CWQ2L2_Elements of Poetry

CWQ2L2: Basic Elements of Poetry

​Prepared by: Elton D. Davao

Meter

Meter is the rhythmic structure within a poem and is dictated by the number of syllables and the pattern in which these syllables are emphasized.

Meter

Shall I /compare/ thee to/ a sum/mer’s day?

Thou art/ more love/ ly and /more tem/ perate:

Rough winds/ do shake/ the dar/ling buds/ of May,

And sum/mer’s lease/ hath all/ too short/ a date;

Rhyme

Rhyme is created when the last one or more syllables within separate words match. A poem is considered to rhyme when the last words of the lines within the verse share this relationship.

Rhyme

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the under growth;

Scheme

A scheme refers to the rhyming pattern within a verse of poetry. The scheme could contain words that rhyme at each of every line throughout the stanza, or alternating lines, or in couplets. We often signify the rhyme scheme using an arrangement of letters.

Scheme

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, A

And sorry I could not travel both B

And be one traveler, long I stood A

And looked down one as far as I could A

To where it bent in the under growth; B

Verse

Refers to a single line of a poem or a grouping of lines that follow a particular metrical pattern, rhyme scheme, or form. The term is used to describe the structure and organization of poetic lines within a poem.

Stanza

A stanza is a group of lines within the verse of a poem. They often follow a similar pattern or meter or contain a similar idea, but not always. They are separated from other stanzas within the poem through the use of a break or a blank line.

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

​An excerpt from the opening passage of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare