their inner lives, outer beauty, and everything else as utter perfection. It is not realistic, but that’s what hyperbole in poetry is for!

Illustration to My Love is Like a Red Red Rose by Robert Burns (1923) by Nora England Artist; Nora England Artist. 1923., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The poem includes ideas such as loving someone until the seas dry up and the rocks themselves melt in the sun. These are not things that any human is going to experience in their lives, but they can feel that way. I will love you forever! This is something we commonly say even though we know that we are all going to die someday.

However, we want to make these kinds of grand pronouncements to those we adore, and poetry is a fantastic medium for expressing that kind of feeling.

The Concord Hymn (1848) by Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Concord Hymn is a poem that includes one of the most well-known examples of hyperbole in poetry from the United States. The poem is a commemorative piece meant to reflect the feelings that came from the Battle of Concord, which was one of the earliest and most important battles of the American War of Independence. The line that is used in this poem is “The shot heard around the world”, and it has become one of the most famous lines in 19th-century poetry.

Section of the Concord Hymn (1848) by Ralph Waldo Emerson; Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The reason that this is a fantastic example of hyperbole in poetry is because of the realities of any kind of a shot. No shot can be heard around the world, and so this line tells us that there was deep metaphorical weight to this shot. It was not a literally loud bullet, but rather one that was immensely important in world history. It was representative of the end of British colonial rule in North America, and it would be the herald of the end of an era. This is why it is such a potent piece of poetic writing.

We are done with the hardest and most complicated poetic concept that has ever been explored ever! Anyway, this has been our look at hyperbole in poetry! We discussed the concept itself, how it is used in both poetry and more typical language, and a few examples of hyperbole in poetry. This common poetic technique is a very pervasive one and can be found in poetic texts from around the world. And that is said in a very non-hyperbolic sense. Hopefully, you have better-understood hyperbole poems by the end of this and understand why this technique has been used for so long. There are many other hyperbole poem examples out there that were not discussed here, so if you like this technique, consider seeking out some other examples of this method!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Hyperbole in Poetry?

This is a literary and rhetorical technique. It specifically refers to the use of purposive exaggeration. It is generally used as a form of emphasis of some kind. It is common to find exaggerations in many examples of ordinary language, but the reasons it is used in poetry can often be more pointed and deliberate. It can be difficult to remember this term when a more ordinarily used example, in the form of the word exaggeration, exists, but when discussing the use of exaggeration in poetry, we use the term hyperbole instead of the more commonly used ordinary word.

What Are the Functions of Hyperbole in Poetry?

There are a number of possible functions of hyperbole in poetry. For instance, the use of this technique for emphasis is generally the most common form. This can be used to reinforce an idea or emotion or to ensure that something sticks in the mind of the reader. It can be used to make a point or help create contrasting points of view, and when used alongside other poetic techniques, it can help to elevate those other poetic techniques.

Is Hyperbole Used in Everyday Language?

This poetic technique is very much used in ordinary language. However, when we discuss its use in everyday communication, we often simply refer to it as exaggeration rather than hyperbole. This does not need to be the case though as these two terms can be used rather interchangeably. However, we do often refer to the use of hyperbole as something more deliberate than simple exaggeration, and when we are trying to make a point in normal conversations, we may wish to use hyperbole.

What Is the Opposite of Hyperbole?

If hyperbole is an exaggeration, then the opposite of it would be an understatement. This would be de-emphasizing something rather than trying to highlight it. This could be used as a means of allowing something else to be highlighted in place of the thing that has been understated. When used in ordinary conversation, it can also imply a kind of reservedness or timidity in those who make use of it.

What Are Some Famous Examples of Hyperbole in Poetry?

There are so many instances of poems with hyperbole, but a few of the most notable ones include To His Coy Mistress (1681) by Andrew Marvell, A Red, Red, Rose (1794) by Robert Burns, and The Concord Hymn (1848) by Ralph Waldo Emerson. There are a lot more than only these few examples though, and many different poems make use of exaggerated ideas and claims to help solidify the point that they are trying to explore with their audience.

The post Hyperbole in Poetry – The Art of Poetic Exaggeration% first appeared on Art in Context.

A Look at the Third-Person Objective Point of View

There are many different third-person point-of-view texts out there in the world. However, the third-person objective point of view is a particularly interesting one. We will soon have a look at the specifics of this form, but it is likely best to first state the differences between the third-person point of view in general and the first-person perspective.

The former of these two types refers to a narration style that is detached from the characters in the narrative. It uses they/he/she to discuss what the characters are doing. For instance, it will state that “She went to the shops”. The first-person perspective, on the other hand, uses the personal pronoun, and so it will instead read as “I went to the shops”. However, we are going to look at the least common of the third-person point-of-view varieties.

The basic idea behind this particular type is that it allows for a more “fly on the wall” approach to narrative storytelling. However, we will have a far more depth examination of this in the subsequent article. Before we get to any of that though, let’s first quickly examine a summary of the third-person objective perspective before we proceed with a more in-depth discussion of this narration technique.

Summary of the Third-Person Objective Point of View

This is our short summary of the third-person objective point of view for those who may not have time to parse their way through an entire article. This should give a good general overview of the concept, but you’ll have to keep reading if you want to learn a lot more about this less common variety of third-person point-of-view narration:

• The third-person objective perspective is highly limited. The idea behind this type of a third-person point of view is that it does not show the inner lives of the characters that it narrates. Instead, it only objectively shows the world and describes what is happening. It allows the reader to try and understand. This is why it could be seen as the epitome of the show don’t tell approach to writing.
• The third-person objective perspective is one type of third-person point of view. The other instances of third-person point-of-view narratives include third-person omniscient and third-person limited perspectives. These other varieties tend to allow for far more introspective depictions of the characters found in the text that make use of this perspective.
• The third-person objective perspective is not very common. While third-person point-of-view narratives are very common, the same is not necessarily true of the subset known as the third-person objective This is generally because there is less creative freedom when writing from this perspective.

This has been our brief look at a summary of the third-person objective perspective. However, if you want to learn significantly more about the third-person objective perspective, keep reading on.

If you want an answer to a question such as, “What is third-person objective?”, it will be answered more comprehensively in the sections to follow.

A Definition of the Third-Person Point of View

When it comes to perspectives, there are many to choose from when someone writes a story. The third-person objective perspective is one of those perspectives, and like all examples of the third-person point of view, it makes use of a more detached style in which words like he/she/they are used instead of it being focused around the personal I-pronoun. However, in terms of the specifics of the third-person objective perspective, it is a style that is more objective in its presentation than the other third-person points of view.

It is the least common of them all because we often instinctually write a narrator who has some level of understanding of what is happening, but the idea behind the third-person objective perspective is that it is the epitome, or height, of the “show don’t tell” idea that can often be found in many examples of writing. The narrator never tells us what they are thinking and instead objectively reports on the events that are occurring.

This is why this perspective is often seen as a “fly on the wall” type of approach to narration. The idea is that we want to show a story of some kind without the narrator chiming in or telling us what any of the characters are thinking. In this sense, it has a more journalistic style to it. Only report on the events, don’t give your opinions on them! And as an example of the third-person point of view, it is often seen as the opposite of the first-person perspective.

In terms of a story in the first-person rather than the third, it is a story that will present us the story from within the mind of a character rather than standing outside of them. There is also such a thing as the second-person perspective, but that is a very uncommon type of writing and is hardly ever seen outside of very short narratives, such as flash fiction and some longer short stories. However, the third-person objective perspective is only one of the principal types of third-person points of view.

So, we should have a look at some of those other types of third-person perspectives to see how they differ and how they are similar to the third-person objective perspective.

Differences Between Types of Third-Person Points of View 

The main similarities between the different types of third-person perspectives are that they are all outside of the character. They all use detached pronouns, like he/she/they rather than I/me/myself. However, the differences between the different types are more nuanced and run along a kind of spectrum from immensely journalistic to omniscient.

Let’s start on the more journalistic side of things. This is the primary thrust of this article, after all. The third-person objective perspective is one that wants to be as detached as possible. It wants to tell us nothing at all about the thoughts and feelings of those who are within the story. It is the height of the previously mentioned “show don’t tell” perspective. So, what about the other two primary examples of third-person points of view?

The next on the spectrum is the third-person limited perspective. This is the type of third-person narration in which the narrator generally only follows one character at a time and we are able to read their thoughts and feelings. However, we are not privy to the thoughts of other characters. It is as if we have special insight into only one character. This is likely the most common of them all because it allows us to have a very firm idea of who the protagonist is and their perspective on what is happening in the story.

Lastly, there is the third-person omniscient perspective. This is a narrator who has access to all the information in a narrative. They don’t simply report on what is seen by a casual observer, such as with the third-person objective perspective, but they also tell us what all sorts of characters are thinking. It can often jump between multiple characters to show us each of their perspectives on a variety of topics.

This is a style of narration that allows for a much broader understanding of the story being told, but it is likely not as commonly seen as the third-person limited perspective.

These are the primary types of third-person points of view, but there are also other varieties. However, as our focus here is predominantly on the third-person objective perspective, we will not be looking at those examples today. This should give a good overview of the different types of third-person perspectives and how they relate to the primary topic of conversation today: the third-person objective perspective.

Characteristics of the Third-Person Objective Point of View

The primary characteristics of the third-person objective perspective is that it has a neutral and observational perspective that limits the amount of information the reader is given at any one time. This is why it is such a fantastic example of the “show don’t tell” mentality in a lot of prose writing. Like all perspectives, there are advantages and disadvantages to this kind of approach.

If we were to write something that was, for instance, a mystery, we may only want a very limited perspective. We don’t want the killer in a whodunit to also have a voice in the narration. Imagine if the people the detective interviewed all thought, for us to hear, that they were either innocent or guilty. That would be terrible! So, limiting the information we are given as the audience is a fantastic way to keep the reader on their feet.

On the other hand, characterization can suffer in a story that makes use of the third-person objective perspective because we cannot dive into what the character is thinking at any point in time. We do not know their perspective and so we may not be able to relate to them in a way that aids us in coming to terms with what they think or do.

These are some of the primary characteristics of the third-person objective perspective alongside some of the ups and downs of this style of narration. Every type of narration is chosen for a specific reason, and the third-person objective perspective is one to choose if you want to go very hard on the idea of “show don’t tell”.

Third-Person Objective Examples

There are so many different examples of third-person point-of-view narration in general, but some of the other types of third-person narration that have been discussed are far more common than this particular type of perspective. So, what is third-person objective and how is it used in actual instances of literary texts? This is why we need to have a look at a few third-person objective examples to help illustrate the concept.

We are going to examine two different instances of this particular type of narration to help us understand it.

The Rise of Pancho Villa (1913) by John Reed

The Rise of Pancho Villa is not a work of fiction or poetry and is instead an example of non-fiction. In this particular case, it is a biography of the life of Francisco “Pancho” Villa, who was a general during the Mexican Revolutionary War. In this text, the writer makes use of a third-person objective style of writing by simply stating the facts and observing the life of this revolutionary figure. The writer also wrote this book after seeing Pancho Villa in action, and so it is told from a more personal, yet observational, perspective.

John Silas Reed (1914); Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This style of writing is particularly beneficial when writing non-fiction work because it gives an air of objectivity to the proceedings. By simply following this figure and describing what is seen and done, the narrator is able to be that metaphorical fly on the wall. The reader of a book about an important historical figure like this is not likely to be interested in the feelings of the writer, but instead in the actions of the subject.

So, it makes complete sense why this would be a great third-person objective example.

Hills like White Elephants (1927) by Ernest Hemingway

Hills like White Elephants is one of the best-known examples of the third-person objective perspective. It is a short story by one of the most famous American Modernist writers, and it is the story of a man and a young woman who meet one another at a train station. They discuss the nearby hills that look like white elephants, and many interpret this story as the tale of an unwanted pregnancy. The story never explicitly states this, but it is often seen as a veiled discussion of abortion.

Ernest Hemingway in Kenya (1953); National Archives and Records Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The reason that the third-person objective perspective is so perfect for this interaction is because the story is there to show us the conversation between these two people. There is no need for the narrator to give their interpretation of what is happening, and we are instead expected to see and understand what is being said and shown between these two figures in a very “show don’t tell” way. This text has become one of the go-to third-person objective examples in literature.

And with that last instance of our third-person objective examples, we have come to the close of our examination of this particular type of the third-person point of view. We have had a look at a definition of the third-person objective perspective, how it differs from other types of third-person perspectives, what its characteristics are, and two different third-person objective examples. This has not been a comprehensive examination of all the different examples of this type of third-person point of view, and there are many other texts that make use of it. So, if you wish to find some of those, have a look at see what you can find!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Third-Person Objective Perspective?

The third-person perspective includes a number of different types, and the third-person objective point of view is likely the least common one. The reason for this is that this form of narration does not incorporate the thoughts and feelings of the characters that are being narrated. Instead, it simply recounts what is happening without attempting to ascribe anything to the characters in question. The different types of third-person point-of-view styles show some insight into what characters are thinking.

What Are the Different Types of Third-Person Perspectives?

When it comes to the third-person point of view in literature, there are usually three principal types to choose from. We have discussed and examined the third-person objective perspective over the course of this article. However, the others include the third-person omniscient and third-person limited perspectives. These two refer to types of narration that look deeply into the characters and the world and know everything that happens around them, while the latter refers to a type of narration that knows some information but generally remains rooted behind a single character.

What Are the Characteristics of Third-Person Objective?

One of the strongest aspects of the third-person objective perspective is that it is a very neutral way of expressing a narrative. It is highly observational, does not ascribe anything onto characters, and is fundamentally limited. This allows it to provide us with the kinds of narratives that may require additional character analysis and interpretation.

What Is the Difference Between First and Third-Person Perspectives?

When it comes to these two incredibly broad types of perspectives in narratives, it is easy to tell one from the other. When it comes to the first-person perspective, we are hearing the story straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. The text will use I pronouns, such as saying something like I went to the shop. The third-person point of view instead makes use of they/he/she. So, it instead becomes They go to the shops. There is also second-person narration, but it is far less common than either of these other two types of narration.

What Are Some of the Most Famous Third-Person Objective Examples?

This type of third-person point of view is not as common as some of the other types of third-person narration, and so it is often harder to find third-person objective examples out there. However, some of the most notable include texts like Hills like White Elephants (1927) by Ernest Hemingway, and The Rise of Pancho Villa (1913) by John Reed. There are more third-person objective examples out there, but you’d likely have to go looking for them if you really want to find them.

The post Third-Person Objective – An Important Narrative Perspective% first appeared on Art in Context.

A Look at Rhyme in Poetry

So, what is a rhyming poem? That is what we are going to examine today. We are going to examine a few different elements of rhyme in poetry. However, before we do that, what is a good definition of rhyme in poetry? In a basic sense, rhyme is the use of words that have a similar phonetic structure to one another. Essentially, words that sound alike. When we want to rhyme on time we may need a dime or two. That was three rhymes in a row: rhyme, time, and dime.

However, this is a very simple way to look at rhyme. Rhyme can also be more internal and slanted, such as something that looks like it rhymes but doesn’t entirely rhyme, or something that only partially rhymes. We are going to look at each of these instances of rhyme in poetry in this article below. So, let’s get started and see what we can learn.

Types of Rhyme

There are many different examples of rhyme in poetry, but we need to start with the basics. So, before we look at some of the rhyme schemes that could occur, including both simple and complex varieties of rhyme schemes, we first need to look at rhyme itself. How can rhyme be laid out in a line?

There are quite a number of different ways, but today, we will only examine five of the most common ways in which rhyme in poetry can be used.

End Rhyme

This type of rhyme in poetry is when the rhyming word is sent to the end of a line. Poetry is generally arranged around a series of lengthier lines, and when that line concludes with some kind of a sound that is then repetitively used again later at the end of a different rhyme, it is an instance of end rhyme.

Sonnet 18 (1609) by William Shakespeare; William Shakespeare, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

End rhyme is definitely the most famous and commonly seen variety of rhyme. The reason for this is because the human ear tends to best hear a rhyme when it is situated at the end of a line. We naturally read something with a certain emphasis on what lies at the end, and so those rhymes found at the end of a line are the best for more typical poetry.

Internal Rhyme

This type of rhyme in poetry involves the use of rhyme within a line. This can mean that there is the use of multiple words within a single line that rhyme with one another, but it can also refer to rhymes on other lines that can be found internally. These rhymes are often harder to hear when they take place across lines, but when found within a single line, they can stand out even more than end rhyme. Internal rhyme is not quite as common as end rhyme, and so one is less likely to see rhyme of this variety. However, it does lend a kind of musicality to poetry that can make it have a far more pronounced and appealing rhythm.

This form is also often mixed with other forms of rhyme as end rhyme is still more prominent as a type of rhyme in poetry.

Slant Rhyme

This type of rhyme in poetry is quite interesting because it technically isn’t rhyme. Rhyme entails the use of a repetition of sounds that are similar to one another. Whereas slant rhyme entails the use of words that don’t quite rhyme with one another, but they are very similar. They are not identical but may sound similar. For instance, look at words like “milk” and “walk”. When read quickly, they can sound similar to one another, but they are not the same.

Futility (1918) by Wilfred Owen; Rodhullandemu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Slant rhyme is not as common as end rhyme, but it is quite prominently used in free verse poetry where the typical rules of poetry do not often apply all that much. The use of slant rhyme also allows for a looser and less constrained form of rhyming techniques. This form of rhyme may not be as prominent as some of the others, but it has been used in many famous poems.

Identical Rhyme

This type of rhyme in poetry can often be seen as lazy by some people because it literally means the repetitive use of the same word multiple times over. This means that it is not rhyming similar sounds, but the exact same sound. However, this is not necessarily a lazy method, as the repetition of a single word can aid in reinforcing certain thematic aspects of a poem. Identical rhyme is an interesting one and also one that some may not consider to be a type of rhyme at all, but if a word is rhymed with itself, that is still, strictly speaking, an instance of rhyme.

It may appear somewhat strange, but that does not mean that it cannot and has not been extensively used.

Eye Rhyme

This type of rhyme in poetry may be seen as somewhat similar to slant rhyme as it does not actually entail real rhyme. Instead, this is the use of words that look the same as one another but are pronounced differently. This makes it a kind of textual rather than phonetic rhyme. For instance, to “lead” someone somewhere does not use the same pronunciation as the metal known as “lead”.

Sonnet 116 (1609) by William Shakespeare; William Shakespeare, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Eye rhyme is interesting because it can make a poem read as if it has better flow while not actually necessarily having better flow. It is the illusion of rhyme that does not work in the same way when said poem is read aloud. It should also be noted that while homonyms were used above, eye rhyme does not require that the words be spelled the same, but simply look the same, such as the metal “lead” and the activity to “read”. These are also a kind of eye rhyme.

Common Basic Rhyme Schemes

There are many different types of rhyme schemes, and some of them are quite complex and specific. However, a very basic arrangement of rhyme layouts can be termed a form of simple rhyme scheme. So, before we examine some of the more complex forms of rhyme scheme.

Let’s interrogate and inspect a few of the simple forms on which larger and more complex forms are often based.

Alternate Rhyme

This type of rhyme sequence is very common in many types of poetry, and it involves the use of one line followed by another that does not rhyme with the first, but the first line rhymes with the third and the second with the fourth. This is easiest to show with the common structure of ABAB. This can be found in many different types of poems.

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1913) by Thomas Gray; Columbus Metropolitan Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The alternate rhyme scheme often forms part of larger and more complex rhyme schemes. For instance, it can be found in the Shakespearean sonnet. This basic structure, when used more repetitively, works well in the English language as a means of producing a certain kind of rhythmic rhyming sequence.

Coupled Rhyme

This type of rhyme sequence is very basic as it involves two lines that rhyme with one another. This could be shown with a rhyme scheme layout such as AABBCC, and so on. These kinds of rhymes are often paired with one another, and it is not uncommon for non-traditional poems to make use of a rhyme scheme like this throughout the duration of the poem. Coupled rhymes are also often used within larger types of rhyme schemes. This particular variety of rhyme is likely best known for capping off the end of the Shakespearean sonnet. It makes up the final two lines of that poetic structure.

This basic rhyme scheme is pleasing to the ear because of the close distance between the rhyming segments.

Enclosed Rhyme

This type of rhyme sequence is one of the most common varieties, but it can feel somewhat strange to the ear as it sounds somewhat like a combination of alternate rhyme and coupled rhyme. This is the type of rhyme that makes use of a line followed by two coupled rhymes and ends off with a line that rhymes with the first line. This is best shown through the structure of ABBA.

Enclosed rhyme works better in some languages than in others. For this reason, it is a common type of rhyme that can be found in the Petrarchan sonnet structure. This structure has its origins in the Italian language, and this kind of rhyming arrangement is considered to be more pronounced in that language rather than in English.

Triplet Rhyme

This type of rhyme sequence is similar to a monorhyme but is more specific in the number of lines. It involves a tercet, or a three-line stanza, but every line has the same rhyme. This makes it a rhyme sequence that is arranged as AAA, BBB, and so on.

Similar to the above, the use of three rhymes in a row produces a pleasant and flowing sound, but it is not a very common form of rhyme in poetry.

Monorhyme

This type of rhyme sequence is not seen all that often, but it can often have a gimmicky purpose. This type of rhyme in poetry involves the use of a stanza or poem in which every line has the same rhyme. So, instead of being an ABAB or an ABBA, it is instead AAAAA. Think of a poem that has lines that end with words such as cat, bat, fat, hat, and rat.

Silent Silent Night (1757) by William Blake; William Blake, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The extreme use of rhyme does lead to a very entertaining overall sound to the poem, but most forms of poetry do not use rhyme to this extent. The monorhyme structure can be particularly great for light-hearted or children-focused poetry. It has a pleasant and flowing sound to it, and this can often be a means of aiding children in remembering stories. Constant and overwhelming rhyme is entertaining to hear, and who doesn’t want to hear a lot of that?

Common Complex Rhyme Schemes

Now that we have examined some of the simpler and less complex types of rhyme sequences that can be used, let’s have a look at how they can be used in a lengthier capacity. We will now look at five different examples of a far more complex type of rhyme scheme.

These are the rhyme schemes that people usually think of when they use the word “rhyme scheme”, so let’s see what they are and what sets them apart from one another.

Shakespearean Sonnet

This type of poem has one of the most famous rhyme schemes in the English language. This rhyme scheme is arranged as ABABCDCDEFEFGG. This involves the use of four quatrains that adopt alternating rhyme, and the whole poem ultimately ends with an example of coupled rhyme.

Sonnet 131 (1609) by William Shakespeare; William Shakespeare, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This particular type of poem is one of the most famous in the English language because it was extensively used by William Shakespeare in a number of poems, such as My mistresses’ eyes are nothing like the sun and Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? When it comes to rhyme in poetry, there are few as well-known as this variety.

Petrarchan Sonnet

While the Shakespearean sonnet is more famous in the English language, this type of poem is more famous in Italian. There are instances of its use in English, but they are not as common. This particular poem makes use of an ABBAABBACDECDE rhyme scheme. This is a combination of two enclosed rhyme quatrains and two alternating rhyme tercets. There are a number of famous poems that have made use of this structure, such as the many notable poems of the man after whom they are named, Petrarch.

This form may not be as famous in English, but it has still had a profound influence on poetry through the ages and is one of the best-known examples of a rhyme scheme in the world.

Limerick

This type of poem has a specific rhyme scheme and number of lines. It is a short type of poem at only five lines in length, but the thing that distinguishes it is its use of a specific rhyme scheme. That rhyme scheme is written as AABBA. This essentially involves two coupled rhymes with a final alternate style rhyme at the end where the fifth line rhymes with the first and second lines.

Limerick No. 1 (1888) by Edward Lear; Edward Lear, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The limerick is an old type of poem, but when compared to some of the other famous varieties of poetry, it is quite young. It is best known for being used in a joke. Many limericks are either aimed at children, as the rhyme scheme is conducive to a silly structure, but many limericks are also noted for being very dirty. They are a kind of rhyming joke and their short structure and repetitive rhyme scheme help with this common use.

Villanelle

This type of poem has a specific number of lines with a very specific form. It requires the use of 19 lines, and those lines need to be arranged in five tercets, or three-line stanzas, and each of those tercets uses an ABA rhyme scheme. However, this only adds up to 18 lines, and that is because the final part of the poem includes an extra line with a similar, but added rhyme scheme, of ABAA. This is not the whole story though, because the villanelle has another very specific aspect.

While we have discussed the rhyme scheme of the villanelle, it also has a highly repetitive form that contributes to the way in which it is structured.

In addition to the rhyme, the first and third lines of the first stanza are repeated as refrains through the course of the poem. There is no variation in these lines when they are repeated. They are repeated verbatim. The exact repetition of whole lines does not mean that those repeated lines could be seen as a type of rhyme, but they do ultimately contribute to the rhyme scheme. Those repeated lines are repeated in that arrangement because they are meant to be impactful, in some way, to the overall message of the poem.

Sestina

This type of poem has a very specific rhyme scheme. This rhyme scheme necessitates a certain number of lines too. In the case of this particular type of rhyme scheme/poetry type, there needs to be an arrangement of six stanzas, and they are arranged in a kind of repetitious identical rhyme structure. This variety is also quite complex and is arranged according to a mathematical sequence.

The sestina involves the end word of each line being used in a different order in each subsequent stanza. So, the end word of the first line is repeated at the end of the second line in the second stanza. Each word shifts into a different place with each subsequent stanza according to a prearranged order. It is a complex form that is not very common and can be quite difficult to produce.

Graphical representation of an algorithm for ordering repeated words in a sestina (2012) by Phil Wink; Phil wink, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

It does not sound as if it has a rhyme, and in the traditional sense, it does not rhyme. However, the use of the exact same words in a repeated sequence means that this can be seen as a form of identical rhyme that is replicated multiple times over. A good example of a sestina is A Miracle for Breakfast (1972) by Elizabeth Bishop.

With this final example of rhyme in poetry, we are at our conclusion. We have looked at rhyme in poetry and answered the question: “What is a rhyming poem?”. We have done this by examining a variety of types of poems, including more complex rhyme schemes. There are many different ways to look at rhyme in poetry, and hopefully, this has been a good overview of this common poetic element.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Rhyme?

Rhyme is a form of repetition that is commonly associated with poetry, but can be found in ordinary language too. This particular form of repetition entails the repetition of sounds that are alike. We often associate rhyme with end rhyme in a poem, in which the last word of a line rhymes with some other final word in a different line. This aspect of speech is quite common, and humans have used it for a very long time to create more descriptive and flowery speech.

What Is a Rhyming Poem?

A rhyming poem is simply a poem that makes use of rhyme. An example of rhyme in poetry can be found in a number of different types of poems. For instance, traditional sonnets make use of a specific rhyme scheme that is particular to that type of sonnet. However, there are many varieties of poems that use rhyme, and many do not do so in a formal capacity, such as with sonnets. When it comes to a definition of rhyme in poetry, we often associate rhyme with poems even though there are many poems that do not make use of any rhyme.

How Many Types of Rhyme Are There?

There are many different types of rhyme that can be used. Some of the most common include end rhymes, internal rhymes, and slant rhymes. However, there are many other forms. In addition to this, there are many types of rhyme schemes that can also be considered a type of rhyme in this sense, such as the specific rhyme scheme used in a Shakespearean sonnet or a limerick.

Do Poems Require Rhyme?

Poetry does not require rhyme. While there are some types of poetry that do require rhyme, such as if one were to write a Shakespearean sonnet, but this is not a hard rule in all poetry. In fact, free verse poetry is a type of poetry that is noted for its lack of a specific rhyme scheme. This does not mean they do not use rhyme at all, as many words do rhyme with one another, but rather that they do not have to rhyme.

What Is the Most Common Rhyme Scheme?

There are many different rhyme schemes, and it is likely impossible to determine the type of rhyme scheme that is the most common. In the English language, the Shakespearean sonnet is likely the most famous rhyme scheme, but that does not make it the most common. The use of coupled rhymes and alternate rhymes are probably among the most common of all the simple types of rhyme schemes.

The post Rhyme in Poetry – Basic and Complex Schemes to Know% first appeared on Art in Context.

A Look at TPCASTT Poetry Analysis

When you’re just starting out with poetry in an educational environment, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to poetry. What do you analyze when you’re told to analyze, and how should you explore the various parts of a poem? The TPCASTT template gives you a perfect and easy-to-understand (and hopefully, as an acronym, an easy-to-remember) format for the analysis of poetry.

The TPCASTT poetry analysis approach is quite simple as each letter stands for a different part of the poem that you need to analyze. In brief, it can be laid out in the following way, but keep in mind, that each of these will gain elaboration later:

• T is for Title: A look at the title of the poem without any understanding of the contents found within it to try and gain an understanding of what the poem may be about based on the title alone.
• P is for Paraphrase: A breakdown of the poem’s more difficult components to better understand parts of it that may otherwise cause some students to struggle with aspects of the poem.
• C is for Connotation: A deeper breakdown of the connotative (or figurative) meanings of the poem. This is often the lengthiest part and gets through the bulk of the poem’s messaging.
• A is for Attitude/Tone: An examination of the general attitude that the writer of the poem is trying to get the reader to feel and understand. The use of “attitude/tone” is because these two terms can often be seen as synonyms.
• S is for Shift: An examination of the way in which the poem may shift its meaning or tone, such as transitioning from a lighter to a darker tone, or anything similar. This can aid in understanding the true message behind the poem.
• T is for Title (again): A retrospective view of the title once again. The reason that the title is examined again is because now, with an understanding of the poem itself, there may be a new meaning to be found in the name of the poem.
• T is for Theme: An analysis of the main themes, or subject matter, of the poem now that the entire thing has been more readily broken down and can be easily understood. This is the final part of the analysis.

This short look at the entire acronym of the TPCASTT template is good for those who need a general overview, and these bullet lists can be beneficial for students who need a reminder. However, for a deeper dive into the actual approach, you will need to keep reading to examine how each of these can be used in greater depth.

This analysis technique is fairly comprehensive though, and so you are unlikely to miss anything particularly major if you do decide to make use of this particular style of analysis.

How to Perform a TPCASTT Poetry Analysis

Now that we have provided a briefly summarized view of the TPCASTT poetry analysis approach, let’s dive in with a deeper look at each of these aspects and discuss how they can be used in the abstract. Then we can move on to a look at their applicability, including upsides and downsides, before ending with a demonstration of this approach. So, let’s go through each of the letters that make up the TPCASTT template.

T for Title

The title is the very first thing that you will see in a poem, and that title can often be just as obscure as the text of the poem itself. Think of books and movies in this case. They will have a title, but that title is only truly understood, most of the time, once you have some understanding of the contents of the text. The same is true of poetry. So, when you perform a TPCASTT poetry analysis, you need to start by looking at the title.

What does the title suggest to you? What does it make you think about? Does it give you any hints about the poem’s contents? Does it hold any special meaning that you could possibly discuss? All of these aspects can be written out and prepared because your understanding of the title will change as you read through the poem.

It should also be noted that not all poem titles are all that significant.

There are poems that do not have titles at all, in which case, the first line is often seen as the “title”, in a sense. In addition, some poetry collections, such as the famous sonnet collection of William Shakespeare, do not name any poem, and so the poems are actually numbered. This is simply where they are in the collection of poems, but they have come to be known under their first line.

The title is an important part of the poem as it sets up what the poem is going to be about, and as you read the poem, you will gain a retrospective understanding of why that particular title had been used. However, we will get to that part of the TPCASTT template when we examine the title again near the end of the analytical approach.

P for Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is a term that refers to taking something that already exists and rewriting or retelling it in a shorter form. Basically, it’s a summarization. Being able to summarize a text becomes very important for any student, as one needs to understand how to break something down into its base components, but it is used a little differently in this sense.

Remember that poems are often written with a specific typography, meaning the layout of the lines, and it’s broken into stanzas. However, when you are trying to understand a poem, you may struggle with those parts of it, and so the TPCASTT poetry analysis technique involves breaking it down into a more easily readable text.

This means that you will take the poem as it is and rewrite it in your own terms.

This is especially helpful for sections that might be phrased in strange ways. You simply rewrite it so that it makes sense. This can also often mean taking harder words and finding synonyms for them. Many poets, especially the poets that schools like to give to their students, are intentionally difficult, feature higher-level vocabulary, and can be hard to parse. Paraphrasing lets you remove those barriers and actually understand what is being said in the poem.

This will allow you to find the meaning of the poem in more simple terms and in a simpler format. For instance, rewriting a poem as a paragraph, removing the rhyme and other techniques, and looking at the barebones poem. From there, you will be able to better understand the connotations that can be found in the poem.

C for Connotations

Connotation is a term that you will come across quite often in English classes, and it can often be easiest to understand it by looking at its exact opposite. The antonym of the word “connotation” is “denotation”, and it is not as commonly used, but its meaning helps to understand what you need to look for with connotations. Denotation is the dictionary definition of something, the basic meaning, the simple meaning, and the actual meaning of a word. Connotation is the way a word feels, what it suggests, the kind of metaphors it produces, and so on. For instance, red is a color, and that would be its denotative meaning, but red connotes a number of other things like love, war, fire, passion, and so on.

This is what you are going to be looking at. When you paraphrased the poem, you broke it down into easy-to-understand denotative pieces. Now, it’s time to look at the connotative pieces. You need to understand what the poem is actually trying to say. Why is it using a metaphor? Why is it using certain devices? Why has it been written in the first place?

Imagine a poem that says something like: “My love for you is a rose.”

We all know what a rose is, it’s a flower. However, it also has many layers, and so we can see it as a metaphor for a deep and multilayered love. We may not even be able to see the center of that love because it is surrounded by so many other parts. A rose never thought to represent that for people, but that is what it has come to mean.

This part of the TPCASTT poetry analysis approach is also the most important because you also need to break down why literary techniques are used. Why did the poet make use of imagery? Why did they use alliteration? Why did they use rhyme? There are many parts of a poem that can be interrogated in this way, and each of them is just as important as the last. You need to try and cut through the basic understanding of the poem, the simplistic reading, and look at it from a deeper perspective.

You will likely spend the longest time on this part of the TPCASTT template. From here, you’re actually most of the way done though. Because once you have understood the poem itself, once you have grasped its connotative meaning, you can easily sweep through the rest of this analytical approach.

A for Attitude/Tone

Now that you understand the connotations of the poem, it is easy to see the attitude/tone. The reason there are two different words here, and the second one does not actually start with the letter “A”, is because these two terms are often seen as synonyms for one another. They are not actually synonyms, and there are certain distinctions that can be drawn between attitude and tone, but they can often overlap with each other. So, let’s treat them as if they are completely the same because we’ll otherwise get bogged down in very precise and annoying definitions.

Attitude/tone, in basic terms, both refer to the feeling of a poem. What was the poet trying to express to you with the way they were speaking? Did they feel angry, sad, melancholic, nostalgic, or some other emotion? Any of these general moods can inform the way that the poet was trying to express what they wanted you to understand when you read their poem.

Do you feel the same way when reading this poem? Can you feel the anger, sadness, and so on?

This part of the TPCASTT template is very simple now that the connotations have been broken down and understood. You will easily be able to see the feeling that the poem is trying to produce. So, write that down, but be ready to argue why you claim that to be the case. This means that you need to make sure you have evidence from the poem. As a quick explanation of this, consider the following two words: “murder” and “kill”.

If there is a poem that uses one or another of these two words, why did it use that particular word? The tone of murder is far more severe than the tone of kill. You can kill by mistake. You cannot murder by mistake. Murder implies that a crime is premeditated, it was planned, and it was a desirable outcome. Kill is far more neutral. The result is the same, a dead person, but the way they wound up that way is very different based on which word is used. Pay attention to things like this when examining and analyzing the attitude/tone of the poem you are analyzing.

S for Shifts

This part of the TPCASTT poetry analysis approach is one of the easiest. You simply need to find the point at which some kind of a shift has occurred in the poem. Shifts are very common in poetry. In fact, there is a special word for a shift in a sonnet, and it’s called a volta. This is the point at which the original topic of the sonnet switches to another sonnet.

Imagine a poem that first uses highly emotive and idealized terms to describe love for someone, but then shifts to say that the poet’s love for that person may not last forever.

This is a topic shift, and they are very common in poems. However, that is only the most obvious shift. Shifts can also take place in the form of sudden changes in the stanza structure, a line break that is unusual, punctuation changes, and so on. In this part of the analysis, you need to find these changes in the tone and try to understand why they have happened. Why has the poet made use of these shifts?

T for Title (Again)

You have analyzed the poem at this point. You’re practically done! So, it’s time to look at the title again. When you first read the title, provided there was a title, you did not know what the poem was about and so you were basically guessing what the poem would be about. You have now read and analyzed the poem. You have finished going through most of the letters in the TPCASTT template.

This means that you can now re-examine that title.

Has the meaning changed? Do you now understand the title in a different way? Does it change the meaning of the poem as a whole now that you know the title? Has it made it harder to understand the poem? Were the words in the title even used in the poem? All of these questions should be interrogated and applied when performing this second-to-last part of the analysis of a poem.

T for Theme

The analysis is practically at an end and all the parts have been broken down into their composite parts. It’s now time for the final part of the analysis. That entails asking: “So, what was the poem about anyway?” The themes of the poem can now be seen. You have stripped away all of the connotations, examined the title on numerous occasions, and noted any shifts and poetic permutations.

What is the poem about? What is it trying to say? Is it about love? Is it about death? Is it about something else?

When you write about the theme, you need to give evidence from the text, as you should always do. However, once you have done so, you are officially at the end of the TPCASTT poetry analysis approach. You have moved your way through the template, and you can finally finish up your analysis.

The Applicability of TPCASTT Poetry Analysis

We have finished with our breakdown of the TPCASTT template and what each of the letters represents, but let’s ask a final question before we move on to the final section of this examination of the TPCASTT poetry analysis approach. That question is as follows: “How applicable is the TPCASTT poetry analysis system?”. Is it good? Is it beneficial to you as a student?

The answer to this is multifaceted. On one hand, this is a great approach because you get to have a comprehensive breakdown of an analysis tool that uses an acronym. Acronyms are great for having to remember things because they already sound, sort of, like a word. So, if you had to analyze a poem in an exam, it’s easier to remember an acronym like this than to have to remember a more in-depth approach. This is a great thing about it.

Various parts of the TPCASTT poetry analysis approach also presume that a poem will be difficult to understand.

One of the sections literally sees you changing words to help you understand the poem. This is because schools tend to choose harder poems. They use more intellectual poems, or influential poems, rather than poems that are enjoyable to read. Thanks to this, the TPCASTT template is very helpful. If the poem is hard, you probably want a highly formalized approach to analyzing it so that you don’t get stuck. The use of hard poems in schools does reinforce the idea that poetry is not for everyone, and so there are problems with that, but that is also a far longer conversation and one that will not be discussed right now.

However, another big problem with the TPCASTT poetry analysis approach is that it does not tell you how to turn this raw analysis into an adequate essay. A great analysis is all good and well, but if you can’t present it in a readable fashion, then it is ultimately pointless. So, the TPCASTT template only helps you with the baseline of an acceptable analysis, especially at the university level, but the analysis needs to be broken down into better component parts than those that are presented in the actual analysis.

In addition to this, because of the highly formalistic nature of this approach, it suggests that poetry analysis can be quite objective when it is not. The way you interpret a poem will be different from the way someone else interprets a poem. Neither of your interpretations is necessarily correct or incorrect, but they are both yours. The TPCASTT poetry analysis approach seeks to smooth that kind of individualized approach away to have you only focus on the same things.

This is useful for a school environment, but not for an environment that wants you to think for yourself. So, when using the TPCASTT template, remember that it should be seen as a tool rather than the perfect method to analyze poetry. Others will analyze in different ways, and those ways are no more correct or incorrect than using the TPCASTT poetry analysis approach.

An Example of TPCASTT Poetry Analysis

Finally, let’s do a short example here. It should first be noted that this is a bit of an unfair one as the below poem was written as an example of a joke. This is not an existing poem but one that is purely for illustrative purposes. So, let’s have a look at how the TPCASTT template could be used here.

Giving deference to an analysis style

May help you go the extra mile.

Sadly, it isn’t exactly a perfect thing

But it could make you the class king.

However, it won’t make your friends smile.

Firstly, there is no title, and so we may look at the first line in its place. This title tells us that it is about analyzing something and it also uses the term “deference” with regard to this analysis style. That term can help us with the paraphrasing component of this approach as we may want to understand what “deference” is, and in more simple terms, it could be replaced with “respect”. So, let’s do a proper paraphrasing of this poem below:

“We give some kind of respect to a specific analysis style because it could help us go further (implying an educational “extra mile”). However, the poem states that this is not a perfect analytical tool, but that it could help you make it to the top of the class. Lastly, it ends by saying that your friends may not like you for it if you’re very good at it.”

This basic paraphrasing of the poem allows us to see it without the pretenses of a poetic structure, but we do still need to look at those pretenses when it comes to the connotations of the poem.

When words like “deference” are used, it implies a high level of respect, or an unwillingness to try other things. The use of metaphors like “extra mile” is commonly used in accomplishments based on how hard someone has worked. Other statements like “it won’t make your friends smile” imply that being a teacher’s pet, and knowing how to analyze using this method, won’t necessarily get you any favorable looks from fellow students. In addition, the poem uses a limerick rhyme scheme or AABBA, which is usually used in comedic poems, and this implies that this poem should not be taken seriously.

Those are some of the connotations, and now that we have them, what is the attitude of the poem? It is clearly a joke. It’s trying to be more humorous rather than pretentious. However, it does use the word “deference”, which is a higher-level word in terms of ordinary vocabulary, and so its use may be to mock more pretentious varieties of poetry. The humorous and mocking tone is important here.

And so, we come to the shifts in the poem, and there is a shift in the final line. The first four lines describe the actual approach, but the final line jokingly ends the poem by claiming that knowing this analysis approach won’t help you to win any popularity contests. That shift contributes to the attitude of the poem. There is no title, so there’s no real need to come back to it in this particular case.

Lastly, the poem is about the TPCASTT poetry analysis approach. It’s meant to be a joke, and in the context of this article, it is clearly a light-hearted way to end it off. It is trying to have a metatextual theme. This means that the poem is about the article in which it can be found, and this means that it is a piece of commentary.

With that final piece of the article, we have come to the conclusion of our attempt to answer the question: “What is TPCASTT analysis?”. We have examined every component of this acronymic analytical template in this article and ended off with a demonstration of how to use it. Hopefully, this article will be beneficial to you if you too need to make use of this analytical approach.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is TPCASTT Poetry Analysis?

This is an analytical approach to poetry that can be used by students. The method is useful because each of the letters in the TPCASTT template corresponds to a different part of the analysis. This approach helps a student by reminding them to look at the title on two occasions, paraphrase the poem, find the connotations, analyze the attitude, look for any shifts, and explore the theme.

Is TPCASTT Poetry Analysis Beneficial to a Student?

This analytical approach is beneficial because it can be more easily remembered by students. However, it does have some drawbacks. For instance, it does not show a student how to turn their analysis into a viable essay, it is highly formalistic, and it does not allow for a more individualized analysis of a poem.

Is TPCASTT Poetry Analysis Easy to Learn?

TPCASTT poetry analysis is very simple to learn because it makes use of an acronym. This acronym also sounds like it could be a word. For this reason, it can be more easily remembered when a student may need to perform an analysis in a more formalized setting, such as in an exam.

The post TPCASTT Poetry Analysis – The Best Way to Dissect a Poem% first appeared on Art in Context.

A Look at the Refrain in Poetry

Repetition is a very common thing in many examples of poetry in general. Repetition can come in many forms, such as rhyme and alliteration. However, the refrain is another of those types of repetition that can be used by a poet who is so inclined. So, what is the refrain in poetry then? Well, it is the repetition of a word or phrase that is repeated throughout a poem and can often be found in every stanza, although not necessarily. Furthermore, many examples of poems with refrains incorporate the refrain into the end of a stanza, but even though this is common, it is not a hard rule.

A lithograph image depicting a scene from Twelfth-Night (nd) by Unknown Author; See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The refrain can be seen as similar to a chorus in a song, but we will go deeper into that idea in one of the later sections of this article. What should be remembered as we proceed with this discussion is that the refrain is a repeated motif in a poem that is often not a particularly long section, but it can be any real length, from one word to a phrase to a lengthier set of lines. However, before we examine the purpose of the refrain in poetry, let’s pause for a moment to give a summary of the topic.

Summary of the Refrain in Poetry

Going over any topic in detail can take a rather long time, and so, for those who may not want to go into as much depth, here is a short summary of the refrain in poetry. This is not a particularly detailed or comprehensive overview, but it should give some of the main points for those in a hurry.

• The refrain is a means of repeating something in a poem. This device is used to continuously repeat a word, phrase, or whole stanza. The purpose of the refrain is generally individual to each poem.
• The refrain in poetry can be used for many reasons. Some of the most common of these reasons include emphasizing certain aspects of a poem, providing dramatic effect, forming part of the structure of the poem as a whole, and so on.
• The refrain possesses similarities to the chorus in songs. The lyrics of songs are often structured around chorus sections in which whole verses are repeated as a means of adding to the musicality and memorability of the song in question.

Poems with refrains can be found all over the medium of poetry, but if you want to understand the uses of the refrain in poetry in far more detail than this quick summary was able to provide, then keep reading on to the next section.

The next section will examine the actual reason for the refrain in the first place.

The Purpose of the Refrain in Poetry

When it comes to the purpose of the refrain in poetry, it can often be down to an individual level. Each poem makes use of a refrain for one or another reason. However, as the refrain is a means of repeating one specific word or phrase, it does serve as a means of reinforcement. However, reinforcement can have a variety of effects.

Some of the most easily noted of these effects would be emphasis. The refrain in poetry can serve as a means of focusing on something in the poem. If it has been repeated over and over again in a poem, then there must be a reason that it has been extensively repeated. The refrain allows a poem to fixate on something and gives us a reason to repeatedly return to it as an idea.

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1903) by Baker; Baker, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, the refrain in poetry can also serve a less content-specific role and can instead serve as a means of producing greater rhythm and musicality. A refrain is similar, in some senses, to a chorus in song lyrics, and for this reason, it can often serve as a means of creating a more songlike quality for the reader. This can, furthermore, aid in the memorability of the poem as a whole.

Another reason for the use of the refrain in poetry can be for certain structural or dramatic reasons. It could be using a repeating structure because that forms part of the primary elements of the poem, such as in a poem structure like the villanelle, but that will be discussed more below. All of this has, essentially, been to show that there are many different reasons for the existence of the refrain in poetry. It can serve as a means of emphasis, musicality, structural integrity, dramatic effect, and much more.

Each poem needs to be examined on an individual level to understand why it has specifically been used in each and every poem.

The Characteristics of the Refrain in Poetry

The refrain is often marked by several different characteristics that can be examined to understand why this particular refrain has been used. For instance, you can pay attention to how often it is repeated, how long the repeated section is, how much variation there is between the refrains, how much space there is between the repetitious segments of the poem, and so on.

Annabel Lee (1849) by Edgar Allan Poe; Edgar Allan Poe, “Annabel Lee”, 1849 fair copy., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Each of these characteristics of the refrain in poetry can be analyzed to aid in understanding why that particular form of repetition was used over other forms. The reasons for how refrains in poetry are structured are entirely individual to the poem in question.

Types of Poems That Commonly Use Refrains

There are many different types of poems that can make use of the refrain in poetry. The refrain can be used in any poem, but some types of poems are more likely than others to feature refrains of some kind. This is often because of the general structure of these types of poems. For instance, the ballad is a more musical type of poetry that often uses an ABCB rhyme structure and entails the use of refrains for musical reasons.

Other examples of poetic forms that heavily feature refrains include types like villanelles and sestinas.

These poetic forms have repetition baked into the very structure of the poem itself, and so if a poet were to write one while sticking to the structure of said type of poem, they would always produce repetitive structures. However, these represent only a handful of the types of poems that consistently use refrains. Any poem can make use of the refrain if the poet decides that this would be beneficial to the poem in question.

The Refrain in Song Lyrics

The standard refrain, referring to the repetition of lines, phrases, and stanzas, can also be found in music. However, this is often seen as the chorus of a song. This is the section of the song in which a line or verse is repeated, often verbatim, to add to the flow and musicality of the song as a whole. This technique aids in the memorability of a song and we can easily see this by how many people can sing along to the chorus in all manner of famous songs but will only mumble some of the other lyrics.

Portrait of Yeats holding a cigar (1904) by Alice Boughton; Smithsonian Institution from United States, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

Much like the refrain in poetry, there are many reasons for this kind of refrain structure. As music is often based on repetition, especially the continuous repetition of musical notes within one poem, the use of the refrain makes sense. We can also see the way in which some songs, especially some in the modern era, remove all non-chorus lyrics and instead focus on the repetition of a phrase throughout the song.

Refrain in Poetry Examples

The refrain is a common feature in many poems and, as has been explored, in music too. We like it when things are repetitive in our poetry, because repetition allows for a fixation on certain aspects of a poem, especially when it rolls off the tongue nicely. To best understand poems with refrains, we need to actually look at some refrains in poetry examples to see how and why this kind of repetition is so consistently used.

We are going to explore five different poems to investigate this concept.

The Bells (1849) by Edgar Allan Poe

The Bells is a fantastic example of the refrain in poetry as it makes extensive and repeated use of one particular word in various parts of the poem. However, before we look at that, what is this poem about in the first place? The general structure of this poem serves as an examination of bells, as the name suggests to us, and it shows us the sounds that a variety of bells make and what those sounds then imply about a particular thing. 

The Bells (1849) by Edgar Allan Poe; Edgar Allan Poe, “The Bells”, 1848 fair copy., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

For instance, the poem shows us silver bells that are more cheerful and positive and golden bells that represent marriage and the joy that comes with them. The use of bells is where this repetition and refrain comes from. There are a number of sections in the poem that build towards the repeated expression of the term “bells”, and these lead-up sections feature heavy rhyme and rhythm until it reaches lines in which the solitary word “bells” is repeated two to three times per line.

The poem wants us to fixate on the ways that these bells sound to produce different feelings and emotions through life, but that they do all ultimately form part of the same general structure.

O Captain! My Captain! (1865) by Walt Whitman

O Captain! My Captain! is one of the most famous of all the poems ever written by Walt Whitman. While this particular poet was often known for his free verse poems, this decidedly non-free verse poem, has often come to be seen as the most notable of all the poems he ever produced. The poem makes extensive use of one particular refrain which serves as a metaphor for a fallen leader. In this case, the fallen leader was the recently assassinated Abraham Lincoln.

O Captain! My Captain! (1865) by Walt Whitman; Walt Whitman (1819-1892)(Life time: 1892), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The poem repeatedly uses the exact same words that can also be found in the title. These words, “O Captain! My Captain!”, appear at the start of each and every stanza. While many instances of poems with refrains include said refrain later in the stanza, this poem opens each stanza with the refrain as it repeatedly calls our attention to this captain who is no longer present. The final stanza of the poem tells us that the captain has died, but still, the refrain remains. This particular refrain is also aided by a number of other lines in each of the stanzas that opens with an “O” followed by another word.

This continuously links this linguistic repetition to the refrain of “O Captain! My Captain!”.

The Hollow Men (1925) by T.S. Eliot

The Hollow Men is a complicated poem. This is one of the best-known Modernist works of T.S. Eliot, and this particular poet is known for producing some of the most difficult-to-read poetry. This poem is no exception to that as the text makes its way through a series of references and ideas throughout its rather long duration. The poem, as a whole, serves as a reflection of post-World War One Europe and the cultural decay that started there. In many ways, the poem can be seen as similar to another of his most famous poems, The Waste Land, but less complicated and far shorter.

T. S. Elliot (1923) by Lady Ottoline Morrell; Ottoline Morrell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The reason this is one of the best examples of poems with refrains is because the last four lines of the poem have become some of the most famous ever written. They are also some of the lines that have been the most quoted in 20^th century poetry. The first of these lines is repeated three times in a row to reinforce the apocalyptic nature of this ending as it states that “This is the way the world ends”, and after this line has been reinforced and repeated three times in a row, the whole poem ends with the phrase “Not with a bang but a whimper”.

The first line, in its repeated form, serves as a build-up to the ultimately anti-climactic reality that the poem presents to us of an end to the world that is not chaotic and wild, but quiet and cold.

