Rhythm

Good poetry is like music which is spoken. It has a beat to carry it along. As with music, this beat can have syncopations (stressing an off beat), rests (periods of quiet), and any other type of variation.

In this lesson I will discuss some of the more common beat ‘foot’s and give you an example of each. I encourage you to find other examples or play with these beats yourself.

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The most common American foot is called the IAMBIC beat. It goes like this:

dum-DA-dum-DA-dum-DA...

Example: "first TIME he KISSED me, HE only KISS'D . . ."

[Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Sonnet from the Portuguese"]

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The reverse of this foot is called TRACHEE:

DA-dum-DA-dum-DA-dum...

Example: "LISTen MY chilDREN and YOU will HEAR . . ."

[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride"]

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ANAPEST is a three beat foot:

dum-dum-DA-dum-dum-DA...

Example: "Like a CHILD from the WOMB,"

[Percy Bysshe Shelley's "The Cloud"]

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The reverse is known as DACTYL:

DA-dum-dum-DA-dum-dum...

Example: "AWOKE one night FROM a deep DREAM of peace . . ."

[James Henry Leigh Hunt's "Abou Ben Adhem"]

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The final beat foot I will discuss, is the SPONDEE:

DA-DA...

Example: "SQUASH SQUISH"

["How to Eat a Grape" by Anonymous]

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You will find that many poems will be made up of a combination of these. It all depends on the mood the poet wants to create.

Rhyme (Couplet and Bout Rimes)

Most people think of rhymes when they hear the word "poem". A true rhyme consists of two words that end in the same sound. "Bright" and "light" is a true rhyming combination.

Poets often use rhymes in different ways to create patterns in their work. The simplest rhyming pattern is the COUPLET. A couplet is a two-line rhyme.

"I scraped my knee

On that tree"

. . . is a CLOSED couplet, which is to say, that it contains a complete thought.

"I took a good look at my hand.

Inspected each finger, and"

. . . is an OPEN couplet. The thought runs into another verse:

"Payed close attention to my thumb.

Then I thought, 'This is dumb!'"

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Back in the days before video games, TV, and roadtrips, some people would entertain themselves by doing BOUT-RIMES. This is when someone provides a list of rhymed words and everyone else would use the words (in any order) to create a poem. It didn't matter whether the poem made sense or was completely silly, as long as all the words were used.

For practice, use the following list of words to make a poem of couplets:

wood / hood

white / bite

run / sun

cold / mold

hope / rope

Rhymes (Assonance and Blank Verse)

"Curiosity killed the cat.

Satisfaction brought him back." -Anon.

Even though "cat" and "back" do not make a true rhyming combination, they sound similar enough to create the same effect. When you use an unlike, yet very similar sounding word to complete a rhyme, it is called ASSONANCE.

Shakespeare used assonance heavily in his work. Read the following sonnet and notice how he uses assonance:

Sonnet #12

When I do count the clock that tell the time,

And see the brave day sunk in hideous night,

When I behold the violet past prime,

And sable curls all silvered o'er with white:

When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,

Which erst from heat did canopy the herd

And summer's green all girded up in sheaves

Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard:

Then of thy beauty do I question make

That thou among the wastes og time must go,

Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake,

And die as fast as they see others grow,

And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defense

Save breed to brave him, when he takes thee hence.

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Poetry doesn't have to rhyme to be poetry. Non-rhyming poetry is referred to as a BLANK VERSE. A famous blank verse is from the final soliloquy in Dr. Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe:

The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike.

The devil will come, and Faustus must be damned.

Oh, I'll leap up to my God: who pulls me down?

See, see, where Christ's blood streams in the firmament.

One drop would save my soul, half a drop. Ah, my Christ!

Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!

Yet wil I call on him. Oh, spare me, Lucifer!

Where is it now? 'Tis gone:

And see where God stretches out his arms,

And bends his ireful brows.

Mountains and hills, come, come, and fall on me,

And hide me from the heavy wrath of God.

No, no. The will I headlong run into the earth.

Earth, gape! Oh no, it will not harbor me.

You stars that reigned at my nativity,

Whose influences hath alloted death and hell,

Now draw up Faustus like a foggy mist

Into the entrails of yon laboring cloud,

That when you vomit forth into the air

My limbs may issue from your smoky mouths,

So that my soul may but ascend to heaven...

(act 5, scene 2)

For practice, write a couplet using assonance and if you feel intrepid enough, write a short blank verse.

Word Play (Acrostic)

Many poems are example of word play. For example, Edgar Allan Poe's "Elizabeth":

Elizabeth-it surely is most fit

(Logic and common usage so commanding)

In thy own book that first thy name be writ,

Zeno and other sages notwithstanding;

And I have other reasons for so doing

Besides my innate love of contradiction;

Each poet-if a poet-in pursuing

The muses thro' their bowers of Truth or Fiction,

Has studied very little of his part,

Read nothing, written less-in short's a fool

Endued with neither soul, nor sense, nor art,

Being ignorant of one important rule,

Employed in even the theses of the school-

Called-I forget the heathenish Greek name-

(Called any thing, its meaning is the same)

"Always write first things uppermost in the heart."

If you write down the first letter of each line, in order, you find that they spell the name "Elizabeth Rebecca". This is an example of an ACROSTIC, which means literally, "outermost line of poetry". As a literary form, the basic acrostic is a poem in which the first letters of the lines, read downwards, forms a word, phrase or sentence. (NOTE: Rhyming is optional.) Another variation of this is the "double acrostic", where the first and the LAST letters of the line are used.

For practice, use your name or handle to create an acrostic.

From The Teacher's & Writer's Handbook of Poetic Forms, edited by Ron Padgett. (Much of this class is based on this book.)

Word Play (Alphabet poems- versions 1&2)

There are three common types of alphabet poetry. We will only discuss two in this lesson.

The first one requires us to stretch our imaginations. We choose a letter and let its shape suggest an image. The noted poet e. e. cummings (famous for only use lower-case letters when he wrote) wrote this following piece about the letter `i':

who are you, little i

(five or six years old)

peering from some high

window at the gold

of november sunset

and feeling: that if day

has to become night

this is a beautiful way

One can almost see a child in the shape of `i'.

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The next type of alphabet poetry can be very difficult. it involves having each word of the poem start with a different letter of the alphabet - usually in A to Z or Z to A order. The following one was done by Kismani Andrade in 4th grade:

Zachary yelled x-rays

while Valerie unkindly tore sweatsocks,

running quickly

passing objectionable nitwit money

laughing & killing;

Janet's illness hastily got funny,

especially delirious

causing beautiful amnesia

(you might want to note the `&' snuck in there to make it come out.)

For practice: write an alphabet poem using whichever version you want.

Word Play (Shape Poems, Concrete Poems, Calligrams)

A "non-traditional" type of poem is the SHAPE POEM. Shape poems have been around for centuries, but the average person doesn’t usually think of them when the word “poem” is mentioned. In a shape poem, the way the text is laid out creates a shape. A CONCRETE POEM is a shape poem with the constriction that the poem is about the shape (i.e. a poem about a leaf would look like a leaf). The following is a shape poem in the form of a cookie jar:

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In a CALLIGRAM, extra meaning is given to a word by the way it's written. For example:

For practice do a simple shape poem. (It might be easier if you choose a simple shape like a triangle or something.)

Word Play (Alliteration & Alphabet poem version 3)

Back in the days before English had a written form, minstrels needed a way to remember the many stories they told. The trick they used most often is known as ALLITERATION, literally meaning 'letters next to each other'. Alliteration is the repetition of stressed, initial sounds of words - usually made by consonants. Without this little trick, stories such as Beowulf would have been totally lost to us.

Alliteration is still used in modern literature. The following example is Ogden Nash's "The Pushover":

My granddaughter, who when walking, wobbles,

Calls doggies "bow-wows" and turkeys "gobbles".

Yesterday I called a cow a "moo-moo",

See she's got me talking that way too!

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The third type of alphabet poem commonly done has each letter used in a line of alliteration. For example:

Alligators amble in alleys

Bumping into burly bears

While cougars catch colds

And dingoes dig deep

Egrets fly through the east egress

As great grackles grab

Hamburger from hungry hyenas

.........

For practice: write something using alliteration. (You can finish the above poem if you wish.)

Poetry Forms (Haiku, Tanka, Cinquain)

What sets most poetry apart from prose, is the use of patterns. These may be patterns of rhythm or stressed beats, patterns of rhymes, patterns of words or lines, or a combination of any of these.

While most of us were taught that a HAIKU consists of three lines with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern, actually a haiku has more freedom in form. In its most basic definition, a haiku consists of three lines - the first and last lines being almost equal in length, and the second a little longer. For example:

Storms rumble

Hail comes down swiftly

The wind howls

is still a haiku, even though it has a 3-5-3 syllable pattern.

[Side note: Haikus by different authors were often strung together to make a much larger piece of work.]

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TANKA is Japanese for "short poem".

It consists of five lines using a pattern in "accented syllables" or stressed beats. The following diagram shows this pattern:

line 1 -- 2 stressed beats ---- 5 syllables

line 2 -- 3 stressed beats ---- 7 syllables

line 3 -- 2 stressed beats ---- 5 syllables

line 4 -- 3 stressed beats ---- 7 syllables

line 5 -- 3 stressed beats ---- 7 syllables

On the right is the syllable pattern using an iambic meter. The number of syllables will change depending on the meter used. Remember that it's the stressed syllables that carry the pattern.

Weary and tired

I sit before the lit screen

Eyes that are blurry

Try to focus on the words

That I typed moments ago

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The CINQUAIN is a poetry form created by an American poet by the name of Adelaide Crapsey. It is one of the true syllable pattern forms:

Triad by Adelaide Crapsey

line 1 -- 2 syllables ------- These be

line 2 -- 4 syllables ------- Three silent things:

line 3 -- 6 syllables ------- The falling snow... the hour

line 4 -- 8 syllables ------- Before the dawn... the mouth of one

line 5 -- 2 syllables ------- Just dead.

For practice: write a haiku and a tanka or a cinquain.

Poetry Forms (Couplet, Tercet, Quatrain, Sonnet, Ballade)

The most popular poetry patterns are rhyming schemes. We have already discussed the COUPLET, but before we go on let's first define a STANZA. A stanza is a poetic paragraph. Often, when using a rhyming pattern, it is a set of lines whose rhyming scheme is repeated through out the poem. Here's an example of a few couplet stanzas:

"She is dead!" they said to him; "come away;            Stanza #1

Kiss her and leave her-thy love is clay!"

They smoothed her tresses of dark brown hair;         Stanza #2

On her forehead of stone they laid it fair;

With a tender touch they closed up well                     Stanza #3

The sweet thin lips that had secrets to tell;

("He and She" by Sir Edwin Arnold)

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The TERCET is an Italian rhyming form. In a tercet, the first and third lines rhyme, while the second is 'blank'. In rhyming notation it is represented as A-B-A. Dante's Divine Comedy was written in this pattern. Though most of it is lost in translation, there are still a few stanzas in which it is still present in English. The following stanza is from the second canto of Inferno:

And I have come to you just as she wished,

and I have freed you from the beast that stood

blocking the quick way up the mount of bliss.

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Probably the most popular rhyming form used, is the QUATRAIN, or the four lined stanza. The quatrain uses a variety of rhyming schemes. Anywhere from simply putting two couplets together (A-A-B-B) to the A-B-B-A pattern which is rumored to have given the Swedish singing group Abba its name. Have a look at some other types of quatrain patterns:

A-B-A-B

Where the apple reddens

Never pry-

Lest we lose our Edens,

Eve and I.

("A Woman's Last Word" by Robert Browning)

A-B-C-B

She stood at the bar of justice,

A creature wan and wild,

In form too small for a woman,

In feature too old for a child.

("Guilty or Not Guilty?" - Author Unknown)

A-A-A-B

If I have craved for joys that are not mine,

If I have let my wayward heart repined,

Dwelling on things of earth, not things divine-

Good Lord, forgive!

("My Evening Prayer" by Charles H. Gabriel)

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One of the most famous of poetry forms is the SONNET. Sonnets have two parts: the OCTAVE or setup and the SESTET or conclusion. They are using about a love interest. There are actually more than one type of sonnets, but we will focus on the popular Shakespearian sonnet. Here is a diagram of its rhyming scheme:

Octave - A-B-A-B-C-D-C-D (introduces situation or problem)

Sestet - E-F-E-F-G-G (suggests a conclusion or solution)

Sonnet #147 by William Shakespeare

My love is as a fever longing still,

For that which longer nurseth the disease,

Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,

Th' uncertain sickly appetite to please:

My reason the physician to my love,

Angry that his prescriptions are not kept

Hath left me, and I desperate now approve,

Desire is death, which physic did except.

Past cure I am, now reason is past care,

And frantic-mad with evermore unrest,

My thoughts and my discourse as mad men's are,

At random fron the truth vainly expressed.

For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright,

Who art as black as hell, as dark as night.

