Poetic Techniques Revision Notes: English Literature

Poets use different techniques to get their message across because they want to create an emotional connection with their readers and make their poetry more memorable and impactful.

When we read poetry - we often look for more than just information or facts. We want to be moved emotionally and connect to the poem and its themes. This is where poetry techniques come in. Poets can create a vivid and powerful image in the reader's mind by using techniques such as imagery, metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, and rhyme. In addition, using different techniques can help us to understand and connect with the poet's message on a deeper level.

Additionally, poetry techniques can make a poem more memorable. A rhythm, rhyme or alliteration in a poem can help make it easier to remember. Our brains have an innate ability to detect patterns and repetition, making it simpler for us to remember poems or rhymes with a strong sense of rhythm, rhyme or alliteration. Structured texts such as these often leave strong impressions that come in handy when recalling or reciting them.

People often memorise poems that were read or learned in school, and very often, it stays with people for years. This is partially because they are easier to remember. Consequently, this is one of the leading causes of why people can recite poems from their childhood even after a long time.

Poets use various techniques to convey their message and evoke emotions in their readers. Here are some of the techniques used:

The techniques mentioned above are just a few of the many strategies poets use to create compelling and memorable works of literature.

Let's now look more in detail at some of the techniques.

Revision Quiz: Part 1 of 3

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Voice: Who's speaking and how?

The voice of a poem is an important poetic technique that can significantly impact how the poet's message is conveyed. Here are some examples that illustrate how the voice of a poem can be used to create a specific effect:

HOW THE MESSAGE IS CONVEYED

A poem's voice can significantly influence how the poet's underlying message is communicated. This can lead to a deeper understanding of the poem and its meaning.

Consider a poem about the beauty of nature. If the poem's voice is sombre or melancholy, the message might be that even though nature is beautiful, it is also fleeting and fragile. However, if the voice is joyful or exuberant, the message might be that nature is a source of endless wonder and delight.

HOW THEY SPEAK TO THE AUDIENCE

Whether the narrator speaks in the first person or the third person makes a huge difference in how the message is conveyed. A poem that uses the first-person voice puts the narrator at the centre of the action. This can create a sense of intimacy and immediacy, as if the poet speaks directly to the reader.

For example, in Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," the first-person voice creates a sense of personal reflection as if the speaker is pausing to contemplate the beauty of the snowy woods.

A first-person voice can also create a sense of subjectivity or bias since the narrator is speaking from their own perspective. This can make the poem more personal and emotional. For example, in Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise," the first-person voice creates a sense of empowerment and resilience as if the speaker is speaking directly to the reader and telling them that they, too, can rise above adversity.

In contrast, a third-person voice can create a sense of distance or objectivity. This can give the reader an outside perspective on the poem's action and help them see it in a broader context. For example, in William Wordsworth's poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," the third-person voice creates a sense of detachment and observation, as if the speaker is watching the scene from a distance and taking it all in.

Who is the poem addressed to?

Addressed To" is a poetic technique that involves writing a poem as if the speaker is talking to a specific person or audience. Here are some examples that illustrate how this technique can often be used:

DIRECT ADDRESS

In Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse," the speaker addresses a mouse that he has just disturbed while ploughing his field. The entire poem is written as if the speaker is talking directly to the mouse, expressing his regret for having caused the mouse to flee its nest. The direct address creates a sense of intimacy and empathy, as if the speaker and the mouse share a moment of mutual understanding.

In Emily Dickinson's poem "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," the speaker addresses Death directly, personifying Death as a gentleman who has come to take her on a carriage ride. The direct address creates a sense of familiarity and intimacy between the speaker and Death, suggesting that the speaker may not be afraid of dying.

Use of spoken language

Poets can use features of spoken language as a technique to make their poems more authentic, personal, and relatable. Here are some ways poets can incorporate spoken language into their poetry:

Poems can reproduce spoken language, e.g. dialect words or phonetic spellings: In Maya Angelou's poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," she uses dialect words such as "y'all" and "ain't" to capture the speech patterns of African Americans in the southern United States. By using these words, Angelou creates a sense of authenticity and cultural specificity, making the poem more relatable to people who share that background.

Similarly, in Seamus Heaney's poem "Digging," he uses phonetic spellings of Irish words, such as "squat pen", to capture the sound of his father's speech. By reproducing his father's speech, Heaney conveys a sense of intimacy and familiarity, as if the reader is eavesdropping on a private conversation.

In Sylvia Plath's poem "Daddy," she uses informal language such as "you do not do" and "I have had" to create a conversational tone. Using everyday language, Plath establishes a sense of intimacy and immediacy, as if the reader is having a direct conversation with the speaker.

Similarly, in Langston Hughes' poem "The Weary Blues," he uses repetition and improvisational language to mimic the sound of a blues singer. By using these techniques, Hughes creates a sense of spontaneity and improvisation, making the poem feel more like a live performance than a written text.

In Derek Walcott's poem "A Far Cry from Africa," he uses West Indian dialect and accent to convey the speaker's sense of identity and belonging. By using these features, Walcott creates a sense of cultural specificity and resistance to colonialism, making the poem a powerful statement of political and personal identity.

In summary, poets can use spoken language features as a technique to make their poems more authentic, personal, and relatable. These features include dialect words, phonetic spellings, informal language, repetition, improvisation, and accents. Using these techniques, poets can create a sense of intimacy, immediacy, and cultural specificity in their work.

The power of rhyme

Rhyme can be an effective poetic technique for reinforcing a poem's message and creating a memorable rhythm. Here are some ways poets can use rhyme to enhance their work:

Example: In Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem "The Raven," the repeated use of the word "nevermore" creates a haunting and unforgettable refrain that reinforces the poem's sense of despair and loss.

Example: Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" uses a simple and regular rhyme scheme (ABAABCB) that creates a sense of calm and control that mirrors the peacefulness of the winter landscape.

Example: The modernist poet E.E. Cummings often used unconventional syntax, punctuation, and word choice in his poetry, as well as an irregular approach to rhyme and meter. This helped create a sense of experimentation and rebellion that was central to the modernist movement.

Example: In Shakespeare's "Sonnet 29," the use of internal rhyme (e.g. "haply I think on thee, and then my state, / Like to the lark at break of day arising") helps create a sense of musicality and unity that reinforces the poem's theme of love and longing.

Here are some more examples:

In Emily Dickinson's poem "Hope is the thing with feathers," she uses a consistent rhyme scheme (ABCB) to create a sense of musicality and reinforce the idea of hope as a constant presence in the speaker's life. By using rhyme, Dickinson adds power to the poem's message, making it more memorable and impactful.

Similarly, in William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, he uses a regular rhyme scheme (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG) to create a sense of control and order. Using rhyme, Shakespeare reinforces the poem's message of the speaker's love for the subject, making the poem feel more coherent and unified.

In Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," he uses an irregular rhyme scheme (ABAAB CBBCB DBDBD EFEFE) to convey a sense of unpredictability and mystery. Using an irregular rhyme scheme, Frost creates a sense of tension and uncertainty, reinforcing the poem's theme of the unknown.

On the other hand, in Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky," he uses an absence of rhyme to create a sense of whimsy and playfulness. By not using rhyme, Carroll frees himself to invent new words and sounds, adding to the poem's sense of creativity and fun.

In Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven," he uses a regular rhyme scheme (ABCBBB) to create a sense of control and order that contrasts with the speaker's growing despair. In addition, using a regular rhyme scheme, Poe reinforces the poem's message of loss and grief, making it feel more powerful and emotional.

In contrast, in T.S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," he uses an irregular rhyme scheme to create a sense of fragmentation and confusion. By using an irregular rhyme scheme, Eliot reinforces the poem's message of alienation and uncertainty, making it feel more disorienting and unsettling.

In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," he uses internal rhyme to create a sense of musicality and reinforce the poem's message of guilt and redemption. For example, in the line "The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew," the words "blew" and "flew" rhyme within the same line. By using internal rhyme, Coleridge creates a sense of coherence and unity in the poem, making it more powerful and memorable.

In summary, rhyme can be an effective poetic technique for reinforcing a poem's message and creating a memorable rhythm. Poets can use regular or irregular rhyme schemes or omit rhyme, depending on the desired effect. Internal rhyme can also develop a sense of musicality and coherence. Finally, poets can use rhyme effectively to add power and impact to their work.

Rhythm: pace and mood

Rhythm is an important poetic technique that can greatly impact a poem's overall message and meaning. Here are some examples of how poets can use rhythm to achieve certain effects in their poetry: