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Not sure how to discuss poetic techniques? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back! In this article, we’ll show you a whole variety of poetic techniques and explain what they are, with examples.
Many students often focus on literary techniques when analysing poems.
But, this alone won’t get you the best marks as you’re not analysing the form of the text. To fully analyse a poem’s structure and form, you need to understand poetic techniques.
Let’s what the different poetic techniques are.
Analysing a poem is different from analysing a novel or short story. They’re written with limited words and vague phrases.
That’s why poets must rely on other elements to create meaning: sound, structure and arrangement, and images (visual, olfactory, tactile, auditory, and gustatory).
Poets rely on sounds to create particular atmospheres and tones. These shape the audience’s emotions and indicate the poem’s themes and message.
Some techniques that rely on sound are:
A poet carefully controls the arrangement of the whole poem, including the stanzas, lines, and even the syllables of each word, to create meaning and a particular atmosphere.
Here are some techniques that relate to the structure of the poem:
Poets usually explore more abstract ideas and themes within a limited amount of words. They often need to create a particular atmosphere with the least amount of words possible.
This is achieved through strong visual, olfactory, tactile, auditory and gustatory images. These images shape the atmosphere, foreshadow events, and can have symbolic meaning.
Some techniques that rely on images are:
Since poems use a limited number of words, poets rely heavily on symbolism to effectively convey meaning and their message. One image, word, or phrase is capable of representing a complex, abstract idea.
Here are some techniques that help create meaning:
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Here is an extensive list of poetic techniques you must know!
Alliteration is the repetition of the beginning sound in 2 or more words placed near one another.
Poets use alliteration to set a mood, emphasise a subject, or create a memorable image.
For example, softer consonants like ‘l’, ‘y’, or ‘h’ create a romantic atmosphere, whereas harsher sounds like ‘k’ or ‘t’ seem more confronting.
Certain sounds hold specific connotations. For example, the ‘s’ sound can mirror a snake’s hiss, which evokes feelings of danger.
Between the hands, between the brows,
Between the lips of Love-Lily,
A spirit is born whose birth endows
My blood with fire to burn through me;
“Love Lilly”, Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Rossetti uses alliteration of ‘b’ sound throughout the whole stanza – ‘between’, ‘brows’, ‘born’, ‘birth’, ‘blood’ and ‘burn’ – to emphasise his feelings of love.
Antimetabole is when the words of the first clause are reversed in the second clause. (Not to be confused with chiasmus)
This creates a ringing effect and emphasises the line.
“All for one and one for all!“
The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
This is a memorable line that’s used as a motif throughout this novel.
Assonance is the repetition of the vowels in words that are near each other.
Like alliteration, assonance is used to create a certain atmosphere or a mood.
Words will long vowels tend to sound more mellow or serious, whereas words with short vowels create a lighter atmosphere.
“When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,“
“When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be”, John Keats
Keats uses the assonance of the ‘ee’ sound. This creates a dragged-out effect that seems to slow time.
Anaphora is the repetition of the first word or clause in consecutive sentences.
It helps create a rhythm, makes the line more memorable, and draws emotions. It can also be used symbolically.
“Out of the cradle endlessly rocking,
Out of the mocking-bird’s throat, the musical shuttle,
Out of the Ninth-month midnight,“
“Out of the Cradle”, Walt Whitman
Whitman relies heavily on anaphora throughout his whole poem. It creates a repetitive feeling that imitates a rocking cradle.
Ballads are poems that tell a story and are usually accompanied by a song.
They are traditionally written as a quatrains (4 lines) with a strict rhyme scheme and metre:
However, over time, ballad conventions have shifted. Now, there are different types of ballads like:
Cacophony refers to a combination of harsh, chaotic, and/or discordant (unharmonious) sounds. This is often achieved through repetition of harsh consonant sounds like ‘k’, ‘g’, ‘p’ ‘t’, ‘ch’, and ‘sh’.
Poets use cacophony to make their readers feel negative emotions like frustration, disgust, discomfort, or interest.
“Ich, ich, ich, ich”
“The boot in the face, the brute
Brute heart of a brute like you…”
“There’s a stake in your fat black heart“
“Daddy”, Sylvia Plath (isolated lines)
Plath uses words and phrases like “ich, ich, ich, ich”, “boot”, “brute”, “stake”, and “fat black heart” to capture her feelings of anger. These are very explosive and harsh sounds.
Chiasmus is when the structure of one clause is reversed in the following clause. (Not to be confused with antimetabole)
The ideas of both clauses must be related to each other to be considered chiasmus.
Poets use chiasmus to create a cyclical or ringing effect. It also puts more emphasis on the line.
“Adam, first of men,
To first of women, Eve“
Confessional poetry emerged during the 1950s in USA. Sylvia Plath and Robert Lowell are 2 notable poets who started writing confessional poetry.
These poets tend to reflect their psyche and experiences by controlling the rhythm, metre, visual images and symbols of the poem.
As such, the poems are self-revelatory and explore personal subjects. Often, it refers to real events and people and is quite confronting.
A couplet is two lines of poetry that rhyme with each other. Sometimes, they also have the same metre.
Because of their rhyme and metre, couplets are memorable add emphasis to the lines.
“So, lovers dream a rich and long delight,
But get a winter-seeming summer’s night.”
Enjambment is when a sentence runs over into the next line or stanza.
Lines with enjambment are incomplete and won’t make sense on its own. As such, readers are compelled to continue reading the next line.
“April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.“
Eliot uses enjambment to symbolise the never ending effects of war.
Euphony refers to words that work together to create a harmonious and pleasing sound to the ears.
Longer vowels (like a, o…) and soft consonants (like m, r, and l) sound more melodious compared to the harsh explosive sounds of cacophony.
Poets tend to use euphony to create a calm, pleasant, and even magical auditory imagery.
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, Robert Frost
The ‘l’, ‘ee’ and ‘i’ sounds (in ‘miles’, ‘sleep’ and ‘lovely’) are euphonic. It sounds almost dream-like.
Free verse refers to poetry with no rules. There are no strict rhyme schemes, structure, or metres.
The lack of structure give poets more artistic expression. This means that poems with free verse can have any effect; it can sound chaotic, free-flowing, like a story etc.
Metre refers to the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables within a line. We have an article that explains what metre is in detail and how to analyse it.
In summary, metre creates a rhythm within a poem and gives it a melodic element.
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
“Richard III”, William Shakespeare
Shakespeare uses iambic pentameter in his writing to symbolise the rigid beliefs of the divine rights and fate.
Mood refers to the atmosphere of the poem. (Note: It is different from tone)
To help you figure it out, think about the emotions that are conveyed through imagery, rhythm, metre, rhyme schemes etc.
You can use different emotions to describe the mood of the poem. Keep in mind that moods can shift throughout the poem.
Unknown seaman’ – the ghostly pencil
Wavers and fades, the purple drips,
The breath of the wet season has washed their inscriptions
As blue as drowned men’s lips,
“Beach Burial”, Kenneth Slessor
Slessor has created an ominous mood with the descriptions of death.
Onomatopoeia refers to words that imitate the sound made from an object, animal, human or thing.
Poets use onomatopoeia to add an element of reality, excitement, fear or interest.
Onomatopoeia also helps make lines more memorable for readers.
“For thirty years, poor and white,
Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.”
Plath uses the word ‘achoo’ instead of ‘sneeze’. This not only makes the line more memorable but it feels uncomfortable and adds to the atmosphere of suffocation.
Repetition refers to words or phrases that are repeated.
It’s used to create a sense of rhythm or motif, add emphasis to a particular subject and/or make it more memorable.
“Herr God, Herr Lucifer
Beware
Beware.”
Plath uses repetition for the word ‘beware’ to emphasise the need for caution and evoke feelings of fear from the audience.
Rhyme refers to the last sound of a word being repeated in other words. Read our article about rhyme to learn more about what it is and how to analyse it.
Rhyme is used to create a rhythm, make the poem more memorable, and establish a certain atmosphere.
“Everything forgiven and in common –
Not that I see her behind you, where I face you,
But like Owen, after his dark poem,
Under the battle, in the catacombs,”
“A Picture of Otto”, Ted Hughes
Hughes uses an ABAA rhyme scheme for this stanza. This rhyme scheme creates an echo effect which adds to the ominous atmosphere of the poem.
Rhythm refers to the pattern of sounds in a poem.
Poets can create rhythm through various methods; repetition, rhyme schemes, metre etc.
“Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.”
“Journey of The Magi”, TS Eliot
Eliot creates a sense of rhythm through his repetition of ‘Birth’ and ‘Death’.
Round poems are cyclical (like it’s name!)
This means that the first and last line of the poem hold the same abstract idea. This can be a thought, setting, or metaphor, but it doesn’t have to be written in the same way.
Round poems often illustrate a lack of change or inability to escape.
Something was out there on the lake, just barely
visible in the dark.
I knelt and stared, trying to make it out,
trying to mark
its position relative to mine,
and the picturesque willow, the moon-slivered diving board
on the opposite shore. I listened hard
but heard
no sound from it, although I cupped one ear
as I knelt in the cove,
wondering how far I should take this, if I should seek
someone to row out there with me. Yet it didn’t move
or grow darker or lighter. Most shapes,
you know what they are:
a rock-garden serpent, a house in the mist, a man’s head,
an evening star,
but not this one. Whatever was out there kept changing
from large to small.
The mass of a wooden coffin surfaced,
then the head of an owl,
a tree limb, a window, a veil—
I couldn’t resolve it. I ran one hand through my hair
as I stood up, shrugging. I had just turned 50
and whatever it was that might be floating there
I didn’t want it to be. Too much before
that came unbidden into my life
I’d let take me over. I knelt again and stared again.
Something was out there just beyond the cove.
Sonnets are poems made of 1 stanza with 14 lines.
They are usually written in iambic pentameter (see our Metre article about iambic pentameters) and tend to follow a ABABCDCDEFEFGG rhyme scheme.
Sonnets are usually written about human themes like love, nature, and death. It also has melodic elements and sounds like a song; in Italian, the word ‘sonnetto’ means little song.
“Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—
No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death.“
“Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art”, John Keats
Tone refers to the poet’s attitude towards a subject in a poem. (Don’t confuse it with mood)
Like mood, it is created through word choice, metre, rhythm, figurative language etc.
The poet’s tone in a poem affects how readers respond to the subjects in the poem. We can either feel the same way towards a subject as the poet or the opposite.
“V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.“
“Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”, Wallace Stevens
Stevens uses a tone of contemplation or uncertainty in this poem. In this particular stanza, the line “I do know know” and the repetition of the word “or” highlights that the persona is unsure of many things in the world.
Villanelles were first written by French poets who were inspired by Italian and Spanish dance songs.
They have a very rigid structure:
They are all gone away,
The House is shut and still,
There is nothing more to say.
Through broken walls and gray
The winds blow bleak and shrill:
They are all gone away.
Nor is there one to-day
To speak them good or ill:
There is nothing more to say.
Why is it then we stray
Around the sunken sill?
They are all gone away,
And our poor fancy-play
For them is wasted skill:
There is nothing more to say.
There is ruin and decay
In the House on the Hill:
They are all gone away,
There is nothing more to say.
“The House on the Hill”, Edwin Arlington Robinson
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