Do not Go Gentle into that good night (1951) by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night is an example of a villanelle. For this reason, using it as a refrain in poetry example is likely a little bit of a cheat. Any villanelle could be used in this instance to make the exact same claims, but this Dylan Thomas poem is likely the most famous villanelle in the English language, and so making use of it is probably easiest. The reason for this overly explanatory opening is because the villanelle, as a type of poetry, is structured around the repetition of two particular lines. This poetic form uses this repetition of two lines as a refrain.

The purpose of the refrain in this particular poetic form is to call specific attention to those repeated lines. In the case of this poem, the two repeated lines are “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”. Both of these lines are powerful and uncompromising statements that reinforce the poem’s message of not giving in to death. The first issues us a demand and the second presents us with the anger the poem wants us to experience when facing death.

The purpose of the refrain in this particular example is to serve as reinforcement of the themes that the poem wishes to present to us.

Caged Bird (1983) by Maya Angelou

Caged Bird is a phenomenal text when examining refrain in poetry examples because an entire stanza is repeated verbatim. This repeated stanza, which serves as the third and sixth stanzas, presents us with a kind of chorus-like structure. The poem feels like it could very easily be an example of a song, and the two lines that precede each instance of this refrain stanza serve as explanations of why this caged bird has been caged in the first place and why the caged bird sings.

Caged Bird (1983) by Maya Angelou; Photo on the jacket by Henry MonroeJacket design by Janet Halverson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

These two repeated stanzas give us the same information, which is that the bird sings while still caged but is afraid while doing so and that that song can be heard far and wide. This idea is a reinforcement of the themes of oppression that can be in the poem. This famous protest poem examines oppression, and the bird is the oppressed creature within their cage, but their song, or voice, is the one thing that they can still use to rage against their bars. The repetition of this particular stanza as a refrain reinforces, for the reader, the idea that this bird should be free and that nothing will stop the bird from singing for that freedom.

The refrain is an immensely common part of poetry in general, and there are a great many poems that use refrains in many different ways. This article was ultimately an attempt to explore poems with refrains and to examine the question: “What is a refrain in poetry?”. To answer that question, we looked at the purpose of the refrain in poetry, the characteristics of it, the types of poems that often make use of refrains, the connection between the refrain and song lyrics, and a few refrain in poetry examples. All together, these sections should have provided a good general overview of the refrain in poetry and why it is so commonly used. So, the next time you’re reading a poem, listen out for the refrain and ask yourself why this particular poet decided to make use of this common poetic device.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Refrain in Poetry?

Refrain has existed in poetry for a very long time. This concept simply refers to the idea of the repetition of a word, phrase, or group of lines in a poem. It is close to the song chorus in that it is repeatable and adds a certain rhythmic weight to a poem. There are many different ways that the concept of the refrain can be used in poetry. However, the core idea is simply one of repetition. This makes it a very generalized term that can refer to a great number of types of repetition in a poem.

What Are the Characteristics of the Refrain in Poetry?

There are several characteristics that we should consider when we decide to examine the way in which a refrain can be used in a poem. How many times is the refrain repeated? What is the length of the refrain? Is the refrain variable or does it stick to a specific structure? Each of these questions exists on an individual level within each poem that uses refrains. We can examine each of these aspects alongside how many times a refrain is used, how far apart the refrains are from one another, and so on. Each of these aspects ultimately join together to lead to the general characteristics of a refrain in a poem.

What Is the Purpose of the Refrain in Poetry?

There are several possible purposes of the refrain in poetry. Sometimes it can be used as a means of emphasizing something in the poem, or it could be to improve the rhythm, to add musicality or structural purpose, or even to make the poem more memorable. When we hear something over and over again, it is more likely to stick in our minds for far longer, and this ability to make something that is more easily remembered or has a more appealing linguistic quality to it are all good reasons to use refrains in a poem.

What Are Some of the Common Types of Poetry That Use Refrains?

Many types of poems make use of the refrain in some way or another. Some types of poems, such as sestinas and villanelles, have repetition baked into the very structure of the poem itself. However, poetic forms like ballads also often make use of refrains in the form of chorus structures that are intended to add further musicality to the poem as a whole. However, any kind of poem can use refrains if the poet so desires, but some types of poetry are more likely to include refrains than others.

What Are Some Notable Poems With Refrains?

There have been many poems with refrains over the centuries, and this is generally because the refrain is a very common poetic technique. Some of the most famous refrain in poetry examples include O Captain! My Captain! (1865) by Walt Whitman, Do not go gentle into that good night (1951) by Dylan Thomas, and Caged Bird (1983) by Maya Angelou. However, as has been stated, it should be remembered that this is a tiny subset of all the poems that make use of the refrain in their structure.

The post Refrain in Poetry – Explore the Art of Poetic Repetition% first appeared on Art in Context.

A Look at Iambic Pentameter in Poetry

Meter is a common element of all poems. This term is used to refer to the beat of the syllables. While there certainly can be poems that do not make use of a more traditional metrical structure, like iambic pentameter, all poems do include this beat. All poems include words, all words include syllables, and so all poems have meter. When it comes to iambic pentameter, this just happens to be the most famous variety of meter. So, what is iambic pentameter in poetry?

Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340–1400), Poet and Comptroller of Customs (c. 1620) by Unknown Artist; Government Art Collection, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The basic idea here has to do with the syllable count of a poem. When a poem makes use of a structure based around an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable, it is an example of an iambic poem. However, an iambic poem is not the same as iambic pentameter. The “iambic” part refers to an iamb, and this is the paired structure of two syllables where one is unstressed and the other is stressed. The number of iambs leads to the second part of the term.

The “pentameter” part combines the prefix “penta-“ with the suffix “-meter”, and “penta” means five. So, “iambic pentameter” is the term used to describe a poem that makes use of five iambs in each line. This means that each line has ten syllables. One unstressed, one stressed. This is an incredibly common type of meter, and we will examine some of why that is the case below, but it may be worth stating that this meter is often first attributed to Geoffrey Chaucer.

This means that iambic pentameter has been around for hundreds of years. It will probably stick around for as long as poetry exists.

Summary of Iambic Pentameter

Before we proceed with a more in-depth examination of poems with iambic pentameter and why this particular metrical structure is used, let us first have a brief summary of the concept. The reason for this is because some may not wish to read everything, and so a cliff-notes version will have to suffice:

• Iambic refers to the use of an unstressed-stressed syllable pair structure. This kind of metrical unit involves a pair of syllables, and each of these pairs is referred to as an iamb. There can be any number of iambs per line, and the “meter” signifier at the end tells us how many there are per line.
• Pentameter refers to the use of five metrical units per line. Once we have our type of meter, such as iambic, trochaic, and so on, we use a signifier of metrical number to say how many there are per line. In this case, there will be five metrical structures per line. So, iambic pentameter refers to five iambs in each line or ten syllables when all syllables are taken together.
• Iambic pentameter allows for more of a mimicry of ordinary speech. While every type of metrical structure has its own characteristics, iambic pentameter emulates natural speech in a way that others do not, and this can provide a poem with a more conversational style than may arise with other forms of meter.

The Rhythm of Pentameter (2006); Poorky, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

If these few points are all that is needed, I wish you adieu. However, if you wish to learn more about iambic pentameter and, perhaps, even the answers to questions like: “What do all poems written in iambic pentameter have in common?” then let’s move on to the next section of this article to learn a little more about iambic pentameter in poetry.

The Characteristics and Purposes of Iambic Pentameter

Metrical structures can be found in all poems. This simply refers to the syllabic beat of a poem. How many syllables are there per line? How are those syllables arranged? Are they stressed or unstressed? Each of these questions allows us to determine whether or not we are dealing with one type of metrical structure or another, but we will go into some detail about how to specifically identify different metrical structures later in this article.

What exactly is it that iambic pentameter is able to accomplish for the poet and the reader? We have already mentioned, briefly, that this metrical structure involves the use of a paired structure of unstressed and stressed syllables in sets of five of these pairs per line. But what does this actually do to a poem? Why is this used?

It may be a very common form of meter and one that is used by many poems, but why?

One of the most basic reasons that iambic pentameter is used in poetry is because it emulates natural speech. When we speak in the English language, we tend to use an alternating pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables, and so any iambic poem is likely attempting to emulate this kind of flow. Other types of meter are often more “poetic” in a sense. They are unnatural and allow the reader to have a more disjointed experience when they are reading a text.

This results in poems with iambic pentameter having a more rhythmic flow. This can make iambic pentameter examples more enjoyable to read for many because they roll off the tongue in a far more satisfying way than some other types of meter. This can also allow for a more definitive structure to poems that use iambic pentameter, and it results in something far more traditional in general.

