Prima Lezione: Cos’è la poesia?

POETRY

It is a word of Greek origins: to make, to create; its origins are unknown (oral form, religious rites, disasters)

A poem is a self contained text, written in lines whose length is decided by the author.

Questions about poems:

  • What is it about?

  • Who is the voice?

  • To whom is it addressed?

  • How is it written?

  • Why is it written?

MAIN FEATURES

Lay out

As it appears on the page

SOUND DEVICES:

1-       Rhyme: regular repetition of consonant or vowel sounds.

2-       Allitteration: repetition of consonant sounds

3-       Assonance: repetition of vowel sound

4-       Repetition: to stress words and concepts. (in ballds: refrain)

5-       Rhythm: length of a line, syllable stress , iambic pentameter, trochaic metre.

6-       Onomatopoeia: the word imitates the sound of what it means.

SENSE DEVICES

1- Personification: it gives human qualities to an idea

2- Simile: explicit comparison (like, as)

3- Metaphor: implicit comparison(tenor, vehicle, ground)

TYPES:

1- Lyric poems: express thoughts or feelings; the speaker is the poet. Associated with musioc.

2- Narrative Poem: it tells a story. It carries a message.

3- Dramatic poetry: a character speaks with hs voice to a silent listener

FORMS:

Line form: depend on syllables and stresses

Stanza form: couplet: 2 lines; Tercet: 3 lines ; Quatrain: 4 lines

FIXED FORMS:

  1. limericks

  2. sonnet (petrarchian, shakepearisn)

  3. ode

  4. epigram

  5. elegy

  6. ballad

OPEN FORM:

free verse

OTHERS

Denotation: formal meaning

Connotation: what the word suggests to you

Sense impressions: poet tries to communicate experiences in which physical sensations and thoughts merge.

Symbol: a concept that represents an idea or feeling

Allegory: a story with a level of significance below what appears on the surface.

Register of language: special features of lexis, syntacs and pronunciations.