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The BALLADE (pronounced "bah-LAYD" not "BAH-led") is a French poetry form (literally "a dancing song"). It is a four-stanza poem in which the last line of all is the same. The first three stanzas have the following rhyming scheme:

a-b-a-b-b-c-b-C

The last stanza is shorter:

b-c-b-C

(I haven’t found an example of this that I like yet.)

For practice: write a poem with a definite rhyming pattern and tell what pattern is being used.

Poetry Forms (Pantoum, Terza Rima, Limerick)

There are other ways to create patterns in poetry than with rhythm or rhyme. In Malaysia, the lines of a PANTOUM make the pattern. The second and fourth lines of the first stanza are repeated as the first and third lines, respectively, in the second stanza. Rhyming is not required, even though the pattern conveniently lends itself to an A-B-A-B rhyming scheme.

Stanza #1

A man went searching for his soul

He looked within and without                          

He asked wise men and fools

For clues of his identity                                   

Stanza #2

He looked within and without

He traveled mountains and valleys

For clues of his identity

He felt part of himself was missing

Stanza #3

He traveled mountains and valleys

He wandered here and there

He felt part of himself was missing

Until he saw her standing afar

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A TERZA RIMA takes the tercet rhyming scheme a step further. The `blank' sound ending the second line in the first stanza, becomes the rhyming sound for the second stanza:

The day is done

The night comes in                  A-B-A

Down goes the sun

Wind chimes of tin

Ring soft and clear                  B-C-B

Gently in the wind

Think of me, dear

Looking at stars                      C-D-C...etc.

Wanting you here

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The LIMERICK is a pattern of rhythm and rhyme. A favorite of many people, it is often taught as a syllable pattern using the iambic meter. In reality, it is a stressed beat pattern. The first, second, and fifth line rhyme and contain 3 stressed beats. The third and fourth lines rhyme with each other and have only 2 stressed beats. In the iambic meter it translates into the following diagram:

line 1 -- A rhyme -- 7 syllables -- (3 beats)

line 2 -- A rhyme -- 7 syllables -- (3 beats)

line 3 -- B rhyme -- 5 syllables -- (2 beats)

line 4 -- B rhyme -- 5 syllables -- (2 beats)

line 5 -- A rhyme -- 7 syllables -- (3 beats)

For practice: write a poem using one of the forms discussed in this lesson.

Poetry Types (Abstract, Ballad, Ode, Epic)

Poems can also be defined by their contents. They tell stories, suggest images, and evoke feelings. In many ways, they can be compared to paintings as well as music. Using this analogy, the ABSTRACT poem is very similar to an abstract painting. These poems are experiments in sound, where the meaning of the words become secondary to their sound. One of the most famous of the abstract poems, is Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky":

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyreand gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

'Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!

He took his vorpal sword in hand:

Long time the manxome foe he sought -

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

And stood awhile in thought.

And as in wuffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tugley wood,

And burbled as it came!

One, two! one, two! and through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

He went galumphing back.

And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

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A BALLAD (BAH-led) is a folk song that tells an exciting story which usually ends tragically. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", and "John Henry" are some examples of well-known ballads. Even "Major Tom" and "Casey at the Bat" could easily be described as ballads.

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An EPIC is a heroic story, often dealing with deities and mythological beings. They usually start with the hero in the middle of some sort of action. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are some of the oldest epics around.

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Probably the loftiest (or stuffiest ) of all poetry types is the ODE. The ode is a lyrical verse with a fixed purpose or theme done in a very dignified manner. Called simply "An Ode", Joseph Addison's poem makes an excellent example of this poetry type.

"An Ode"

The spacious firmament on high,

With all the blue ethereal sky,

And spangled heavens, a shining frame,

Their great Original proclaim.

The unwearied sun from day to day

Does his Creator's power display,

And publishes to every land

The work of an almighty Hand.

Soon as the evening shades prevail,

The moon takes up the wondrous tale,

And nightly, to the listening earth,

Repeats the story of her birth;

Whilst all the stars that round her burn,

And all the planets in their turn,

Confirm the tidings as they roll,

And spread the truth from pole to pole.

What though in solemn silence all

Move round the dark terrestrial ball?

What though nor real voice nor sound

Amid their radiant orbs be found?

In reason's ear they all rejoice,

And utter forth a glorious voice,

Forever singing as they shine,

"The Hand that made use is divine!"

For practice: write one of the poetry types discussed in this lesson.