Excerpt from Paradise Lost (1877 edition) by John Milton; University of Toronto Scanning Center, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

However, an interesting point is that there is often confusion between iambic pentameter and simple iambic poems. The “pentameter” part of the term refers to how many iambs are within each line, but many will refer to any poem that uses an unstressed-stressed pair structure as an example of iambic pentameter. All of these poems may be iambic poems, but they are not actually iambic pentameter poems. It is a common error that can be seen though and one that is understandable as iambic pentameter is probably the most widely taught metrical structure in English schools because of its close association with traditional English poetry, such as the work of William Shakespeare.

The Users of Iambic Pentameter

A great many poets have made use of iambic pentameter in their poetry over the centuries. The most famous of all of these poets is likely William Shakespeare. One of his poems will be discussed in one of the sections below, but it is worth noting here that his work has come to be strongly associated with iambic pentameter in general as every one of his sonnets made use of this metrical structure.

Other writers who notably made use of iambic pentameter include figures like John Milton, Alexander Pope, and William Wordsworth.

Many writers in the English language have made extensive use of poems with iambic pentameter because of the way in which rhythm and flow can be created through this particular type of metrical structure, and this has aided in reinforcing how common this type of meter is in the language. The more it is used by influential figures, the more likely it is to be used by later figures.

The Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare (1610) by Unknown Artist; Cobbe Collection, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

There are, for instance, many in the present day who continue to write iambic pentameter examples because of that more ordinary language capacity of the style. It is also, simply, a famous metrical structure, as has been mentioned, and so many will continue to use it well into the future.

However, if you are interested in being able to identify iambic pentameter in poetry yourself, it may be useful to understand a little about some of the other kinds of metrical structures out there. So, before we have a look at a few iambic pentameter examples to see notable instances of this metrical structure being used, let’s have a look at how we can identify meter in the first place.

Identifying Meter

When it comes to how to identify meter in a poem, there can be a lot of difficulty. It can be difficult to hear the stress of a syllable, and it can often involve sitting and sounding out each line of a poem to hear which syllables are elongated and stressed and which syllables are not. This is a skill that requires one to sit and work on it. You will only learn how to do it by putting in the work. And even then, there can sometimes be disputes on whether something is stressed or unstressed.

There is also the issue that stress on a syllable can be intentional.

What can be far easier to learn is syllable counting. As has been mentioned, the “pentameter” part of iambic pentameter refers to the number of metrical units in a line. “Iambic” refers to a paired structure of unstressed and stressed syllables, and in poems with iambic pentameter, there will be five of these iambic pairs in each line. However, we can see other kinds of syllable count.

Trimeter, seeing as it uses the prefix “tri-“, refers to a poem with three sets of a metrical unit. So, iambic trimeter would be a poem with three iambs per line for a total of six syllables on each line. It becomes as important to learn the different prefixes as it becomes to know what they mean. “Tetrameter” refers to four metrical units, “hexameter” refers to six metrical units, and so on.

So, while it can be difficult to identify stressed and unstressed syllables, it can often be easiest to start with simple syllable counting. You can count them with your fingers as you sound out each line of a poem. The more you practice, the better you’ll get. But that old mantra refers to pretty much everything, doesn’t it? But it really is true that if you want to get better at identifying meter, practice makes perfect.

Iambic Pentameter Examples

There are many different poems that have made use of iambic pentameter, but let’s have a look at a handful of examples to illustrate the concept. We are going to examine a few different poems with iambic pentameter. These three examples are only a small selection of the many different iambic pentameter examples in the world.

Nevertheless, it should give a general overview of the concept on display.

Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (1609) by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 18 or Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? is one of the most famous of William Shakespeare’s poems. It is also entirely arguable that this is the most famous of all of his sonnets, and it is also a good iambic pentameter example. To be fair, every Shakespearean sonnet is likely a good example of iambic pentameter in general because it was the common meter of each and every one of his sonnets, but as this is the most famous of those sonnets, it may be easiest to use this one.

Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (1609) by William Shakespeare; William Shakespeare, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Every single line of the sonnet uses iambic pentameter, and this allows the poem to have a more naturalistic flow. Consider the very first line, from which the title arises, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”. This line uses ten syllables arranged in an unstressed-stressed paired beat structure to emulate human speech. It allows the poem to be more free-flowing and conveys everything it wishes in only one line of the poem.

This is one of the greatest benefits of iambic poems. When we ask ourselves a question like: “What do all poems written in iambic pentameter have in common?”, this is usually the answer. When there are fewer syllables per line, each line can feel more incomplete, but with lengthier lines, full thoughts can be produced. That is not to say that full thoughts cannot be produced with shorter lines, but less information per line can be used when there are fewer syllables.

So, it is simply beneficial to a poet for there to be more space available to convey the ideas they wish to express.

Ode to a Nightingale (1819) by John Keats

Ode to a Nightingale is one of the most famous poems ever written by John Keats. This figure was already an immensely important one in the realm of Romantic literature, and this poem serves as a strong contender for the use of powerful and evocative imagery. This is another of the reasons for which iambic pentameter can often be used in poetry to strong effect because it allows for more space to create strong imagery.

Ode to a Nightingale (1819) by John Keats; John Keats (1795 – 1821), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This particular poem is rather long too, as it involves eight separate stanzas, all of which are ten lines long, and so it is far lengthier than the sonnet discussed above. The poem is also explicitly set in a specific location. In this case, it’s set in the woods and a nightingale is nearby. The poem is, as the title suggests, dedicated to that particular bird as it sings through the trees for all to hear.

We can see the use of iambic pentameter in each stanza, but the first is good to open. We can see, for instance, from the first two lines, that enjambment is used: “My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains/my sense”. The one line leads directly into the next and should be read as a single sentence.

The allowance of more syllables becomes less important in general because we can simply read from one line to the next without pausing, but the additional space does allow for more imagery to be on display, and for the emotionality of it to shine through.

Grief (1844) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Grief is one of the most well-known and notable poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Her work has become some of the best in the English language, and Grief is no exception to that. The poem is focused on what the title tells us: grief. This terrible human feeling has a sway over our minds and bodies, and how it can be an immensely overwhelming and all-encompassing feeling.

Much like the first example of Shakespeare’s famous sonnet, this poem is also a sonnet, but one written in the Petrarchan style. The style still makes use of iambic pentameter though and does so for similar reasons to those that have been discussed before. The poem uses a more conversational and personal style by opening with a first-person pronoun that directly addresses the audience as if we are friends or acquaintances.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Portrait (1886) by Ludvig Sandöe Ipsen; Ludvig Sandöe Ipsen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

One of the upsides to iambic pentameter in poetry in general is that it sounds more natural. This poem also makes use of enjambment, like the previous example by John Keats, and this combination of a more personalized style and enjambment allows each line to flow into the next without there needing to be much of a reason for any kind of pause in the tale being told. Iambic pentameter simply flows in a pleasant way, and poems like this serve to show how that can be the case.

Where would we be without iambic pentameter? Well, we’d probably have a different kind of poetic meter to contend with, so we probably wouldn’t be all that far. However, we have had a look at iambic pentameter throughout this article, and we have even looked at a handful of iambic pentameter examples. This common metrical structure can be found in many poems and, hopefully, this article has aided you in being able to identify it when it shows up!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Iambic Pentameter in Poetry?

Iambic pentameter is a type of metrical structure. This refers to the syllabic beat of a poem. In the case of this particular type of meter, the stress of the syllables follows a two-syllable structure. There is one syllable that is unstressed and the next is stressed. This is what an iamb is, but as for the pentameter part of this structure, it refers to the number of iambs in a line. Each iamb is made up of two syllables and since penta means five, this indicates that there will be five iambs in each of these lines for a total of ten syllables.

What Kinds of Meter Are There Other Than Iambic Pentameter?

Iambic pentameter may be the most famous form of meter, but it is not the only variety. There are, of course, the different kinds of iambic poetry, such as iambic trimeter (three iambs, or six syllables). However, there are also varieties that are not iambic at all, such as trochaic meter (one stressed followed by a stressed syllable), or dactylic meter (one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables). There are a variety of different types of meter that a poet could use.

What Do All Poems Written in Iambic Pentameter Have in Common?

The primary thing that iambic pentameter poems have in common is that they all incorporate the same metrical structure. This means that they all use the iambic syllable structure of one unstressed and one stressed syllable, and this tends to flow in a way that is reminiscent of natural language. This means that poems that have made use of iambic pentameter can often sound more natural in their presentation.

Which Poets Wrote in Iambic Pentameter?

When it comes to poets who have made use of iambic pentameter, you will find that many of them have made use of this metrical structure. Poets like William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and many others have written iambic poems. This is one of the most common of all metrical structures and, in English, it is likely the most famous and consistently used, and so most have probably written using this form of meter.

Which Famous Poems Were Written in Iambic Pentameter?

There are a great many poems that can be considered perfect iambic pentameter examples. For instance, there are poems like Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (1609) by William Shakespeare, Ode to a Nightingale (1819) by John Keats, and Grief (1844) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. However, there are so many poems that can be considered iambic poems, and, for that reason, there are definitely far more poems written in iambic pentameter than one would likely expect.

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